backup and more

[imhof]

my intention is to backup an exchange 2000 server ... i found a lot of software solutions but which one should i take and are there any important differences ?

beg for help

[Alexander M. Ermes]

Hi there.
Depends on the costs.
Best would be OmniBack II.
Another one is Veritas.
Rgds
Alexander M. Ermes

[imhof]

thanks for your answer alexander
it is not easy to decide which product is the best for us. I don't want spent much money and want something that is easy to use. veritas is the product i have heard about most often but i have also heard good things about omniback. whats the difference between these two products.

[Joseph T. Wyckoff]

We have an Omniback forum here

http://forums.itrc.hp.com/cm/CategoryHome/1,,251,00.html

You can get more information, and a DEMO copy at the SEE-TRY-BUY link

http://openview.hp.com/products/omniback/index.asp

I have no specific knowledge of Veritas. Some people swear its better, some swear they like Omniback better.

The basic version of Omniback does not include a license for the hot backup of Exchange (although the demo would in fact include binaries, and a demo license - so you could make a good, complete test.)

Take a look in our forums (search) and get a feel for some of the questions other people have.

If you use Omniback, let me ask you to...

1. Be comfortable with TCP/IP, HOSTS, and DNS, and networking in general.

2. Watch for patches in the OS, in the application (Exchange in this case) and in Omniback.

3. Use NTBACKUP (the native NT backup tool) to become comfortable with Microsoft specifc steps in an exchange backup and restore.

4. Practice restores in advance of disaster. An exchange recovery can be quite complex.

Plan this carefully - test before you buy, because there are some pretty fundamental strategic problems you can run across.

A 'brick' backup, for example, is a wonderful idea (to back up each mail box individually) - but it can be a performance nightmare. Omniback can do a brick backup, although I am told it is not as elegant looking as some of our competitors.

Good Luck.