Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?
-
@JaredBusch said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
Meanwhile, in reality....
Exactly - Scott - it's fine to say don't store it there, but you didn't offer any solution as to where they should store it? and how they should back that up.
-
Question we are missing is "Are these desktops or laptops?"
If desktops, why not redirect their "Documents" folder to the NAS?
If laptops, then I believe that an endpoint backup solution is going to be needed, unless you want to redirect them to OneDrive or something like that.
-
@scottalanmiller What you say is correct. However, you have to move people in that direction. As of now that business has a need to backup the software on the local machines. When I have clients like this I show them that this is not the best practice and often will say we need to have a roadmap to get them to best practices because that leads to them being able to recover from a disaster. 40% of businesses don't recover after a disaster. I take care of their current need, that data that is stored locally but I work to move them in the right direction. If they don't want to move in the right direction I usually turn the job down.
-
@Dashrender said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
@JaredBusch said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
Meanwhile, in reality....
Exactly - Scott - it's fine to say don't store it there, but you didn't offer any solution as to where they should store it? and how they should back that up.
Seriously? We are all IT pros here. On a server, obviously.
-
@scottalanmiller said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
@Dashrender said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
@JaredBusch said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
Meanwhile, in reality....
Exactly - Scott - it's fine to say don't store it there, but you didn't offer any solution as to where they should store it? and how they should back that up.
Seriously? We are all IT pros here. On a server, obviously.
The question isn't "what should I use to store my user generated data?"
It's I have user generated data stored on their local systems, I want to ensure that we don't lose this data, how can I do that?
And while you can use endpoint backup software to do this, it's more cumbersome to manage, as every endpoint needs to be configured individually, and managed.
Veeam Endpoint Backup is the standard solution for this. (I believe it has a central management solution).
The other alternative would be UrBackup (as I mentioned above) which is centrally managed from a web console.
Again, these are the best of the worst approaches, as the goal to should be to not leave data on enduser systems. Of course this is reality and it will occur.
-
@DustinB3403 said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
Veeam Endpoint Backup is the standard solution for this. (I believe it has a central management solution).
In beta.
-
@DustinB3403 said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
Again, these are the best of the worst approaches, as the goal to should be to not leave data on enduser systems. Of course this is reality and it will occur.
Sure. But not taking backups will occur, too and our answer would always be "fix that." That things "will happen" doesn't mean that we shouldn't fix them.
-
@scottalanmiller said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
@DustinB3403 said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
Again, these are the best of the worst approaches, as the goal to should be to not leave data on enduser systems. Of course this is reality and it will occur.
Sure. But not taking backups will occur, too and our answer would always be "fix that." That things "will happen" doesn't mean that we shouldn't fix them.
And the immediate answer to the question is a solution that can be implemented "today" without interfering with production.
-
Sorry for the delay in replying, it seems alot have happened since I posted this and went to sleep.
I know the main topic didn't have much detailed information.Btw I will try both:
Veeam Endpoint Backup
And UrBackup and its alternativesAnd like you said in realistic scenarios we have to go step by step, and I wish I had more experience and more tools/funds/assistance but in reality, I will need to provide users with PDF guide and a link for the software hosted locally .
Also I fully agree this is the best of the worst approaches.
Many Thanks.
-
@DustinB3403 said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
@scottalanmiller said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
@DustinB3403 said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
Again, these are the best of the worst approaches, as the goal to should be to not leave data on enduser systems. Of course this is reality and it will occur.
Sure. But not taking backups will occur, too and our answer would always be "fix that." That things "will happen" doesn't mean that we shouldn't fix them.
And the immediate answer to the question is a solution that can be implemented "today" without interfering with production....
...while potentially creating huge cost because of backing up massive amounts of data to get a few GB that may not be able to be identified.
-
@msff-amman-Itofficer said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
Sorry for the delay in replying, it seems alot have happened since I posted this and went to sleep.
I know the main topic didn't have much detailed information.Btw I will try both:
Veeam Endpoint Backup
And UrBackup and its alternativesAnd like you said in realistic scenarios we have to go step by step, and I wish I had more experience and more tools/funds/assistance but in reality, I will need to provide users with PDF guide and a link for the software hosted locally .
Also I fully agree this is the best of the worst approaches.
Many Thanks.
Give both a try, @scottalanmiller mentioned that Veeam has a central management console that is in Beta. UrBackup has this built in.
