What is the best backup strategy for a Windows workstation?
I would like to find a backup strategy that would make it easy for a user to recover any necessary files.
I would also like to be able to recover to bare metal if necessary.
What backup strategy should I use to accomplish this?
One economical approach that I can think of is to use ntbackup to do a full backup and on a regular basis do a differential backup.
In the event of a total wipe out, I would reinstall the operating system and then do a full restore of the Ntbackup backup.
Is there some product that would account for the changes that might happen in case a new machine is necessary with the same operating system so that the new and different system settings would not be destroyed?
I would also like to be able to recover to bare metal if necessary.
What backup strategy should I use to accomplish this?
One economical approach that I can think of is to use ntbackup to do a full backup and on a regular basis do a differential backup.
In the event of a total wipe out, I would reinstall the operating system and then do a full restore of the Ntbackup backup.
Is there some product that would account for the changes that might happen in case a new machine is necessary with the same operating system so that the new and different system settings would not be destroyed?
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How far back do you want to be able to restore from?
If you need more than 1 month then we can start to include monthly bacups as well.
Otherwise I would recommend the following:
(This allows restore from up to 1 month ago)
# Full Backups #
Friday 1
Friday 2
Friday 3
Friday 4
Friday 5
# Differential Backups #
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Alternatively, if time/space is not an issue:
(This allows restore from up to 1 week ago)
# Full Backups #
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
If you need more than 1 month then we can start to include monthly bacups as well.
Otherwise I would recommend the following:
(This allows restore from up to 1 month ago)
# Full Backups #
Friday 1
Friday 2
Friday 3
Friday 4
Friday 5
# Differential Backups #
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Alternatively, if time/space is not an issue:
(This allows restore from up to 1 week ago)
# Full Backups #
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
ASKER
I want to review your other suggestions in more detail.
In the meantime, have you used Acronis?
Is the bare metal restore available for the home or small business user?
Does Acronis workstation allow for differential backups?
In the meantime, have you used Acronis?
Is the bare metal restore available for the home or small business user?
Does Acronis workstation allow for differential backups?
I think this might meet your needs:
Acronis True Image Echo Workstation
http://www.acronis.com.au/enterprise/products/ATICW/
Quote: "restore the system to dissimilar hardware"
Very affordable too.
Otherwise you could have a look at "Acronis True Image 11 Home":
http://www.acronis.com.au/homecomputing/products/trueimage/
However this won't facilitate a bare metal restore.
Acronis True Image Echo Workstation
http://www.acronis.com.au/enterprise/products/ATICW/
Quote: "restore the system to dissimilar hardware"
Very affordable too.
Otherwise you could have a look at "Acronis True Image 11 Home":
http://www.acronis.com.au/homecomputing/products/trueimage/
However this won't facilitate a bare metal restore.
True Image can execute both differential and incremental backup. Acronis can restore on the same hardware configuration, it also can restore to machine with different hardware configuration but one should also use Universal Restore add-on which can upload necessary drivers during restore operation.
ASKER
Covered all aspects of the problem in a comprehensive fashion. Very useful
http://www.acronis.com/enterprise/products/ATICW/bare-metal-restore.html