I recently installed our new SBS 2008 domain controller and separate
Server 2008 member server.

Whilst I'm sure the servers will be very reliable I want to ensure
that I'm fully covered in the event of a disaster. i.e. hard drive
failure

In terms of backing up data I've got Backup Exec installed on both
server - the DC is configured to back up system state and exchange
data whilst the member server is configured to back up system state
and all of our business critical data.

I have the windows server 2008 complete reference book and this
briefly details the Server 2008 backup program (wbadmin.exe?) and that
it can be used to create backups that let you restore a server without
having to reinstall it's software.  It also recommends creating these
system backups on a daily basis.  This method does interest me.

What I'd like to achieve is the following:-

- the ability to create a system state backup of both servers which
would give me the ability to restore the server without having to
reinstall all of it's software. this would clearly get the server back
up and running much quicker than a complete reinstall from scratch.

- the ability to test this backup or at least test the actual process
of creating and restoring a server backup. presumably doing this
virtually is best in a test environment?


Can anyone advise on the best practices for this?

thanks in advance!

Any reason you aren't using the Built in SBS2008 Backup?
Russ

-- 
Russell Grover - SBITS.Biz [SBS-MVP]
Microsoft Gold Certified Partner
Microsoft Certified Small Business Specialist
World Wide 24hr SBS Remote Support - http://www.SBITS.Biz
Microsoft Online Services - http://www.microsoft-online-services.com


"BadBoy House" <mrchrishouse@googlemail.com> wrote in message 
news:1bf6f28d-b174-4441-bc5f-7010518a96ec@j4g2000yqe.googlegroups.com...
> I recently installed our new SBS 2008 domain controller and separate
> Server 2008 member server.
>
> Whilst I'm sure the servers will be very reliable I want to ensure
> that I'm fully covered in the event of a disaster. i.e. hard drive
> failure
>
> In terms of backing up data I've got Backup Exec installed on both
> server - the DC is configured to back up system state and exchange
> data whilst the member server is configured to back up system state
> and all of our business critical data.
>
> I have the windows server 2008 complete reference book and this
> briefly details the Server 2008 backup program (wbadmin.exe?) and that
> it can be used to create backups that let you restore a server without
> having to reinstall it's software.  It also recommends creating these
> system backups on a daily basis.  This method does interest me.
>
> What I'd like to achieve is the following:-
>
> - the ability to create a system state backup of both servers which
> would give me the ability to restore the server without having to
> reinstall all of it's software. this would clearly get the server back
> up and running much quicker than a complete reinstall from scratch.
>
> - the ability to test this backup or at least test the actual process
> of creating and restoring a server backup. presumably doing this
> virtually is best in a test environment?
>
>
> Can anyone advise on the best practices for this?
>
> thanks in advance!
> 

the built-in backup doesn't let you specify what you want to back-up
(as far as I'm aware).  For instance we've got a large amount of data
that we don't need to back up (it never changes and is archived
already).


What I'm looking for is the *best* method to restore either of my
servers in the event of say hard-drive crashes.

You want The Best?
Well IMO that's an opinion
The SBS2008 Backup is AWESOME and WORKS VERY WELL!
It also does backups Smarter than SBS2003 did.
 IMO you should always use, it even with another product

Then there are Products from:
Storagecraft
Acronis
and BackupAssist
that you might look at.

Russ

-- 
Russell Grover - SBITS.Biz [SBS-MVP]
Microsoft Gold Certified Partner
Microsoft Certified Small Business Specialist
World Wide 24hr SBS Remote Support - http://www.SBITS.Biz
Microsoft Online Services - http://www.microsoft-online-services.com


"BadBoy House" <mrchrishouse@googlemail.com> wrote in message 
news:e9ad320a-df80-4425-b24e-da18d0be7ab1@o28g2000yqh.googlegroups.com...
> the built-in backup doesn't let you specify what you want to back-up
> (as far as I'm aware).  For instance we've got a large amount of data
> that we don't need to back up (it never changes and is archived
> already).
>
>
> What I'm looking for is the *best* method to restore either of my
> servers in the event of say hard-drive crashes. 

would it let me achieve the following?:


- the ability to create a system state backup of both servers which
would give me the ability to restore the server without having to
reinstall all of it's software. this would clearly get the server back
up and running much quicker than a complete reinstall from scratch.

- the ability to test this backup or at least test the actual process
of creating and restoring a server backup. presumably doing this
virtually is best in a test environment?