With at least UrBackup you install the agent onto the client computer, and from the web console you can specify what to backup, when to backup etc.
I haven't used Veeam Endpoint myself, but I'd imagine it's a very similar process.
-
@scottalanmiller said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
@DustinB3403 said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
@scottalanmiller said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
@DustinB3403 said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
Again, these are the best of the worst approaches, as the goal to should be to not leave data on enduser systems. Of course this is reality and it will occur.
Sure. But not taking backups will occur, too and our answer would always be "fix that." That things "will happen" doesn't mean that we shouldn't fix them.
And the immediate answer to the question is a solution that can be implemented "today" without interfering with production....
...while potentially creating huge cost because of backing up massive amounts of data to get a few GB that may not be able to be identified.
Of course this is likely, with UrBackup you can specify to only backup specific directories from the client pc. I'd imagine Veeam Endpoint has this same functionality.
And this of course means you have another backup system to maintain.
-
Here is my review I posted on ML about UrBackup.
-
@DustinB3403 said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
@msff-amman-Itofficer said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
Sorry for the delay in replying, it seems alot have happened since I posted this and went to sleep.
I know the main topic didn't have much detailed information.Btw I will try both:
Veeam Endpoint Backup
And UrBackup and its alternativesAnd like you said in realistic scenarios we have to go step by step, and I wish I had more experience and more tools/funds/assistance but in reality, I will need to provide users with PDF guide and a link for the software hosted locally .
Also I fully agree this is the best of the worst approaches.
Many Thanks.
Give both a try, @scottalanmiller mentioned that Veeam has a central management console that is in Beta. UrBackup has this built in.
With at least UrBackup you install the agent onto the client computer, and from the web console you can specify what to backup, when to backup etc.
I haven't used Veeam Endpoint myself, but I'd imagine it's a very similar process.
The centralized console is quite pricey, though. It's not part of the free product. Just be aware.
-
@DustinB3403 said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
@scottalanmiller said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
@DustinB3403 said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
@scottalanmiller said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
@DustinB3403 said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
Again, these are the best of the worst approaches, as the goal to should be to not leave data on enduser systems. Of course this is reality and it will occur.
Sure. But not taking backups will occur, too and our answer would always be "fix that." That things "will happen" doesn't mean that we shouldn't fix them.
And the immediate answer to the question is a solution that can be implemented "today" without interfering with production....
...while potentially creating huge cost because of backing up massive amounts of data to get a few GB that may not be able to be identified.
Of course this is likely, with UrBackup you can specify to only backup specific directories from the client pc. I'd imagine Veeam Endpoint has this same functionality.
And this of course means you have another backup system to maintain.
But also requires the same diligence that moving to central storage would do. If you can force your users to follow a single process to make client backups so limited, you can almost certainly move them to a central data store, too. The one effectively creates the possibility of the other.
-
@scottalanmiller said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
@DustinB3403 said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
@scottalanmiller said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
@DustinB3403 said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
@scottalanmiller said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
@DustinB3403 said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
Again, these are the best of the worst approaches, as the goal to should be to not leave data on enduser systems. Of course this is reality and it will occur.
Sure. But not taking backups will occur, too and our answer would always be "fix that." That things "will happen" doesn't mean that we shouldn't fix them.
And the immediate answer to the question is a solution that can be implemented "today" without interfering with production....
...while potentially creating huge cost because of backing up massive amounts of data to get a few GB that may not be able to be identified.
Of course this is likely, with UrBackup you can specify to only backup specific directories from the client pc. I'd imagine Veeam Endpoint has this same functionality.
And this of course means you have another backup system to maintain.
But also requires the same diligence that moving to central storage would do. If you can force your users to follow a single process to make client backups so limited, you can almost certainly move them to a central data store, too. The one effectively creates the possibility of the other.
OK so this is a great time for Scott to post about his preferred centralized storage solution for this problem. Assume Windows clients but no AD, Assume pre existing NAS - go. What do you recommend for the top to bottom solution for data storage and DR.
-
@Dashrender said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
@scottalanmiller said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
@DustinB3403 said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
@scottalanmiller said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
@DustinB3403 said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
@scottalanmiller said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
@DustinB3403 said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
Again, these are the best of the worst approaches, as the goal to should be to not leave data on enduser systems. Of course this is reality and it will occur.
