Backup Solution - Recommendations
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OK I have a site that has a single Hyper-V Server 2012R2 running 4 virtual Machines (2 Windows 2 Linux)
I only need to backup the windows servers as the Linux servers are just Unifi and Zabbix.
VM1 - DC - Win2012 - 600GB Provisioned - 200GB Used
VM2 - SQL - Win2008 - 250GB Provisioned - 60GB UsedSo I want to back this up. At the moment i'm using BackupAssist + RDX but its failing more often now, so I need something more reliable.
My end goal is to have something local, for quick file restore and VM restore if the server has issues, but also an offsite copy in case the building burns down.
Here's the issue. I've already looked at Datto and had a quote 5K for hardware then £400per month is a bit OTT I think for the site. I know you can't really but a price on data protection and RTO PTO but I know this site will
so I need some options. Like a NAS local uploading to cloud + Veeam running it maybe, or even Azure Backup/Site Recover (if I can work out the costs)In my head I want 1months worth local and then 6 months to a year on the cloud??
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The usual suspects on my short list here would be Unitrends, StorageCraft and Veeam. They all handle what you need, all in different ways.
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Unitrends is nice because it has the most flexibility and is likely free for your scenario. It will handle both Hyper-V snapshot backups as well as traditional agent-based backups depending on the licensing that you go for. You can get an appliance or just use software.
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Veeam is great and has a free option but it is pretty limited so might not do what you want.
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StorageCraft is agent based and is licensed by guest, rather than by host. But with just two guests, it might be so affordable to get all of the SC features that you end up not carrying.
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For both Veeam and SC you would get a NAS device (ReadyNAS, Synology, ioSafe, etc.) as the backups target. Unitrends if you don't have something already you would likely go for an appliance.
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Yeah, I've tried the FREE version of unitrends with the Google Cloud but could never work out if it was working correctly. Might give it another go since it free
See i'm just not sure as I see it
Option 1) Buy Veeam/SC/Unitrends + NAS + Cloud storage = £600-1000 + £400-£500NAS (8TB) + Cloud storage
Option 2) Buy Appliance that does Cloud too - Seems expensive - 3TB local box + Cloud £5K upfront + £400 per month
Option 3) Azure backup or Site recovery - Not sure how to work out the pricing -
You'll almost certainly want local NAS storage before cloud no matter what or else recovery can take for forever, even for what would otherwise be minor things.
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@scottalanmiller said:
You'll almost certainly want local NAS storage before cloud no matter what or else recovery can take for forever, even for what would otherwise be minor things.
That was always my issue with these scenarios. Yeah, you can get it to the cloud, but good luck restoring.
It makes me think more and more a "LOCAL" cloud version (either a replicated NAS in another location or an offsite target server such as which StrageCraft can do) is the way to go.
And by local I mean offsite of the actual data location, but in a remote facility I control a certain distance away.
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@BRRABill said:
And by local I mean offsite of the actual data location, but in a remote facility I control a certain distance away.
If that is offsite but close enough to onsite that you will do sneakernet (stationwagon-net?) for a restore process, then yes. If not, then no.
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I think sneakernet is even too close, no?
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@BRRABill said:
I think sneakernet is even too close, no?
Depends how you define it and what your needs are.
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For big disasters you want something geographically far enough away. Taking backups home if you live near work won't help if there's a huge fire or earthquake. I'd have at least some type of online backup that's stored in another area of the country for this worst-case scenario.
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@Nic said:
For big disasters you want something geographically far enough away. Taking backups home if you live near work won't help if there's a huge fire or earthquake. I'd have at least some type of online backup that's stored in another area of the country for this worst-case scenario.
Although you have to gauge the business too... is there a reason to remain functional in those scenarios? If you manage an auto-garage, even a super busy one worth many millions, and a hurricane hits and the streets are underwater... is there any need to stay in operational status? Not really. It's very subjective.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Nic said:
For big disasters you want something geographically far enough away. Taking backups home if you live near work won't help if there's a huge fire or earthquake. I'd have at least some type of online backup that's stored in another area of the country for this worst-case scenario.
Although you have to gauge the business too... is there a reason to remain functional in those scenarios? If you manage an auto-garage, even a super busy one worth many millions, and a hurricane hits and the streets are underwater... is there any need to stay in operational status? Not really. It's very subjective.
True, but even then you're going to want to have your customer data eventually, once you get back up and running. Not to mention tax info.
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@Nic said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@Nic said:
For big disasters you want something geographically far enough away. Taking backups home if you live near work won't help if there's a huge fire or earthquake. I'd have at least some type of online backup that's stored in another area of the country for this worst-case scenario.
Although you have to gauge the business too... is there a reason to remain functional in those scenarios? If you manage an auto-garage, even a super busy one worth many millions, and a hurricane hits and the streets are underwater... is there any need to stay in operational status? Not really. It's very subjective.
True, but even then you're going to want to have your customer data eventually, once you get back up and running. Not to mention tax info.
You can go to slow cloud for "eventual tax records" though.
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@scottalanmiller said:
Although you have to gauge the business too... is there a reason to remain functional in those scenarios? If you manage an auto-garage, even a super busy one worth many millions, and a hurricane hits and the streets are underwater... is there any need to stay in operational status? Not really. It's very subjective.
I live about 20 minutes from my office. I always feel if there was a disaster that destroyed my house and office, I'd have beigger issues to think about than data.
Still doesn't mean I wouldn't want it protected. But that I would be doing other things.
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@BRRABill I once had a meeting about making a DR plan in case BOTH of our datacenters in Singapore were nuked and what would we do it that happened. And the risk was considered large enough that we built a tertiary datacenter in Hong Kong...
because even if Singapore was nuked off of the map we were concerned about stock trading?
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OK so I've been told by BackupAssit the reason for the failing backups is the Disk is about to die.
Question is which disk! I have a 8x 300GB SAS in RAID10. My Dell iDRAC is showing green across the board. -
@hobbit666 said:
OK so I've been told by BackupAssit the reason for the failing backups is the Disk is about to die.
Question is which disk! I have a 8x 300GB SAS in RAID10. My Dell iDRAC is showing green across the board.Why do they think that?
What are they seeing that the DELL diags are not? (Are these DELL drive?)
