how to backup a 1TB server?

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nelis

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Hi there

I work for a small company and need to make a server image every Friday. How can I make it faster for me. Should I buy a NAS with 2x2TB and take it with me every Friday or should I just take a usb3.0 external and connect it to the server and backup like that. BTW the server is running 2x drives in it and don't have raid implemented as we have a NAS server to do onsite backups.

Thanks
 
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It depends on the software you use and what backup procedure you use, but out of your 2 options a USB 3.0 drive would be quicker. I've got server's that backup 3000mb/min on USB 3.0 and over a GB network you would proberly only get around 2000mb/min. These all heavily depend on drive and network speeds and of course server activity.
The quickest solution is Tape drive but they are generally pricey so most small companies woudn't want to lay out the cash.
Hope this helps.
 
ok so I should just get normal usb3.0 drives. not a NAS external storage?
 
nelis said:
ok so I should just get normal usb3.0 drives. not a NAS external storage?
Click to expand...

Just make sure that the server you connecting to has sufficient USB 3.0 support. Bought 2 USB 3 drives for our office but our centos 6 box doesn't like it very much, nor does it work with the vm. Had to connect to the USB 2. The drives are lightning quick though when connected with USB 3.
 
DrJohnZoidberg said:
Just make sure that the server you connecting to has sufficient USB 3.0 support. Bought 2 USB 3 drives for our office but our centos 6 box doesn't like it very much, nor does it work with the vm. Had to connect to the USB 2. The drives are lightning quick though when connected with USB 3.
Click to expand...

I'm using windows server 2008 small business server
 
Some advice, You need to RAID at least RAID 1, especially because you are only making backups on a Friday.

Maybe you dont need speed just a better plan, when you say "Image the server" What server is it and what kind of imaging software are you using ?
 
Why do you want to make a server image? Just backup the data. The OS can be re-installed.

blegh... format ... install linux ... :D
 
If you don't have dedicated backup software use NT backup to make a backup and just copy the backup files to the external.
 
spiderz said:
Why do you want to make a server image? Just backup the data. The OS can be re-installed.

blegh... format ... install linux ... :D
Click to expand...

I want a backup so that I can quickly reimage the server when someone steals it or the hard drive crash

oh and the other thing is we are doing critical data backup ever day I just want to make a server image every weekend. you never know what will happen. I'm using the integrated windows image software
 
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Just get 2 drives.

Do a nightly backup and swap the drives around weekly.
 
I must say i also prefer having a server imaged because there are some things that you dont want to reinstall and disaster recovery is instant.

Question is will the image work on other hardware ?
Best thing for imaging is to have them in a VM in ESXi then you can just copy/clone the machine and dump it on HDD. You can also convert the Real Machine to a VM using the VM converter.
 
SBSP said:
I must say i also prefer having a server imaged because there are some things that you dont want to reinstall and disaster recovery is instant.

Question is will the image work on other hardware ?
Best thing for imaging is to have them in a VM in ESXi then you can just copy/clone the machine and dump it on HDD. You can also convert the Real Machine to a VM using the VM converter.
Click to expand...

glad someone understands
 
SBSP said:
Best thing for imaging is to have them in a VM in ESXi then you can just copy/clone the machine and dump it on HDD. You can also convert the Real Machine to a VM using the VM converter.
Click to expand...

+1
Virtualizing even small server environments makes backing up and restoring so much easier.
You can do live snapshots of the entire VM (including running OS) and restore the VM to another physical server within minutes should the host hardware fail.
 
nelis said:
I want a backup so that I can quickly reimage the server when someone steals it or the hard drive crash

oh and the other thing is we are doing critical data backup ever day I just want to make a server image every weekend. you never know what will happen. I'm using the integrated windows image software
Click to expand...

What is stopping them from stealing the NAS too?
 
Also take MS hyper-v into consideration, it isn't on the level of esxi, but it is pretty solid.

Server 2012 version of hyper-v has some very decent new features like live migrations, offsite replication etc.
 
offsite NAS. Taking a small nas storage with me every day.
 
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