Backing up to the NAS

[ablevy]

While I realize this sites focus is mostly hardware, one of the reasons for using a NAS is to provide backup from the desktop to the network share. I think it would be very useful to do a comparative review of backup software.

From my perspective backup software for the home needs to do a few things that most backup software hasn't historically done. First, I would like it to implement shadow backup. Second I would like it to be able to implement more than one backup scheme. For example I would like one scheme to backup my document files and encrypt them. On the other hand, I want it to be able to also back up my media files to the Media directory on my ReadyNAS, but I don't want it encrypted, and I want to be able to specify the location of the folder.

I have been playing with Memeo Premium recently for example. It implements most of the things on this list well, except it imposes a directory structure which is inappropraite for my media directory.

Alan

PS. Keep up the good work. I have learned a lot about networking from your site and made a number of purchases based on your reviews.

 

[thiggins]

Thanks for the suggestion, Alan. I think reviews of backup software would be appropriate. I'll see what we can do. In the meantime, check this thread. You can find others by searching for "backup software" (with quotes).

 

[claykin]

Based on your description it sounds like you want to do three things.

1) Create a disk/partition image
2) Create a backup/archive with encryption
3) Sync to your NAS media share

For #1 look @ Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery, Storagecraft Shadowprotect, and if you are a bit more techie Terabyte's Image for Windows. All 3 are great imaging tools. Second tier is Norton Ghost, Acronis Trueimage, Macrium Reflect....

For #2 some of the above will address backup/archive with encrypt but possibly not exactly what you are expecting (i.e. Symantec's way of file/folder backup is a bit weird, but it seems to work). You can also look @ Syncback free/SE/Pro (SE and Pro are paid apps), GFI Backup Free, Cobian Backup free, KLS Backup (not free)

For #3 you want sync. Syncback is really the best for this. There's tons of other sync programs such as Microsoft's free Synctoy, Goodsync, Allwaysync, Superflexible, KLS Backup, etc, but I always revert back to Syncback for true syncing as its the best IMO.

Another thing to consider for Vista Business or Ultimate users is to use the built-in imaging and backup tools. Believe it or not, they work. I would say the imaging tool is about on par with the second tier product listed above (with some reservations), but in some cases restoring those images in an emergency can be quirky. Wait, now that I think about it, I don't believe the built-in Vista tools offer encryption of backups....

It would be great to do a Backup showdown article, but its close to impractical to cover all aspects of backup in a single article (it would be more like a novel). There's so many scenarios and different configs/options that people want. There's really no single product that covers it all. At least none that I've found (that works).

Feel free to ask here if you want advice. BTW, IMO Memeo doesn't cut it!

 

[ablevy]

Thanks for the comments. I'm not sure I really want to do #1. I've never been a fan of disk partition images although I am willing to be convinced.

For home use we basically have three computers. Two of them are desktops and one portable. There are some financial files on the desktop and mostly personal files. Basically, I would like each computer to shadow copy selected directories to a separate folder for each computer on the NAS. For these files, I prefer to encrypt My choice of shadow copying is basically because of my better half, who only backs up under duress. I am not a big fan of scheduled copying because it always seems to happen when I am under a deadline and proceed to tie up the computer. Or worse it tries to do the backup when the network share isn't available and locks the computer up. Retrospect is one piece of software that I can't recommend for that reason.

As for the media files, most of the files that I really want to back up are home video of the grandkids. I want those to come off the hard drives from monitored folders and go directly to the appropriate folder under the media folder. These obviously shouldn't be encrypted.

The ultimate plan is to replace my antique X6 with a new Netgear NVX or pro and sync them using SSH. The antique will go to my son's house until it dies and we have to upgrade.

Life gets even more interesting at work. I work for a large multinational in R&D. IT is basically user hostile (mostly), and doesn't provide backup support for our PC's. I'm trying to implement a solution to a group network share. Now there are some pretty nice solutions (HP for one) out there for about $300K (including serrver), but since my group is currently about 25 people it's a little overkill. I have a departmental share, and again I'm thinking of nonencrypted shadow copying with version control. Why nonencrypted? Because I want the group to have access to the documents in the directory when someone leaves. The departmental share is a remote raid 5 server which is backed up nightly. Only named users will have access to the share. I also like the concept of shadow copying because again I have a couple of scientists in my group that can barely use Powerpoint.

Note that at work we do have Documentum for archiving finished reports, but we really need an automated solution for the PC files or we are going to lose some data.

Please feel free to comment on either situation. At the moment I'm not locked into anything. I have tried Memeo and Retrospect. Memeo might be Ok for work, but not for home. One thing it does well is not lock the computer if it can't find the share.

Claykin, thanks for the software suggestions. I will take a look.

Alan

 

[claykin]

Thanks for the comments. I'm not sure I really want to do #1. I've never been a fan of disk partition images although I am willing to be convinced.

For home use we basically have three computers. Two of them are desktops and one portable. There are some financial files on the desktop and mostly personal files. Basically, I would like each computer to shadow copy selected directories to a separate folder for each computer on the NAS. For these files, I prefer to encrypt My choice of shadow copying is basically because of my better half, who only backs up under duress. I am not a big fan of scheduled copying because it always seems to happen when I am under a deadline and proceed to tie up the computer. Or worse it tries to do the backup when the network share isn't available and locks the computer up. Retrospect is one piece of software that I can't recommend for that reason.

