SERVER DISASTER
After long hard experience in losing valuable data has I have identified the 7 most important features you need from a data back up server These are
· Backup Servers are usually for business that have 5 or more computers
· Can run on every day computer equipment
· Must backup Mac Windows Linux and Unix server and workstations
· Easy to use interface to administer and to restore files and data
· Robust stable and reliable
· Must be able to backup every computer every day
· Must grow with your business
· Must use removable and inexpensive disk drive to store offsite
· There are many backup solutions out there but if they dont do all the above you are running the risk of losing data or spending more time than you want to managing you backups
· The worst feeling of all is restoring from a backup only to realise that you have not flagged that particular file to be backed up The only solution is to backup every file every day and keep this archive for as long as you need
When you are running business its vital that you have a copy of all your computers basic installations If a computer fails it can take up to a week to re install the operating system and all the software Its just easier The other reason is you never really know which file you are going to need If you use selective backup schemes it you always run the risk of leaving out something vital Plus you cant control where you staff will put vital files no matter how often you tell them
Must Backup Different Types of Computers
Most businesses have a number of different computers to meet their requirements Macs are often used by your creative team you may have Unix Linux and Windows servers for you operations or specialist applications and PCs for general clerical and finance You have to be able to back up every computer you own
Use standard PC Hardware
Your backup server must run using standard PC hardware Only large corporates can afford specialist hardware to manage backups If you backup server is made from a PC you can get a your local computer shop then the cost is lower and it is easy to fix
Must be Robust And Reliable
You backup system must operate 24 7 and be very reliable The last thing you need to have to restart you backup server every other day or have it fail
Easy To use Interface
You need an easy to use interace to administer the system Users should be able to go to the bakup server and download the files they need Automatic backups and email notifications are also essential
Backup your Backup
Backup server must have a removable hard disk system to store your backup off site The backup server with smart backup software can keep 6 months backups for you whole company on a single 320 gb hard disk
Alternatively you can backup the back to an online storage area This depends on the cost of storage
Must Grow with your Business
As your business grows So does your information Its more like data explosion If your backup system can grow with your business then you elimate the cost of pruchasing another system to handle the load You just expand you existing one
Backup Systems That Meet this Criteria
A backup system that can backup every computer you own Macs PCs Windows Linux and Unix servers Everything is automatically backed up every day so you dont have to worry about trying to figure out which files to save This is the ultimate small business backup solution and will grow with your company from 5 to 250 PCs By using a clever technique only files that changed get backed up All the other files are kept as a virtual copy for that day The software runs on a deadicated server PC that you can buy from your local Computer shop The server shown is for small businesses The software will also run on rack mounted servers for larger organizations
DriveImage XML Backup your whole PC for Disaster Recovery
DriveImage XML is an easy to use and reliable program for imaging and backing up partitions and logical drives
The program allows you to
· Backup logical drives and partitions to image files
· Browse these images view and extract files
· Restore these images to the same or a different drive
· Copy directly from drive to drive
· Schedule automatic backups with your Task Scheduler
Image creation uses Microsofts Volume Shadow Services VSS allowing you to create safe hot images even from drives currently in use
Images are stored in XML files allowing you to process them with 3rd party tools Never again be stuck with a useless backup
Restore images to drives without having to reboot
DriveImage XML runs under Windows XP Home XP Professional and Windows Server 2003 only The program will backup image and restore drives formatted with FAT 12 16 32 and NTFS
Exchange Server 2003 Backup and Recovery
Email storage is more than a convenience issue for users as organizations need to comply with myriad legal and security considerations Fortunately for organizations that have moved to Exchange 2003 Microsoft has stepped up to the plate and added features and enhancements that help with the daytoday problems IT managers face
However even with the latest technology it is important to remember to document document and document all procedures processes and daily activities Exchange administration can be difficult Daily routines are often filled with problems that need fixing and users who need help Urgent tasks overwhelm important tasks Lowurgency chores such as documenting procedures making sure users know what is expected of them and planning for problems never make it to the front burner
However the increasing complexity of Exchange environments means we can no longer afford to put off important tasks Our lives end up being a whole lot simpler if everyone knows what to do and what is expected of them
This article covers the areas you need to document to help make your life simpler as well as meet legal and security requirements Youll also learn about the tools that will keep data safe and if something goes wrong you are in a position to recover the data
Best Practices Policies and Procedures
Successful Exchange management is more than getting through the day without annoying users The best approach to email administration is to look at the big picture and start managing email systems actively As mentioned previously the bigpicture approach requires documentation of policies and procedures which many Exchange Administrators overlook
