Enterprise Backup Solution

I just wanted to get some ideas/thoughts on a backup solution for a DoD site. Users currently have access to a personal network share (which is backed up). The problem is many users leave .pst and work files on their local HDD. I thought about the implementation of Folder Redirection but wasn't sure of the pro's/con's.

Do most solutions just utilize servers with HDD's for short term, then archive to tape?

How do you overcome users from saving locally?

Is there a better cost/benefit ratio for using some other secure method of storing data than HDD's/tape?

Equipment suggestions?

Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated!

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Comments

hypnotoad

Depends on how much data we're talking about -- and what you want to retain, and what your goals are, and what your network's like.

Edit: and if you have things like SQL, Exchange, Sharepoint, that require special treatment.

gunbunnysoulja

hypnotoad wrote: »

Depends on how much data we're talking about -- and what you want to retain, and what your goals are, and what your network's like.

Edit: and if you have things like SQL, Exchange, Sharepoint, that require special treatment.

Sorry for the long delay getting back to this post. Currently using approximately 15TB of data for 1500 users @ 10GB limits each. The goal is to retain all data on the network.

Biggest focus right now is Folder Redirection with Syncronization for offline files. We do have Sharepoint and Exchange. We are utilizing NETAPP now, and it seems to be great, aside from the cost. The only worry I am thinking of is implementing Folder Redirection, and seeing a significant increase in data storage needs and well and a negative impact on network performance. If we are using 15TB now with a 10GB per user threshold, who knows what the data will increase to when most of the users local data moves to the network when utilizing folder redirection with no cap.

We just don't want our users losing data, and want centralized management. Ideally, the user won't have a "choice" to save locally.

IRONMONKUS

Where I work, they have two network shares that are backed up, a department share (20Gig) and a personal share (2Gig). Everything saved or placed on the local machine is the responsibility of the user.

My brother-in-law's work however, redirects the users My Documents folder, so it can be backed up.

joshmadakor

Where I work, we support an average of about 15K users at any given time. We simply use folder re-direction in Group Policy for "Desktop" and "My Documents" to a file server and back that up.

It's something like this:

C:\Users\<username>\desktop --> \\server\<username>\desktop
C:\Users\<username>\documents --> \\server\<username>\documents

tiersten

We just put it into the policy that anybody that leaves anything on the local HD does it at their own risk and that it will not be backed up. We use full disk encryption so the loss of the desktop isn't too much of an issue.

For our actual backups, we employ a 3 tier system. Everything gets dumped to disk initially then it goes to a tape library and a copy is made to be couriered to the offsite storage facility. The daily tapes get rotated every 2 weeks. Weekly gets kept for a year. Monthly gets kept for 7 years due to regulations. The tapes get destroyed in a massive industrial shredder once they're past their very conservative working life or are past the retention date.

steve13ad

IRONMONKUS wrote: »

Where I work, they have two network shares that are backed up, a department share (20Gig) and a personal share (2Gig). Everything saved or placed on the local machine is the responsibility of the user.

My brother-in-law's work however, redirects the users My Documents folder, so it can be backed up.

We map all of our user's My Documents to their Home Directory in the Domain. Works great, but then again most of my user's don't understand that Excel isn't an actual folder........

qcomer

steve13ad wrote: »

We map all of our user's My Documents to their Home Directory in the Domain. Works great, but then again most of my user's don't understand that Excel isn't an actual folder........

haha. I hear ya.

We map all My Documents using a custom .adm template for Group Policy. It basically allows you to select which Shell Folders you want to redirect (app data, history, favorite, etc.) I prefer this very much instead of the build in one in Group Policy. I dont like how the built in one takes ownership plus I have had a lot of issues with it not mapping on first login yada yada.

To stay on topic - we use Avamar and back up to our county office of ed who backs up using avamar to another location. Avamar is really a nice tool...a little pricey but data is worth the cost especially for a k-12 school district.