Stan writes:
>My most frequently asked question:
>
> How can I reliably backup my NT Server, in a manner that
> allows for easy complete restoration of files later?
Me too.
The disc on my NT box crashed a few months ago at the best possible time:
right after a full backup. Did this mean that Murphy was on vacation? It
did not: this was an NT box, after all.
I replaced the disc, reloaded the OS, and restored the files from the
backup. A 3000, a Linux box, or a Macintosh would've been up and running
at this point, and none the worse for wear. But this is NT.
All the stuff in the Registry was gone. Forever. Not all of my efforts --
or Denys Beauchemin's, who tried mightily to coach me through some
recovery attempts -- could bring back the registry settings. It turns out
that the Registry is NOT backed up if you do a "full backup", only if you
do a backup of the system volume only. I blew away and re-installed some
software (the only way to recover software-specific settings), and have
just lived with the desktop demolition. In the words of Omar Khayyam:
The moving finger writes and having writ, moves on.
Not all your Piety, nor all your Wit,
shall move it back to cancel half a line,
Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it.
>There are plenty of products on the market that backup a bunch
>of files, and let you bring them back singly or all at once...
>but the entire *system*? NT's as bad as HP-UX in this area.
>(Don't argue ... HP even dropped mkrs (which only worked on a
>few models).)
I'm curious: on Linux, it's necessary to have an OS on floppy to boot the
machine (using a RAM disc for root) but once that's done, I can restore
everything from tape and get my system back exactly as it was before, OS
images and all. Since the initial boot is to RAM disc, almost any random
boot/root disc will suffice to get the recovery underway. I know that it
used to be possible to boot HP-UX to RAM disc from tape and do the same
thing. Is that no longer the case?
Incidentally, I use BRU, from EST, Inc., for Linux backup. They have
versions for HP-UX and other flavors of Unix as well, but I don't know
how it compares to other Unix backup products. I bought BRU because it
has a couple of key features, one of which is an option to automatically
verify a backup tape once the backup is finished. But since it was the
only "industrial-strength" backup tool available for Linux at the time, I
didn't exactly do a lot of comparison shopping. (A run of three bad
Maxtor 2.7GB discs from the local office supply store have amply tested
the product's reliability :-(.)
Part of the problem with NT (and Linux) is the hardware. The IBM PC BIOS
can only load from floppy or hard disc, which makes it difficult to
design an all-in-one tape format: there'd be no way to load it. The Mac
can boot from CD-ROM, which eliminates the worry about having a readable
boot disc but does nothing about the inconvenience of having to locate
one. Can Alpha platforms boot from tape?
-- Bruce
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Bruce Toback Tel: (602) 996-8601| My candle burns at both ends;
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