Backup Plans?

[Robie Lutsey]

Our company is starting to expand and we are using sattelite images and huge ARC/Info Coverages. The problem is that we are needing well over 300 Gigs of space and we have doubled the amount of space we need every year. The problem is that I am trying to figure out the best backup plan without paying huge amount of cash.

Any thoughts? I need to backup 4 separate servers including a HP-UX, Win2K and 2 new Linux boxs (yet to be delivered). Thanks in advance.

[Alexander M. Ermes · Accepted solution]

Hi there.
Try to get a small tape library and connect it to the HP-UX machine. Install OmniBack II on it as cell manager and get the licenses to backup the other servers with this one.
If you decide to do so, think about a separate network for the backup, because backup load on network is usually very high.
Rgds
Alexander M. Ermes

[Michael Tully]

Hi,

I would look at a 3 year plan as opposed to a quick solution with a little cash. You need to look at how much space are you going to back up next year and the year after. Implementing a poor solution can give you more trouble than the small amount of cash you were willing to part with initially.

As suggested you could look at a small tape library unit connected to a HP-UX server, but I would go one step further and implement a solution that can take care of your immediate needs with the ability of expansion later. This would include purchasing a unit that has at least you could upgrade it to Fibre channel. You would not need to invest in a
secondary backup network. If you choose not to
get FC unit, you will need to either run them via
your network or via direct SCSI attachment. As far as the software is concerned, OmniBack is a pretty good selection, it can backup HP-UX Windows and various other Unix platforms including Linux.

My $0.02 cents worth
-Michael

[Robie Lutsey]

Thanks guys. I think we go with a small fileserver with a SAN implementation over time. I haven't even heard of Omniback before so I will definitely have a look into it. If HP-UX is going to be around for awhile then I would rather use that then the alternative. *Cough*NT*cough* ;)

Thanks Guys!!

[Volker Borowski]

Hello Cliff,

consider not only how to do an optimal backup. Consider to manage a reasonable restore-time in addition.
A "cheap" solution may mean incremental backups, and with omniback, incremental backups may be costy in terms of restore time.
Omniback is a good backup product, no question, but on restore requests, there are setups, where it has it's difficulties and there are some features, one might miss.
I found requirements, where omniback was not able to meet the specs. In this case the customer decided for ADSM. The setup was lousy and it was expensive.
So check out what you need carefully.
Omniback has a fair 60 day trial option, so you can test if it meets your specs.

Hope this helps
Volker

[Robie Lutsey]

You'll have to forgive me but I don't know what ASDM is. I am really new at this. In fact I have only been an admin for 5 months and I have no training so I am hobbling along.

I hadn't thought of the restore time yet. If I get a LTO tape library will the restore time be rediculous?

[Volker Borowski]

Hi Cliff,

ADSM is a former IBM product, now serviced by Tivoli. As said it has a few more capabilities that Omniback, but is far more expensive.

In contradiction to the ones suggesting Omniback on the HP-UX-machine, I would recommend to use it on the W2K box, because the tape-drive license is MUCH cheaper for NT/W2K. If you have many files (not just a few big ones building your 300GB) I would consider to install a seperate box (NT) for Omniback, because the purge of the omniback database eats a lot of CPU.
You can get a nice NT-box for the diffrence between the UNIX and NT drivelicense. Take care, to install Omniback on a seperate non-boot partition.
Check out, if you need special database options (oracle, online ext., etc.)

Hope this helps
Volker