Sure. But not taking backups will occur, too and our answer would always be "fix that." That things "will happen" doesn't mean that we shouldn't fix them.
And the immediate answer to the question is a solution that can be implemented "today" without interfering with production....
...while potentially creating huge cost because of backing up massive amounts of data to get a few GB that may not be able to be identified.
Of course this is likely, with UrBackup you can specify to only backup specific directories from the client pc. I'd imagine Veeam Endpoint has this same functionality.
And this of course means you have another backup system to maintain.
But also requires the same diligence that moving to central storage would do. If you can force your users to follow a single process to make client backups so limited, you can almost certainly move them to a central data store, too. The one effectively creates the possibility of the other.
OK so this is a great time for Scott to post about his preferred centralized storage solution for this problem. Assume Windows clients but no AD, Assume pre existing NAS - go. What do you recommend for the top to bottom solution for data storage and DR.
Situational. Could be mapped drives, folder redirection or moving to NextCloud.
-
@Dashrender and I were discussing this and I wanted to clarify... my point about the best backup is no backup is that we generally want to keep end user equipment stateless, but people outside of IT rarely understand why we do this. I was never suggesting that the OP did not know this, only that he likely wasn't pushing back on the business for not doing this. It's likely some layer of managers outside of IT creating the need for a solution and very often IT is expected to just "fix the issue" rather than to be involved in strategic planning. This is a point where the OP can push on the business and show how infrastructure is about to be deployed that likely is not ideal and the business needs to fix processes - if it doesn't get fixed right as an investment in the "old way" is made, the technical debt from this investment will make changes in the future essentially impossible.
-
IT is expected to just "fix the issue" rather than to be involved in strategic planning. (+100)
And its very true when you have very limited budget to fix things, and I tend to have to rely on free and open source tech and what I have, cause I reckon you got used to be working with top of the line companies that understand there should be an initial cost for things to work smoothly in the foreseeable future.
I swear I learn alot with your replies, cause you give me the ideal way of how things should be, the best scenario for fixing the issue, but sometimes due to living in the developed/3rd world we have to make a bit of shortcuts, and there are other factors that we have to work with including stuff that you guys long ago dumped which is Piracy, but people here are generally are not accustomed to pay for software, they dont understand that notion, they just understands paying for hardware.
Also lately being the sole I.T where I work and kinda of limited budget gets me alot frustrated, I have to work with Asus AS1002T with 2x 2TB RAID 1 WD RED which is relatively good NAS for home, but not what I say amazing or business ready. But what to do when you explain the need of big storage system like SAN RACK and management tell you lets try with smaller one first and see how it goes...
I recall you blogged about this and made neat article about who makes the decisions I.T or management, and the conclusion was or how I understood it that it eventually management and we I.T have to live with the consequence the majority of time, and good companies/organization are the ones that make I.T more involved during this process.
To be honest, I am bit frustrated where I live and work, cause I have to always deal with shortcuts, it did teach me alot about how to do things in very cheap manner... for example KVM Virtualization instead of ESXi or using ESXi free and alot of scripts and OVA export and manual backups of VMs, Mumble/murmur (skype alternative) , using Win7/Windows 2008 instead of 2012 or anything beyond that due to reasons only specific people will know (Daz is the champ), but I reckon the world have grown past this, but what do at the end you have to learn and generate results, like it or not.
-
@msff-amman-Itofficer said in Best Software to backup to NAS automatically with versions/purging support?:
IT is expected to just "fix the issue" rather than to be involved in strategic planning. (+100)
And its very true when you have very limited budget to fix things, and I tend to have to rely on free and open source tech and what I have, cause I reckon you got used to be working with top of the line companies that understand there should be an initial cost for things to work smoothly in the foreseeable future.
You know, this is really all over the place. I do tend to work with top of the line companies that understand these things, but partially that is because I am pretty aggressively business oriented and will create that situation. I don't talk to businesses about "this is a great tech", I talk in terms of money. I make them talk in money. When they have to say "We don't care about profits, screw the company!" out loud, then things tend to change. Change the conversation from technology to business, the tech is only how to implement the business decisions.
Does this work 100%, no. Does it work 99%, yes. It takes practice, but this is IT's role. This is where IT moves from a cost center to being valuable. This is how you make the leap from one pay strata to another. If IT only enacts bad decisions, it can't be worth much money. If IT drives improvements in the business that save or generate money, IT earns the money for good pay.