As for the media files, most of the files that I really want to back up are home video of the grandkids. I want those to come off the hard drives from monitored folders and go directly to the appropriate folder under the media folder. These obviously shouldn't be encrypted.

The ultimate plan is to replace my antique X6 with a new Netgear NVX or pro and sync them using SSH. The antique will go to my son's house until it dies and we have to upgrade.

Life gets even more interesting at work. I work for a large multinational in R&D. IT is basically user hostile (mostly), and doesn't provide backup support for our PC's. I'm trying to implement a solution to a group network share. Now there are some pretty nice solutions (HP for one) out there for about $300K (including serrver), but since my group is currently about 25 people it's a little overkill. I have a departmental share, and again I'm thinking of nonencrypted shadow copying with version control. Why nonencrypted? Because I want the group to have access to the documents in the directory when someone leaves. The departmental share is a remote raid 5 server which is backed up nightly. Only named users will have access to the share. I also like the concept of shadow copying because again I have a couple of scientists in my group that can barely use Powerpoint.

Note that at work we do have Documentum for archiving finished reports, but we really need an automated solution for the PC files or we are going to lose some data.

Please feel free to comment on either situation. At the moment I'm not locked into anything. I have tried Memeo and Retrospect. Memeo might be Ok for work, but not for home. One thing it does well is not lock the computer if it can't find the share.

Claykin, thanks for the software suggestions. I will take a look.

Alan

When you say "shadow" do you mean using VSS (or the ability to copy open/locked/in use files)? If so, the above mentioned solutions all support VSS. Note that you will need Win XP or later to use VSS. Its not supported on Win2K. There are a few solutions out there, such as Image for Windows, that copy locked/in use files using custom built engines and those will work in W2K as well. Image for Windows will also run on Windows Server. Its a bargain when compared to Symantec, Acronis, Storage Craft Server editions.

Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery / Norton Ghost will both allow you to control backup jobs on other PC's on your LAN from a "Master PC". Could make it much easier for you to handle running jobs on your significant others PC and others on your LAN.

I know Syncback and KLS Backup support versioning. Others may as well. Take a look.

You might also want to look @ Windows Home Server. It sounds like you may be its target audience. WHS has a built-in disk/partition image tool as well as file backup tool. Supports versioning, has Admin reporting, etc..... Its not without its issues, but for some its a decent solution. I'm a Readynas fan and like their products so I'm in no way promoting the WHS. Its just easier for some users to get the basic functionality they want. Just beware that its Microsoft's V1 of WHS and although a fairly good V1, its still not quite ripe IMO.

For your office its difficult to make a recommendation without understanding the hardware, software and topology of your network. What's wrong with your IT staff that they refuse to help?

 

[Dennis Wood]

After nearly 15 years in the industry dealing with enterprise, small business and a myriad of backup solutions (including building a modem array and backup server for the first version of Veritas Telebackup over phone lines), the best I've ever seen for small business is Storagecraft's Shadowprotect. I've used another myriad of workstation imaging solutions too in the Enterprise (including Acronis)..and Shadowprotect again stands out.

Here's why.

On the backup side:

1. It works flawlessly with all of our clients including XP, and Vista32/64 bit.
2. It's fast...as fast as the NAS can take/send data to/from the workstation.
3. On the workstation side of things it runs as a service, including the ability to run post-backup scripts. Because it reports everything to the event log, you can use windows task scheduler to key off of completed backups for defragmentation, workstation shutdown etc.
4. Workstation images on the NAS can be mounted as drive letters to grab just one file if required.

On the restore side, assuming you need to restore a workstation:

1. The boot DVD allows dynamic loading of drivers after boot from USB, flash, network etc. so the software can "see" any RAID arrays and LAN adapters on your system. It has built in drivers for most hardware configs already.

2. Once the boot environment is set up with drivers (if required) you can map a network drive to your NAS and restore at up to 103 MB/s from units like the READYNAS Pro over the network. This is super fast for a restore if you've played in the industry a bit.

3. If you had to replace a motherboard in the failed workstation, the software allows a hardware independent restore and will "fix" the windows version you've restored to load with the correct SATA/RAID drivers. This is huge as otherwise you're getting the old blue screen and loading your OS from scratch.

Storagecraft has given me nothing for free...and I don't work for them. This is just an informed opinion

Hope that helps,
Dennis.

 

[ablevy]

Claykin, the home and work computers are currently all on XP so VSS should work. When I say shadow copy, I mean when a copy is changed or added in a monitored folder it is added to the queue and a copy saved to the NAS . Mimeo does this rather than run scheduled backups. The downside is that software must be on the clients, which is Ok for my home use and probably for my business use.

As far as IT issues go there are many things wrong with IT, but the problem for R&D is that they basically don't want R&D computers on their networks. Especially the ones attached to instruments. One of our legacy sites runs two networks in parallel, one for R&D, and one for desktop instruments. That works well, especially since R&D has their own IT people.

Thank you Dennis. I will add it to my list of products to evaluate.

Alan

 

[ablevy]

Claykin, have you tried Memeo premium? If so could you elaborate on why Memeo doesn't cut it?

Thanks

Alan

 

[claykin]

Claykin, have you tried Memeo premium? If so could you elaborate on why Memeo doesn't cut it?

Thanks

Alan

Like NTI Shadow it consumes too much CPU time when running and doesn't backup locked/in use files. Its better than NTI Shadow, but its kinda in the same league.