The process of documentation formalizes and standardizes how IT departments are supposed to do their jobs This in turn helps reduce downtime and errors It also helps when problems occur as formalization and standardization reduce the unknowns when troubleshooting The process of developing and implementing policies that affect an Exchange environments operation as well as how people use the system will involve many people beyond the messaging group For example defer security and legal requirements to the legal department and senior executives
Your role in these matters is to advise on the technology required to meet legal and security requirements and monitor enforcement For mundane matters such as email storage limits attachment sizes and public folder creation it is your responsibility to define limits based on your infrastructure As always prepare to deal with exceptions Exceptions should always be well documented and understood as they often prove to be the source of problems
Creating procedures is a very different process and is one for which the Exchange team is solely responsible Procedures define the tasks we do and how we carry them out Typically Exchange related procedures can be grouped into four categories Backup and restoration Monitoring and analysis System administration and Change and configuration management We cover backup and restore in a later section because of its importance If all else fails and you have a welldocumented and tested backup and restoration procedure users will spare their wrath
The purpose of monitoring and analysis is to measure and understand your hardware and software systems Monitoring and analysis are central to maintaining a healthy system and preparing you for future changes For example without the hard numbers provided by monitoring and analysis it becomes difficult to justify spending money on new hardware or hiring another administrator A historical record helps you understand your hardware and software and what is normal behavior This of course allows you to spot signs of trouble as they occur rather than waiting until users complain or systems crash
Monitoring and analysis can be divided further into performance monitoring and availability management Performance monitoring covers all of the fundamental measurements required to know how your system is performing and identify when there might be a problem Examples of counters to measure in Performance monitor include CPU utilization memory usage pages per second average disk queue length and message queue length This information allows you to identify bottlenecks and pinpoint trends Availability management is about maximizing system up time and is tied closely to performance monitoring Availability reliability and timetorepair are the key measurements to track
System Administration procedures are tasks completed regularly Regardless of the tasks frequency the goal is to document the procedure so every administrator understands what needs to be done and how it should be done Daily tasks include reviewing event logs checking that backups completed adding or deleting users and reviewing alerts generated by performance monitor Less frequent tasks include security reviews testing backups monitoring tape rotation and database maintenance Because many system administration tasks are repetitive one of your goals should be to automate as many of them as possible This will help reduce errors and increase your availability to handle unexpected problems A key part of good system administration involves understanding the tools that you have at your disposal and how and when they should be used Change management involves documenting and monitoring how and when changes are made to your Exchange environment This includes research review and rollback plans The goal of successful change management is to modify your Exchange environment without impacting users during or after the change Changes are usually measured by their scope and potential impact High Impact is defined typically as a companywide impact and may require input from colleagues outside the messaging team An example is a migration from Exchange 5 5 to Exchange 2003
Medium impact changes affect one or more of the critical systems within the messaging environment A great example of this is the patching and update process
Lowimpact changes are modifications in policies and settings that do not have any significant impact on your environment Configuration management is tied to change management and is the process of maintaining records on software and hardware systems Much of the information gathered as part of this process is critical if you are subject to an audit such as financial legal or security
Data Backup and Recovery
Fortunately many vendors want to tackle the problems we face Recent thirdparty software enhancements include software that allows for improved pattern recognition for searching email and improved auditing capabilities to show that data has been accessed by authorized personnel only Several Exchange backup vendors tackle the issue of granular recovery in a most effective method These tools will allow you to mount backups and restore to live Exchange environments without interruption to service
On the hardware side some vendors advocate diskbased backup solutions Tape has many disadvantages The biggest of course is restoration speed With the price of Networked Attached Storage NAS and Storage Attached Networks SAN coming down these solutions become very attractive as a mediumterm storage solution When incorporated into your environment correctly disk storage is cost effective and provides multiple layers of redundancy
Some vendors provide blocklevel backup tied to policy implementations that prevent data from being deleted in contravention of company policies When tied with the ability to create secure audit trails these solutions provide a comprehensive solution to regulatory compliance However it is unlikely that tape will disappear because it still plays an important role for longterm storage Moreover unless you are backing up over a WAN tape offers a good method of getting oodles of data off site This of course is necessary for any adequate disaster recovery plan
The downside to many spinning spindles is cost Some organizations dont have the budget to replace hardware that seems to work properly by outward appearance Unfortunately most of us wont have the funding we want for the latest technology so it is important not to overlook the fundamentals Regardless of the tools you use the procedures you follow and the standards you set that are more important than technology In fact the fundamentals of any wellrun Exchange environment are universal
