Glad to see that you managed to get your Exchange server back up and
running. Given that you had a number of failures on the physical server, it
is a rather good time to think about more robust backup solutions.
It is certainly possible to recover a server using something like Symantec
Backup Exec or Barracuda's backup device (just to name a few) but this can
be a rather trying experience in many cases, especially in more complex
systems like Exchange.
But to get to more to your specific point, you may want to consider a
so-called "bare metal" backup solution. The idea behind this solution is
that you are creating an actual "image" of the server. If done correctly
(with the right tools), a bare metal backup can be restored to existing
hardware OR to NEW hardware. This is an important distinction because it
can greatly short-cut the recovery time especially when you have had a
fundamental server failure and you have to replace the entire hardware.
Otherwise, you have to go through building the server, recovering the
system state, re-installing applications and then recovering the actual
data.
Various manufacturers (including Acronis, Symantec and others) offer
bare-metal backup options. But regardless of what option you use, be sure
to REGULARLY test these images. Your backup is only as good as the last
restore you have done.
It does beg the question as to whether or not you should consider pushing
email (as well as other mission critical applications) out of house. If
your email was out at Google, Microsoft or any number of other vendors, this
would never have happened. Managing all of the various aspects of the day
to day IT environment is hard enough but actually building, maintaining and
testing disaster recovery models can be far more costly than using software
as a service models.
TJ
TJ Rainsford
E: tjrainsford@gmail.com
On Thu, Dec 2, 2010 at 13:25, Renee Ramig <rramig@sevenhillsschool.org>wrote:
> I am not an expert, but isn't that what RAID is for? It creates an
> ongoing mirror of the server, so if one crashes, you just switch over?
> I have never had to use it, but that is my understanding.
>
> Renee
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: A forum for independent school educators
> [mailto:ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of Bernadette Roche
> Sent: Thursday, December 02, 2010 9:28 AM
> To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
> Subject: Full server backup/image
>
> Hi all,
>
> After having my email server crash last week, I realized that just
> backing up data isn't enough - I really need to have a back up of the
> actual machine with all the settings, configurations, etc. More like an
> image of the hard drive(s) so that it could be recreated should it be
> needed. Anyone do this? Have suggestions for
> software/appliances/services? BTW, we currently back up data using a
> Barracuda appliance, but I haven't contacted them directly yet to
> inquire about full server backup capabilities.
>
>
> TIA!!
>
>
>
> Bernadette Roche
>
> Director of Technology
>
> Oakhill Day School
>
> www.oakhilldayschool.org
>
> 816.436.6228
>
>
>
>
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> [ For info on ISED-L see https://www.gds.org/podium/default.aspx?t=128874]
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