Backup Software for 10.4 Server

[mkuron]

I am looking for a backup software for my Mac OS X Server.
The only one I have found so far is Retrospect 6.0 Workgroup, which costs much more than I want to pay. Also this has far more features than I need; I only need to do a backup of my server every other night, and do not need to back up any client computers because I use portable home folders.
I want to do scheduled versioned backups to an external hard drive (USB 2.0).

Michael

[Go3iverson]

You can take a look at my document on backup solutions at www.district13computing.com under the Projects tab. BRU might be an option for you. If not, you could script your own solution using rsync and such. Is this a Tiger server?

Michael

[mkuron]

Originally Posted by Go3iverson

You can take a look at my document on backup solutions at www.district13computing.com under the Projects tab.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by Go3iverson

BRU might be an option for you.

BRU seems like what I was looking for. But it costs almost $400 for the server and one client, so not much less than Retrospect.
I also looked at NetVault, but (correct me if I'm wrong) it seems like it can only do backup to tape, I want to an external hard drive.

Originally Posted by Go3iverson

If not, you could script your own solution using rsync and such.

Would it be possible to do a versioned backup (keep several old sets of backup) with that? Is it possible to backup open files, databases, etc. like that? If yes, that would also work.

Originally Posted by Go3iverson

Is this a Tiger server?

Yes.

Michael

[Go3iverson]

Well, if BRU is too expensive, NetVault is going in the wrong direction. They start higher than BRU and Retrospect. NetVault can write to disk.

If you need something to backup live databases and open files, you'd need something with the appropriate plugins to handle both instances, which rsync will not provide, though you could script something to stop the database and then clone it, so you don't get a fuzzy backup.

I hate to say it, but none of these guys are going to start lower than $400. I think for about that intro price, you can get BRU + 25 client licenses, which can be installed on any machine you wish to backup on your network.

[mkuron]

OK. I guess I'll be going with BRU or Retrospect.
Are there no free/shareware programs that are able to backup live files (which active databases are)?

Michael

[Go3iverson]

I guess it really depends on your threshold for data loss. Most environments I've worked in, including my own, don't wish to leave any risk. If your data is business critical, then I'd be looking at something like BRU. They even have a free demo that's fully functional, so you can try it out yourself before spending a dime on it. See how it performs in your environment, back up data and try restoring data. Of course, this product will also come with support options, which most freeware will not, besides for a forum type community. Not to knock it, but again, if you can't get a backup done, do you want to rely on volunteer help whenever it arrives or have guaranteed support?

How much data are we talking about here? Your using FireWire 800? You can move a very large amount of data fairly quickly with that. Maybe scripting something with rsync is the way for you. It'd cost you time, but not money. Script something that stops your database, dumps out the data, copies it with rsync and starts it back up, or such, so you don't get a fuzzy backup of the data. If you have enough disk space, you could even just do 'full' backups every other day. Script in a section that checks the day of the week, or some monitor of time and then dumps all of your data into a different assigned folder for the day that it currently is, so you could have 3-4 backups at any one time.

Just some ideas to consider.

[mkuron]

Originally Posted by Go3iverson

How much data are we talking about here?

A standard MacOS X server installation, and the home folders of currently six users and their email. So not more than 10GB.

Originally Posted by Go3iverson

Your using FireWire 800? You can move a very large amount of data fairly quickly with that.

Firewire 400. But because it'll be backing up at night, the speed shouldn't be a problem.

Originally Posted by Go3iverson

Maybe scripting something with rsync is the way for you. It'd cost you time, but not money. Script something that stops your database, dumps out the data, copies it with rsync and starts it back up, or such, so you don't get a fuzzy backup of the data. If you have enough disk space, you could even just do 'full' backups every other day. Script in a section that checks the day of the week, or some monitor of time and then dumps all of your data into a different assigned folder for the day that it currently is, so you could have 3-4 backups at any one time.

I planned to have versioned backup. Full backup once a week, and then every day a differential one. Always keep two full backups and the past six differential ones.
At least for now, disk space wouldn't be a problem with full backups, but as there get more and more users, this might become an issue.

Michael

[Go3iverson]

Well, 10GB is a little bit different of a story...

You could sync your boot drive to an additional internal drive for backups. You also should have your boot drive set up as a mirror raid, for failure redundancy. Its not a backup solution, but a HA solution. Then sync your mirror to the third internal drive and copy that one off to firewire disk, if you want the backup offsite.

I mean, if your talking 10GB, you really should just do full backups each time. Moving that amount of data to FireWire should take no time at all. In the past, while waiting for products to ship and be set up, I've used 1TB LaCie FW800 disks to backup Xserve RAID hardware. Moving ~1TB of data was able to be done without issue during weeknight hours.

If the disk your using is smaller, take a look at the weekly ads. You can get 200GB - 300GB drives pretty cheap these days. Then just get a FW enclosure for it and your set for 20 - 30 daily full backups