After long hard experience in losing valuable data has I have identified the 7 most important features you need from a data back up server These are
· Backup Servers are usually for business that have 5 or more computers
· Can run on every day computer equipment
· Must backup Mac Windows Linux and Unix server and workstations
· Easy to use interface to administer and to restore files and data
· Robust stable and reliable
· Must be able to backup every computer every day
· Must grow with your business
· Must use removable and inexpensive disk drive to store offsite
· There are many backup solutions out there but if they dont do all the above you are running the risk of losing data or spending more time than you want to managing you backups
· The worst feeling of all is restoring from a backup only to realise that you have not flagged that particular file to be backed up The only solution is to backup every file every day and keep this archive for as long as you need
When you are running business its vital that you have a copy of all your computers basic installations If a computer fails it can take up to a week to re install the operating system and all the software Its just easier The other reason is you never really know which file you are going to need If you use selective backup schemes it you always run the risk of leaving out something vital Plus you cant control where you staff will put vital files no matter how often you tell them
Must Backup Different Types of Computers
Most businesses have a number of different computers to meet their requirements Macs are often used by your creative team you may have Unix Linux and Windows servers for you operations or specialist applications and PCs for general clerical and finance You have to be able to back up every computer you own
Use standard PC Hardware
Your backup server must run using standard PC hardware Only large corporates can afford specialist hardware to manage backups If you backup server is made from a PC you can get a your local computer shop then the cost is lower and it is easy to fix
Must be Robust And Reliable
You backup system must operate 24 7 and be very reliable The last thing you need to have to restart you backup server every other day or have it fail
Easy To use Interface
You need an easy to use interace to administer the system Users should be able to go to the bakup server and download the files they need Automatic backups and email notifications are also essential
Backup your Backup
Backup server must have a removable hard disk system to store your backup off site The backup server with smart backup software can keep 6 months backups for you whole company on a single 320 gb hard disk
Alternatively you can backup the back to an online storage area This depends on the cost of storage
Must Grow with your Business
As your business grows So does your information Its more like data explosion If your backup system can grow with your business then you elimate the cost of pruchasing another system to handle the load You just expand you existing one
Backup Systems That Meet this Criteria
A backup system that can backup every computer you own Macs PCs Windows Linux and Unix servers Everything is automatically backed up every day so you dont have to worry about trying to figure out which files to save This is the ultimate small business backup solution and will grow with your company from 5 to 250 PCs By using a clever technique only files that changed get backed up All the other files are kept as a virtual copy for that day The software runs on a deadicated server PC that you can buy from your local Computer shop The server shown is for small businesses The software will also run on rack mounted servers for larger organizations
DriveImage XML Backup your whole PC for Disaster Recovery
DriveImage XML is an easy to use and reliable program for imaging and backing up partitions and logical drives
The program allows you to
· Backup logical drives and partitions to image files
· Browse these images view and extract files
· Restore these images to the same or a different drive
· Copy directly from drive to drive
· Schedule automatic backups with your Task Scheduler
Image creation uses Microsofts Volume Shadow Services VSS allowing you to create safe hot images even from drives currently in use
Images are stored in XML files allowing you to process them with 3rd party tools Never again be stuck with a useless backup
Restore images to drives without having to reboot
DriveImage XML runs under Windows XP Home XP Professional and Windows Server 2003 only The program will backup image and restore drives formatted with FAT 12 16 32 and NTFS
Exchange Server 2003 Backup and Recovery
Email storage is more than a convenience issue for users as organizations need to comply with myriad legal and security considerations Fortunately for organizations that have moved to Exchange 2003 Microsoft has stepped up to the plate and added features and enhancements that help with the daytoday problems IT managers face
However even with the latest technology it is important to remember to document document and document all procedures processes and daily activities Exchange administration can be difficult Daily routines are often filled with problems that need fixing and users who need help Urgent tasks overwhelm important tasks Lowurgency chores such as documenting procedures making sure users know what is expected of them and planning for problems never make it to the front burner
However the increasing complexity of Exchange environments means we can no longer afford to put off important tasks Our lives end up being a whole lot simpler if everyone knows what to do and what is expected of them
This article covers the areas you need to document to help make your life simpler as well as meet legal and security requirements Youll also learn about the tools that will keep data safe and if something goes wrong you are in a position to recover the data
Best Practices Policies and Procedures
Successful Exchange management is more than getting through the day without annoying users The best approach to email administration is to look at the big picture and start managing email systems actively As mentioned previously the bigpicture approach requires documentation of policies and procedures which many Exchange Administrators overlook
