Poor Man's Server Replication
A small business is running Microsoft Small Business Server 2008.
The owner of the company wants a way to replicate - bit for bit - the entire contents of the server to a remote location (his home, possibly).
Seems like backing up an entire server across the Internet is not unheard of. Services like Carbonite and Mozy essentially do it! However, instead of paying several hundred dollars per month to replicate to one of these services, I'd like to install a second computer at the owner's house.
Assuming that remote server is always on, there's no reason why throughout the day (or at scheduled times?), the Small Business Server couldn't somehow replicate to this remote server.
Are there any do-it-yourself or open source software applications that can do this? I'll even consider commercial software as long as it is within a small business budget and doesn't require any fancy hardware (like a SAN).
(Reminder - SBS includes Exchange Server and SQL Server - so I need to be able to replicate data across the Internet in real time, without corrupting the SBS) I would only expect to replicate one way (i.e. from the SBS to the backups server)
The backup server will NEVER be used unless the SBS goes down.
In fact, the backup 'server' can just be a workstation with lots of hard drive space.
I'm looking for a Business Continuity plan for small business.
Thank you!
The owner of the company wants a way to replicate - bit for bit - the entire contents of the server to a remote location (his home, possibly).
Seems like backing up an entire server across the Internet is not unheard of. Services like Carbonite and Mozy essentially do it! However, instead of paying several hundred dollars per month to replicate to one of these services, I'd like to install a second computer at the owner's house.
Assuming that remote server is always on, there's no reason why throughout the day (or at scheduled times?), the Small Business Server couldn't somehow replicate to this remote server.
Are there any do-it-yourself or open source software applications that can do this? I'll even consider commercial software as long as it is within a small business budget and doesn't require any fancy hardware (like a SAN).
(Reminder - SBS includes Exchange Server and SQL Server - so I need to be able to replicate data across the Internet in real time, without corrupting the SBS) I would only expect to replicate one way (i.e. from the SBS to the backups server)
The backup server will NEVER be used unless the SBS goes down.
In fact, the backup 'server' can just be a workstation with lots of hard drive space.
I'm looking for a Business Continuity plan for small business.
Thank you!
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ASKER
Cliff,
Thank you VERY much for taking the time to write your response. (This is why I love EE ;-)
Now that I know the price for DoubleTake, I will look into StorageCraft and AppAssure and report back.
(I agree that I should make the first 'seed' backup).
While a real-time backup solution may not be affordable to small businesses, the options above are certainly welcome alternatives.
Thanks again!
Thank you VERY much for taking the time to write your response. (This is why I love EE ;-)
Now that I know the price for DoubleTake, I will look into StorageCraft and AppAssure and report back.
(I agree that I should make the first 'seed' backup).
While a real-time backup solution may not be affordable to small businesses, the options above are certainly welcome alternatives.
Thanks again!
ASKER
Thanks for your help everyone. And thanks cgaliher for taking the time to explain the different products and what can and cannot be expected of 'non-enterprise' replication solutions. I am still researching this project on my spare time and if I come across something worth posting, I will leave a comment here.
Thanks again!
Thanks again!
ASKER
Thanks for recommending DoubleTake.
I have also heard of this program, and it seems to be a popular choice. However, I would have to purchase two licenses (one for each "server") which brings me to about $4,000.
Also, to implement DoubleTake, the "home" server needs to be running Windows Server.
I'll try to do some more research. Although DoubleTake is relatively expensive (to a small business, anyway), it may end up being a viable option.
wynandkunkel,
I will check out RoboCopy and BackupAssist
I also found another software product called StorageCraft Shadow Protect. Don't know much about this product either but I will continue my research.
All good recommendations so far ... thank you!