Ed.Maurer@p4.f10.n135.z1.fidonet.org (Ed Maurer) (03/31/89)
> I am in the process of evaluating hard disk backup systems > for a network of PS/2s running Netware SFT 2.15. The servers > are two model 80s with 320Mb disks. The clients are 30 model > 70s with 60Mb hard disks. The lab is set up such that the > clients' disks will rarely/never have to backed up. All the > users data resides on the servers' disks. > > The following characteristics are advantageous but not cast in stone: > - should back up both 320Mb drives on one tape > - should have access control from clients > - unattended off-hour operation would be nice > - incrementals are a must I think > - nice user interface for graduate assistants who'll be doing the real > work :-) > Rather than give specific recommendations, I'll summarize some experience: First and most important: Backup is only as good as the restore - that is; good tape backups have got to restore your data when needed. While this should be obvious, many available tapes fall flat on restore in a Novell environment - at best, many will not restore users rights or TTS files. Maynard, for example, has some of the best software around, but will fail to restore users mail directories if the directory is empty. Emeralds VAST system, while meeting a lot of your criteria, has been short on users rights, and erratic in use. Mountain has been OK, but slow to respond to new Novell releases. Having done a lot of on-line testing with tape backups for a corporate standard, Restoring complete 240Mb Maxtors, my real advice is to try it out. Haven't seen one yet that had easy software, the size of VAST, and the reliability of a hard disk. One more recommendation: Use Novells backup to save directories: e.g. specify all for directories, and none for files. Doing this guarantees users rights and system info, and your tape only has to get the files. C:\Ed Maurer > -- Ed Maurer - via FidoNet node 1:135/3 Medical Software Exchange BBS (305) 325-8709 UUCP: ...uunet!gould!umbio!medsoft!10.4!Ed.Maurer ARPA: Ed.Maurer@p4.f10.n135.z1.fidonet.org