Backup solution? Weekly full backup & daily incremental

I personally like Veritas Backup Exec, but:

Our budget is small  

 

  That's not going to work well SBE is well rounded and can do just about anything, but it is not cheap.

and our needs are simple.

   Actually, with SBS  and what you have, it's not.   You have a lot of different things going on with SBS, and then your using SQL on top of that (SBS has it's own SQL databases as well).

Jim.

Are the servers still physical servers, or do you have some virtualization solution?

To protect physical servers, you maybe want to look at the Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows: https://www.veeam.com/windows-cloud-server-backup-agent.html

(SBS 2011 is fully supported, and also SQL backups are nicely integrated - but srv2008 (without r2) could maybe be a problem as it is not on the current supported OS list)

Since you only have three servers, and since price point is important, is there some reason why you don't want to use the built-in server backup that comes with SBS2011, SQL and Windows Server 2008? It's true, they would all be separate and controlled from different places and consoles. So it would certainly not be the easiest way to do it and restoring from the backup would potentially be troublesome, especially for the SQL files ... you would have to build a new SQL server and restore the databases from flat files individually. But it can be done.

For a small number of servers like this, I'm afraid that you are going to have some difficulty finding a cost-effective solution. You don't have the advantage of economy of scale.

One of the big decisions is what your going to backup to; cloud, disk, or tape.  That may dictate the product more than anything else.

Jim.

I've been using Backupassist - www.backupassist.com for a few years and have had no problems with it.  Though you will need a license for each server w/ the appropriate/desired add-on packages.

It's worth looking into IMO documentation is readily available - https://www.backupassist.com/support/en/home.htm

Hope it helps

Ken

This chap provides a free solution for database backups (and a bunch of other maintenance tasks). You do need a medium amount of skill/comfort level working with SQL Server to implement and maintain.

https://ola.hallengren.com/

Sebastian Talmon --  These are three physical servers.   No VM's.   I will take a closer look at Veeam.  Thanks.

Jane Updegraff -- I did think of that.  No particular reason.  I suppose it would be the less expensive solution.   All that would be necessary is the additional external HD docking stations.  

The backup destination is an external hard drive docking station (hooked up to the DATA server via USB) with a set of six (6) hard drives (3TB each).   The hard drives I change out daily.

kenfcamp -- I currently have BackupAssist running, but the problem is the backup takes 24+ hours!   That's insane....   I only have one copy installed on the DATA server with shares to the SQL server (which has copies of the SQL databases created hourly/daily by a script).  I've contacted their tech support, but for some reason I am unable to glean the info I need out of his explanations to reduce the backup time.   <sigh>

The SBS2011 server is used only as the domain server and AD.   We don't use the Exchange feature.
The individual that designed our SQL app wrote a script that copies the SQL databases so that the copy gets backed up, so apparently no need for the BackupAssist SQL module.
The third server is just used as a shared file server.

I can easily create three individual and separate 'System Protection' backups on the servers, all I need is to do a full file backup weekly with an incremental daily.

Matt Bowler -- I will take a look at https://ola.hallengren.com/.   Thank you.

backup takes 24+ hours

YIKES! ...

SQL app wrote a script that copies

So (If you don't mind my asking) what is it you're backing up? Full system, Just data, Bare-metal etc

First of all you need to start with a business (not just IT) continuity plan, covering everything from a computer room aircon failure to the building catching fire and beyond.
From this you can get your Rrcovery Time Objective and Recovery Point Objective (RTO/RPO) NB your RTO is not how long it takes to restore your backup, but how long it takes to get back in operation, there are a lot of pre and post restore data tasks to complete!
Once you have a defined RPO/RTO then you can then plan your Backup regime (which may be as simple as weekly backups with daily incrementals)

You may want to consider products that give you Synthetic Full backups, aka “incrementals forever” to reduce your backup window

We use Tape and Backup Exec at this point and tapes always go Off Site weekly. Good Approach.

When the drives wear out / depreciate out, we will look at Azure backups as mentioned above.

I recommend you take a very good look at Azure to ensure true off-site backups and reasonable expense in a business environment.

If you want a free tested solution
I'd use Cobian : https://www.lifewire.com/cobian-backup-review-2617906

you can test Syncback pro with the free version :  https://www.2brightsparks.com/welcome/syncback-syncbackse-syncbackpro.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4ueyjbL53QIVjOR3Ch0GJQQXEAAYASAAEgLJYvD_BwE

if you like it, get the pro version

kenfcamp -- Backing up just data.

Jose Gabriel Ortega Castro -- Thanks, I'll take a look.

nobus -- I'll take a look.   Thank you.

N8iveIT -- Highly doubtful we'll virtualize.   I've been here 10 years and nothing much has really changed.... upgrades to servers & workstations, but overall.... not much different.    Very small company.  You've brought up several good points that I will take into consideration.   It's very seldom simple.  :)