Backup Systems.... Where to start

[Earl Bonovich]

With our growing needs for more backups...

We need to replace our current backup structure.

One of the things we are looking at is a D2D2T (Disk 2 Disk 2 Tape)

Basically we want to backup everything to a segment on our SAN (or a new drive structure). Keep it there for easy retrival say for a 14 day period.

When we are done with the backups to that location, taking a backup of that on a daily basis... to tape... and then sending that tape off-site.

Using an off-site digital copy location (somewhere to digitally transmit our backup copies too), is not in the cards right now.

Any recommendations on where to start looking?

[Stuart Sweet]

I don't know if these people will meet your needs but they meet mine nicely. Data is stored for roughly 30 months online and as capacity is needed it is moved both to DVDs for random, easy access, and an IBM LTO jukebox. (The DVD Archiving is done manually.)

Check these people out: www.powerfile.com

[netconcepts]

With our growing needs for more backups...

We need to replace our current backup structure.

One of the things we are looking at is a D2D2T (Disk 2 Disk 2 Tape)


Any recommendations on where to start looking?

I implemented a D2D2T system using Veritas Netbackup. It is very flexible and scalable.

Ver 6.5 has encryption with it, not a add-on, this is very important for tapes going off site.
All of the D2D happens between 8PM and 3AM, about 1.2TB nightly then two sets of vault jobs (D2T), one to the internal library and the second for ejecting daily to ship offsite. All is complete by 10:30 am the next day.

The master server is also a disk media server with 6 TB of space. I also have a media server with a Dell PV-136T tape library, with 6 LTO-3 tape drives.

Think about a dedicated lan segment for the backup so you have the full bandwidth available for backups.

[Sirshagg]

Most people wopuld probably consider it rather unorthodox but this post describes the product we now use.

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=118822

I wrote a small front end program to help me push the backup jobs out from a central server and to manage the backups (ie: e-mail me the backup logs, etc). I have two 1tb drives in Antec MX-1 cases that get swapped out each week and taken off site. The backup program, backups, and all recovery tools are all keps on the external drive. Each night all the servers are imaged and saved to the external drive and I keep x backups per server on each drive.

Like I said - unconventional - but I'm loving it and have never felt better about my backup strategy.