Judging from various posts in this NG over the years, Backup Exec isn't your 
best choice for system recovery.  You need to switch to an image based 
backup solution like the built in SBS backup or ShadowProtect or Acronis.  I 
use Shadowprotect on SBS2003, and have done full restores very quickly and 
tested hardware independent restores (HIR) without hassles.  Supposedly 
SBS2008 backup can do HIR as well but I've never heard definitively.

As far as selecting data to backup, image based backups only work on a 
partition level, so make sure that archived data is on another partition and 
don't back it up as often.  That said, if the data doesn't change the 
incremental generated by the backup is very small so it really doesn't 
matter in the end.  I'd rather have too many backups than not enough...


-- 
Allan Williams




BadBoy House wrote:
> the built-in backup doesn't let you specify what you want to back-up
> (as far as I'm aware).  For instance we've got a large amount of data
> that we don't need to back up (it never changes and is archived
> already).
>
>
> What I'm looking for is the *best* method to restore either of my
> servers in the event of say hard-drive crashes. 

understood.  the main reason we use backup exec is a) you have the
option of selecting what to back up,  b) it can back up exchange and
sql data independently and c) restoring individual files as and when
is nice and easy.

having said that if the built-in windows backup software lets you do a
full image based backup - and restore this backup easily then it
certainly sounds like a good option.

hardware independency is also a concern - for example if I needed to
restore the backup on a different server (say as the result of a
burglarly) would I be able to do this?

Hardware independency - That's what the HIR feature I mentioned gives you 
(although I'd recommend trying it out so you know the steps).

As far as restoring individual files, have you enabled shadow copies 
("previous versions") and the deleted email retention on the server?  I find 
that once those two things are enabled users can recover accidently deleted 
files and emails themselves and not bother the administrator.  Even if you 
need to image based backups allow you to mount the backups easy enough and 
copy individual files.

-- 
Allan Williams




BadBoy House wrote:
> understood.  the main reason we use backup exec is a) you have the
> option of selecting what to back up,  b) it can back up exchange and
> sql data independently and c) restoring individual files as and when
> is nice and easy.
>
> having said that if the built-in windows backup software lets you do a
> full image based backup - and restore this backup easily then it
> certainly sounds like a good option.
>
> hardware independency is also a concern - for example if I needed to
> restore the backup on a different server (say as the result of a
> burglarly) would I be able to do this? 

In article <ad90cb41-ccf9-4a41-bb81-a83f9f323257
@o28g2000yqh.googlegroups.com>, mrchrishouse@googlemail.com says...
> 
> understood.  the main reason we use backup exec is a) you have the
> option of selecting what to back up,  b) it can back up exchange and
> sql data independently and c) restoring individual files as and when
> is nice and easy.
> 
> having said that if the built-in windows backup software lets you do a
> full image based backup - and restore this backup easily then it
> certainly sounds like a good option.
> 
> hardware independency is also a concern - for example if I needed to
> restore the backup on a different server (say as the result of a
> burglarly) would I be able to do this?

I've used Win 2008 backup as well as the SBS 2008 backup, they are fast 
and a bare-metal restore to the same hardware is completely painless, 
done via the boot DVD and a USB stick with your raid drivers (if 
needed).

This is completely different than Win 2003 and previous OS backups 
provided by MS.

To restore to a different hardware platform is always a problem, even 
with Symantec BEXEC and I would not expect it to be painless or easy. If 
you can get close to the same hardware it would be a lot easier.

-- 
You can't trust your best friends, your five senses, only the little 
voice inside you that most civilians don't even hear -- Listen to that.  
Trust yourself.
spam999free@rrohio.com (remove 999 for proper email address)

Yes for the SBS2008 Backup
and the other products on the other server yes

-- 
Russell Grover - SBITS.Biz [SBS-MVP]
Microsoft Gold Certified Partner
Microsoft Certified Small Business Specialist
World Wide 24hr SBS Remote Support - http://www.SBITS.Biz
Microsoft Online Services - http://www.microsoft-online-services.com


"BadBoy House" <mrchrishouse@googlemail.com> wrote in message 
news:67de428b-e48c-427f-8348-2f4b36b7d537@s31g2000yqs.googlegroups.com...
> would it let me achieve the following?:
>
>
> - the ability to create a system state backup of both servers which
> would give me the ability to restore the server without having to
> reinstall all of it's software. this would clearly get the server back
> up and running much quicker than a complete reinstall from scratch.
>
> - the ability to test this backup or at least test the actual process
> of creating and restoring a server backup. presumably doing this
> virtually is best in a test environment?