pcdoc

Congrats John, you have earned it.

I am looking for suggestions, general concepts, previous experiences, and approaches to this that I can evaluate and implement for my needs.

 

I started to write this whole treatise on this but almost noone would read it and I need Ideas.

 

My network consists of the following:

I have a server with 4 - 3TB HDD's set up in 2 -  raid 1 mirror arrays (OS Drives are seperate).  I have 1 - 4TB external HDD, and 1 or 2 - 3TB external HDD's connected through USB 3.0 ports.  The OS is Windows 7 with VPN, Remote Access, Remote Turn On/OFF, and Acronis 2013 Backup.

 

I currently have 4 workstations, 2 tablets, and several smartphones that I need to connect into the network.  The workstations have Acronis 2013 Backup Software.

 

I previously did backups by attaching an external HDD to each workstation and doing a manual backup of each to a seperate HDD.  This was time consuming and difficult to implement.   That is why I got the server to do this as automatically as possible.

 

My questions are innumerable but, the key ones now are:

1. What is the best way to set up the raid 1 mirrors and external HDD's to allow for bare metal backups of the workstations?

2. How do I implement automatic backups of the data files on the Tablets ( one is android, one is Apple)?

3. What is the best approach to do backups of the data files on the smartphones?

 

Regarding 1. I thought about partitioning the raid 1 mirror (is this possible) into seperate partitions (2 partitions on each mirrored raid 1 array). This seemed straight forward and something that would not confuse the Acronis software.  It would give plenty of room for multiple previous versions.   A bare metal backup of largest workstation would be less than 250GB. 

 

If I used the Acronis software to do a second backup to the 3TB external HDD, it would allow me to take those drives offsite.  

 

I could use the 4TB external HDD as a shared drive and just put in Folders?  Would partitions work better?

 

Regarding 2. I have no clue - I personally do not use android systems and they seem truely clunky to me.  Maybe Windows 8 works better with it but I have only tried it a few times.  I really need help here.

 

Regarding 3.  Can I do it by Bluetooth?   The workstations have Bluetooth that might sync and communicate with the phones which info could go into the partitions of the workstation owners?   Again, I have no basis for this just a shot in the dark.   I could use help here too.

 

Any help on this would be appreciated.

1.  First off I agree with the others, for what you are describing WHS is almost the only way to go and back up the server to an internal or external drive.  The WHS backup would handle the bare metal backup

2.  Tablet should not need backup unless you have not configured your cloud access.  IOS, Android and W8 all have ways to backup to the could.  That is a much better approach.

3.  Same answer as #2.

This is a great unit if anyone is looking for a switch.  Have been running the 24 and 16 port versions for awhile now and they are outstanding.  Thanks Joe

I agree with ikon, kill the indexing, page file can set to a fixed size (optional) and set to a mechanical drive.  Optionally you can also move temp files though I would not necessarily do this on a server.  As both my servers run on SSD's all I did is fix the page file to 2 gig, and kill the indexing.

For reference:

http://thedocsworld....and-optimizing/

Going to be the lone wolf skeptic here....again (where is timekills?). Where is the evidence that running without a sine wave UPS will damage an active PFC PSU? I've run Sim Sine UPS' for years without a problem. Not just my home gear either. I've seen plenty of enterprise gear run with sim-sine UPSs this way as well.

Actually I am the evidence. More than once I have heard the chattering noise of the PS running off of a sim sine while running off the battery, and once I saw smoke from my Thermaltake PS which is not a condition I would want to repeat.  Does not mean it will happen every time but what does happen is the loud hum/chatter of the PS trying to regulate a square wave which I believe does strain to the PS.  My understanding when I researched this is that it is dependent on the PFC circuitry of the MFG as to whether or not it will crap the PS.   If the PS is strong it should be fine if not run for a long time on the battery, but if not...  Just saying if I am going to replace my UPS, buy one for the first time, or run it on a main server, then I would not mess with it as it is not worth the risk.  Once is all it took for me.