SoHo/SME Backup best practices - Opinions by Experience please

[kwaggawerner]

Dunno if this is the correct sub-forum, but I will give it a try.

I would like to hear form the "gesoute" Network Admins on your tips, hints and lessons learned, with regards to CLIENT backups (<100GB). Please focus on BACKUP Solutions, not MIRRORING solutions.

I'm currently pondering the best way to backup several clients, but I want to keep network chatter down, so I figured:

For highly active clients:

Days|Backup Type
1. FULL BACKUP (FULL) |8.INCREMENTAL (INCR) |15.FULL BACKUP (FULL)
2.INCREMENTAL (INCR) |9.INCREMENTAL (INCR)
3.INCREMENTAL (INCR) |10.INCREMENTAL (INCR)
4.INCREMENTAL (INCR) |11.INCREMENTAL (INCR)
5.INCREMENTAL (INCR) |12.INCREMENTAL (INCR)
6.NONE |13.NONE
7.NONE |14.NONE

And for less active clients:

Days|Backup Type
1. FULL BACKUP (FULL) |8.INCREMENTAL (INCR) |15.FULL BACKUP (FULL)
2.NONE |9.NONE
3.INCREMENTAL (INCR) |10.INCREMENTAL (INCR)
4.NONE |11.NONE
5.INCREMENTAL (INCR) |12.INCREMENTAL (INCR)
6.NONE |13.NONE
7.NONE |14.NONE

With 2 Full Backups being kept at all times. Also, I believe that client machines do not have to be running on weekends, however, the exception of course, is waking up to run maintenance tasks, then going back to sleep. I even allow non-critical servers (such as file servers) to go into low-power mode. - I'm doing my bit to reduce my energy footprint


Any better configurations? - I'm still undecided between INCR and DIFF, since I've hear possible problems arising from both options.

 

[The_Unbeliever]

What I would do is to do a full backup every month of the active clients
Thereafter a daily/weekly backup of only the changed files.

However, since I use Active Domain, the task is made easier.

My setup is thus - users home folders are in a separate partition.

Company Data and Users Folders is mirrored 2 hourly (one-way synch only) to another PC - from where I back it up to tape. The backup is split into two - Mondays and Wednesdays the users data is backed up, and Tuesdays+Thursdays it's Company Data. On Friday I do a full Company Data backup and store those tapes offsite.

This setup makes it easier for me to recover any accidental files as it can take a whole day just to recover some deleted files from tape.

We use the HP Ultrium tape backup drive (200/400Gb tapes).

So far it helped out a few times in the past when users accidentally deleted their files. Then it was quick to recover and restore the deleted files.

Before I implemented this, a whole day would be wasted just to restore the deleted files.

Regards

Libs


PS - if the users save their data in some other places than My Documents (the default), their PC crashes or they delete their data, tough. There's standards to follow, you know. I can't possibly backup every single workstation on the LAN, will be taking up too much of my time not to mention effort.

 

[TheGuy]

You should only do incremental if you run out of time when doing a full backup as incremental becomes a nightmare to manage.

I do a full backup every night of the week and it's nearly 500GB just for the one server.

 

[kwaggawerner]

@The_Librarian: Thanks for the tips, personally I hate "mirroring" data on client machines, I personally favor "independent" backup scenarios, reason being, a backup is one way only, much safer than mirroring, should the client delete a file, the backup will have that file, not always the same with mirroring... another scenario, is a malicious infection, with a mirror, that infection will also be spread to the mirrored data - and no admin is so good, that he/she will catch 100% of all malicious code, without actively monitoring the data being duplicated. For scenarios where I have full control of the data being created, such as the server, I fully endorse mirrors - there is nothing better - and since all data going into the server is being checked, scanned, and rechecked, I sleep much better at night, knowing some manager isn't jacking off, while the site ass-rapes his PC - that PC can be easily contained, and the manager disciplined when I give my report of why his PC has no data on it, or why there are strange smells and stains on his chair....


@TheGuy: a full backup everyday is madness, and since we are talking about CLIENT backup, not SERVER backup, it's even worse.

 

[kwaggawerner]

@TheGuy... I must admit, even though I don't like your approach to data backup, I do have respect for why you do it... better safe than sorry, and to be honest, rather overkill, than no backups, which seem commonplace in today's small businesses, even some larger companies. Should that network or a network node fail, that data loss, not only reflects bad on that specific administrator, but to all administrators in the industry - it hurts our image. I for one am still busy fighting the notion that IT admins have no control over IT budgets!