Data Processor Expres 3.4 SP4 and SBS 2003 backup

[Juha Rimmi]

Hi

I'm new DPE user and wondering how accurate it can backup SBS 2003 std. R2 server where Exchange is quite heavily used.

Scenario. SBS 2003 std. R2, all updates, DC, FileSharing,Remote Access, Exchange. Proliant ML350 G5 with 2x72 GB + 2x146 GB SAS mirror. HP internal Utrium tape drive 100/200 GB.

1. Is it possible to first use SBS backup to backup files into external disk and then use DPE to backup those files to tape? Can they even co-exist?
2. If not, is it possible to use only DBE to backup SBS 2003 RS completely to disk and from there to tape? I wonder if there are also SBS similiar features as snap shot of users shared folders and retain permanently deleted emails 30 days on DBE backup?

The reason why I'm asking this is because i'm currently using SBS backup to backup into external disk. The DPE is installed but the DPE service is disabled. The server crashes when trying to NT backup from external drive to disk.

I don't want to completely uninstall DPE before valuating which one is better Backup software SBS BU + NT BU or DPE. Of course I'm very intersted in OBD feature.

Please help me?

RGS,

Juha
Finland

[D Lancaster]

Hi Juha,

First, upgrade to version 3.5 SP2. It is available at http://hp.com/go/dataprotectorexpress

Now for the specific questions:

1. Is it possible to first use SBS backup to backup files into external disk and then use DPE to backup those files to tape? Can they even co-exist?
Yes they can co-exist. It's not really recommended but I had a single Windows server in my test environment running Data Protector Express, the enterprise product Data Protector 6.0, Backup Exec 10d, and WinBackup and never had any crashes caused by the backup software.

2. If not, is it possible to use only DBE to backup SBS 2003 RS completely to disk and from there to tape? I wonder if there are also SBS similiar features as snap shot of users shared folders and retain permanently deleted emails 30 days on DBE backup?
Yes, by adding optional licenses to Data Protector Express.
a. There is a license available that allows on-line backup of Exchange. This enables the use of VSS snapshot capabilities withing Exchange on Win2003 servers, all controlled by Data Protector Express. There is a limitation however. Data Protector Express can only backup and recover at the Exchange storage group level, not individual users or folders.
b. You can also add a D2D2Any option to Data Protector Express that will allow backup to a software based Virtual Library (D2D) and then copy that backup to tape (D2T). The retention rules can be different for the diferent backups maintained on disk or tape.

If you download the eval software also available at the link above you can get access to all options for 60 days.

DL