Designing a ReadyNAS Pro backup solution.

[JeremyCC]

Hi we have about 100 users and about 150 computers in our company MAc OSX3-5 & Win XP/Vista/Enterprise server (no other OSs). Average disk useage is about 50GB and the network is Cat5e 100Mbps. We want to setup a backup system using the ReadyNAsPro box but want to use sequential backups rather than snapshot backups. Our current plan is to use the boes in a 6x500GB Raid 5 or 6 configuration and divide the computers up between 3 - 4 boxes and run the backup for a month and then replace them with a second set for a month and then rotate again in a father son type system as per tapes. As we want to protect against fire ect damage we will always have one set off site. However we cannot run them from the remote storage location. The only decent software we know that handles Macs and PCs sequential backups is Retrospect. I would love to hear peoples comments on this backup design, particularly how it could be improved.
Cheers. Jeremy

[dengar]

Jeremy - we actually ship a copy of NTI backup client backup softare for both Mac and PC with the ReadyNAS. It's not in the same league as Backup Exec but the price is right and I'd like to hear your feedback.

Does all of this data have to be backed up offsite? How about replication between sites (I know, you said the alternate site was unavailable) but that's a simple and elegant solution.

Drew

[chirpa]

Do you already have Retrospect in place to use? The ReadyNAS can work well with Retrospect (the NV+ and 1100 models actually bundled the desktop Professional 5-license version of Retrospect).

[Staffan]

DeltaCopy could be a nice solution. Uses rsync so it works good with the ReadyNAS.

.staffan

[NASman]

Is there a possibility that much of the end-user data could be (substantially) duplicative? If so then expand your backup solution to include a review of data deduplication product offerings (there are many).
* an example of a client software solution to compare with Retrospect and NTI would be the EMC Avamar product.
* appliance based deduplication is available from vendors like SilverPeak, Expand Networks, Data Domain, Juniper, and others to replicate data between sites over a WAN.
* sophisticated NAS vendors also offer volume based data deduplication and that would be a modern variant of snapshots when used with sequential backups.

For commercial storage offerings an inexpensive path would be the unlimited Continuous Data Protection equivalent services from Carbonite and Mozy (EMC's consumer branding of Avamar). Annual fees per seat is ~$50/year with _unlimited_ client storage.

At a high level a helpful planning resource from the Virtualization world is the downloadable VMware book : "A Practical Guide to Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery (with VMware Infrastructure)", which you may find as a handy planning reference. VMware Item # VMB-BCDR-ENG-Q308-001.