The process of documentation formalizes and standardizes how IT departments are supposed to do their jobs This in turn helps reduce downtime and errors It also helps when problems occur as formalization and standardization reduce the unknowns when troubleshooting The process of developing and implementing policies that affect an Exchange environments operation as well as how people use the system will involve many people beyond the messaging group For example defer security and legal requirements to the legal department and senior executives
Your role in these matters is to advise on the technology required to meet legal and security requirements and monitor enforcement For mundane matters such as email storage limits attachment sizes and public folder creation it is your responsibility to define limits based on your infrastructure As always prepare to deal with exceptions Exceptions should always be well documented and understood as they often prove to be the source of problems
Creating procedures is a very different process and is one for which the Exchange team is solely responsible Procedures define the tasks we do and how we carry them out Typically Exchange related procedures can be grouped into four categories Backup and restoration Monitoring and analysis System administration and Change and configuration management We cover backup and restore in a later section because of its importance If all else fails and you have a welldocumented and tested backup and restoration procedure users will spare their wrath
The purpose of monitoring and analysis is to measure and understand your hardware and software systems Monitoring and analysis are central to maintaining a healthy system and preparing you for future changes For example without the hard numbers provided by monitoring and analysis it becomes difficult to justify spending money on new hardware or hiring another administrator A historical record helps you understand your hardware and software and what is normal behavior This of course allows you to spot signs of trouble as they occur rather than waiting until users complain or systems crash
Monitoring and analysis can be divided further into performance monitoring and availability management Performance monitoring covers all of the fundamental measurements required to know how your system is performing and identify when there might be a problem Examples of counters to measure in Performance monitor include CPU utilization memory usage pages per second average disk queue length and message queue length This information allows you to identify bottlenecks and pinpoint trends Availability management is about maximizing system up time and is tied closely to performance monitoring Availability reliability and timetorepair are the key measurements to track
System Administration procedures are tasks completed regularly Regardless of the tasks frequency the goal is to document the procedure so every administrator understands what needs to be done and how it should be done Daily tasks include reviewing event logs checking that backups completed adding or deleting users and reviewing alerts generated by performance monitor Less frequent tasks include security reviews testing backups monitoring tape rotation and database maintenance Because many system administration tasks are repetitive one of your goals should be to automate as many of them as possible This will help reduce errors and increase your availability to handle unexpected problems A key part of good system administration involves understanding the tools that you have at your disposal and how and when they should be used Change management involves documenting and monitoring how and when changes are made to your Exchange environment This includes research review and rollback plans The goal of successful change management is to modify your Exchange environment without impacting users during or after the change Changes are usually measured by their scope and potential impact High Impact is defined typically as a companywide impact and may require input from colleagues outside the messaging team An example is a migration from Exchange 5 5 to Exchange 2003
Medium impact changes affect one or more of the critical systems within the messaging environment A great example of this is the patching and update process
Lowimpact changes are modifications in policies and settings that do not have any significant impact on your environment Configuration management is tied to change management and is the process of maintaining records on software and hardware systems Much of the information gathered as part of this process is critical if you are subject to an audit such as financial legal or security
Data Backup and Recovery
Fortunately many vendors want to tackle the problems we face Recent thirdparty software enhancements include software that allows for improved pattern recognition for searching email and improved auditing capabilities to show that data has been accessed by authorized personnel only Several Exchange backup vendors tackle the issue of granular recovery in a most effective method These tools will allow you to mount backups and restore to live Exchange environments without interruption to service
On the hardware side some vendors advocate diskbased backup solutions Tape has many disadvantages The biggest of course is restoration speed With the price of Networked Attached Storage NAS and Storage Attached Networks SAN coming down these solutions become very attractive as a mediumterm storage solution When incorporated into your environment correctly disk storage is cost effective and provides multiple layers of redundancy
Some vendors provide blocklevel backup tied to policy implementations that prevent data from being deleted in contravention of company policies When tied with the ability to create secure audit trails these solutions provide a comprehensive solution to regulatory compliance However it is unlikely that tape will disappear because it still plays an important role for longterm storage Moreover unless you are backing up over a WAN tape offers a good method of getting oodles of data off site This of course is necessary for any adequate disaster recovery plan
The downside to many spinning spindles is cost Some organizations dont have the budget to replace hardware that seems to work properly by outward appearance Unfortunately most of us wont have the funding we want for the latest technology so it is important not to overlook the fundamentals Regardless of the tools you use the procedures you follow and the standards you set that are more important than technology In fact the fundamentals of any wellrun Exchange environment are universal
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