NovaBACKUP xSP / Remote Workforce
In order to protect the NovaBACKUP xSP Storage Server and the related data, basically three data sources need to be backed up.
- The BackupServer.ini file located in the C:\Program Files\NovaBACKUP Storage Server directory
- The MS SQL Database which is used by the Storage Server
- The directories or LUNs containing the Backup data
The backup of the BackupServer.ini file is very simple and straightforward; you just need a copy of this file which contains some settings for when you recover. Should it not be available during recovery, please redo the settings.
The Microsoft SQL database that is used by the Storage Server is critical and should be backed up at least daily. This database should not be backed up during heavy periods of activity as this can cause issues with backups waiting for SQL queries to run. So unlike most other production related components you will want to backup the SQL database when you do not have a lot of users doing backups, e.g. during business hours.
The SQL database also needs to be backed up with a method that will commit the transaction logs and run maintenance on the database. Any professional backup software that supports Microsoft SQL backups should be able to do this. We recommend NovaBACKUP Business Essentials for the backup of the SQL database.
The directories or LUNs containing all of the users’ backup data are most difficult to backup. Normal backup software might lock on files while the backup is running, which might cause issues with the structured storage files that NovaBACKUP xSP utilizes for the users’ data. If you run normal backup software to backup this data, you need to make sure the backup server service is not running and not doing any rollups. If you want to be able to backup this data while the Storage Server is active, you either need to have storage that supports snapshots, as most SANs do now, or be replicating the data to another piece of storage.
How to completely restore the NovaBACKUP xSP Storage Server environment.
- Conduct a basic setup of the Storage Server
- Stop the xSP Backup Service
- Restore the BackupServer.ini
- Restore the Backup Data to the originally defined storage location
- Restore the MS SQL Database
- Start the xSP Backup Service
- Make sure that licensing, temp & backup directories etc. are set right.
If the NovaBACKUP xSP Storage Server environment is based on virtual machines, you may simply run VM snapshots or directly backup the respective virtual machines.