Introduction
In Part 1 of Upgrading to Windows Home Server 2011 (my way), I went through the OS installation, client upgrades, data migration tasks, and other rather mundane tasks to set up a new OS. I had completed all the Getting Started Tasks except one: Set up Server Backup.
It was time to tackle that last task. Which brings to my *very* brief “levels of protection” overview.
There are 3 levels of data protection/duplication/redundancy. They are:
- RAID (and DE), which is a system protection solution when a hard drive dies. If implemented correctly, the only one who knows about it in a business is the sys admin who just had his evening ruined because he/she has to rebuild that RAID array.
It is not a backup, although many use RAID and DE as if they were. And I am just as guilty (mostly) in that regard as anybody. - We have what I would call on-site backups. Using various software solutions, of which there are more of in the wild than I care to count, one produces a backup to some separate external device for on-site storage. These can be on CDs, DVDs, external HDs, a NAS device, another computer, tape drives, or similar device.
- Then we have that 3rd layer of protection: off-site storage. I would suggest that most are produced in the same manner as above, but once produced, the copy is taken off-site for protection from such a catastrophic event as a fire.
In some companies, the use of a cloud-based off-site backup is either being considered or being done. How feasible a cloud-base solution is debatable at this time, however, I am confident that it is an option that will gain in popularity over time.
The above 3 levels are part of a business plan, and are not cheap to implement/maintain. As I am sure many of you know, there can almost never be enough backups of a company’s data. A company can quite often survive a fire. The complete loss of the electronic data of a company, large or small, could easily mean shutting the doors and the loss of x number of jobs.
For a home solution, it would be nice to have that level of protection also. Time and cost constraints conflict quite often with producing that level of protection, however. Data on a home server is far less critical, but some portions of that information are just as important to the owner of that data. Pictures, for example.
So, for some, decisions must be made on how far one goes to protect data. The fact that you are reading this is probably a good indicator of how important data protection is. However, the concept of how far one goes in producing a plan like the one above will vary greatly, depending upon a individual’s needs/desires.
For today, I am going to focus on just one of those 3 legs of data protection, the on-site backup.
The Criteria
First, I must say that this is “my” solution for my situation. What may work for me may not be desirable or feasible for you. If it is a solution that you can make use, great! If it is solution that you cannot make use of, hopefully it will give you a direction to proceed.
Now that we are past the “disclaimer”, what follows is my bullet list of criteria needed for my situation.
- The on-site backup plan will sync data between my WHS 2011 production machine and my old WHS v1 machine. This WHS v1 HP X510 will become a backup server to my production WHS 2011 server.
Yes, I could do this on the same machine, but I would rather not. - The software to perform this function is free. If a free solution exists that meets my needs, that would be great. This is a desirable, but not necessary requirement.
- The software to perform this function is easily configurable. An easily understandable GUI interface that is easy to configure initially, and over time as conditions change, would be highly desirable.
- The software to perform this function is automated. I want to be able to tell the backup program to perform backups on a schedule that does not require input from me.
- I would like this backup to be easily read in any machine without the use of the backup software to “unpack” the data.
- Above all, I want a simple solution. This will be a set-it-up and forget it exists after that. Perhaps over time, I might want to tweak various advanced options. Perhaps I might find it desirable to make use of the features of the paid version of a free program.
For the most part, I think some or all of the above would apply to most anyone. The importance of some the above criteria may differ from individual to individual, but the result that comes from the above is a duplication of the data on a WHS 2011 machine.
