Windows Server 2008 Backup Best Practices

Now that there's a totally new backup system (block level drive image) in place in Windows Server 2008, where are the backup best practices heading?

The good news is that the technology in BackupAssist has also advanced considerably, and it's now possible to protect your data even better than before - and to do it for a relatively small cost.

For those of you wondering where tape drive support has gone, please read our article here: Tape drive support on Windows Server 2008.

Primary backup - for complete server recovery

The in-built drive imaging system built into Windows is an excellent as a 'primary' backup. By 'primary', we mean that it's your first point of call if your server goes down.

You can now restore a complete server from bare metal, to dissimilar hardware, in a matter of minutes using the Windows Recovery environment (ie. boot off the original Windows DVD).

To read more about this, see our slideshow presentation on Primary Backups using Drive Imaging.

Secondary backup - for data backup and version history

Imaging, while great for a server recovery scenario, is less than ideal when it comes to retrieving old versions of files, or files that were deleted some time ago but where the deletion was only discovered recently.

With BackupAssist it's exceptionally easy to set up a secondary backup job that protects your filesystem by mirroring it to a backup device, while storing tens or hundreds of days of backup history at very little cost, thanks to our Single Instance Store. It's also an extra layer of protection that protects you in ways that the primary backup won't.

You can even fully automate the secondary backup by using an onsite NAS device - so you're protected but don't have to do any 'extra work'!

Please see our slide deck on Secondary Backups using File Replication for more details.

You should also look at what applications you need to back up - for example, Exchange Server mailboxes, or SQL Server databases. BackupAssist has solutions for these as well.

Information for tape drive users: we're also currently developing a tape drive interface that will enable you to use your tape drives to backup your files and folders. This will form an important part for many companies' secondary backup strategy.

Tertiary backup - for automatic offsite backups via the Internet

Finally, in order to achieve protection from onsite disasters (such as the building burning down, or a natural disaster), it's important to keep a copy of your data offsite. Several options are available for this - for example, having your backup operator swap HDDs onsite/offsite as part of your primary backup can be very effective.

However, a fully automated system is offered by the BackupAssist for Rsync Engine - where you can backup in a bandwidth efficient manner, using in-file delta incrementals. This is a great solution that enables your data to be stored in a different location (or even state or country) at minimal effort, and the backups will be as reliable as your Internet connection is.

Best of all - zero human interaction is involved!

Please see our slide deck on Tertiary Backups using Rsync Internet Backup for more details.

Sample strategies - bringing it altogether

Of course, you are able to pick and choose the strategy that's best for you.

There's no 'one size fits all' solution to backup and data protection.

A strategy that combines all 3 methods might suit the needs of one company, but be complete overkill for another.

On the other hand, a basic strategy of just drive imaging may suit a small business, but be insufficient for larger firms who have more to lose.

Several different scenarios are provided in our sample strategies slide deck.

This article was brought to you by BackupAssist - Server 2008 backup software