Configurations Features

Definition of the backup & restoring system

 

File Backup System Default Value

(Comments In blue define default or example value)

 

System's Preparation

  1. Hardware - PC
    1. P4 Processor or up
    2. 64MB RAM memory or up
    3. Best quality Network Interface Card
    4. Hard drive or Hard drives' array according to the calculated volume with 30% overhead.
  2. Operating System
    1. Windows 2000 - Windows XP
    2. Full compatibility with the documents' language (German, etc)
    3. Installation of the updated service packs
  3. Backup Environment's Estimation View example table
    1. Estimation of the total present data volume in the organization
    2. Estimation of the daily data changes' volume
    3. Estimation of the desired/required number of daily data versions
    4. Estimation of the desired/required number of history days.
    5. Calculation of the required backup volume
  4. Important Notes
    1. The network card is the system's bottleneck. A good quality network card or even several network cards would represent a wise investment.
    2. It is recommended to separate the hard drive where the operating system and the application are installed, from the hard drive/s where the data is stored. This way, it will be feasable to reinstall the operating system without loosing data, when needed.

System's Installation

  1. The system's installation is performed while the system is under Local Administrator Login
  2. At installation time the local system's Administrator password is required
  3. The data storage array (or hard drive) to which the files will be backed up will be installated and recognized
  4. The installation process recognizes the local drives and displays them - the backup target has to be chosen.
  5. The system's installation will create a new directory named X:\B in the backup drive
    (From here on it referres as X:\ to the drive selected as backup target)
  6. Under this new directory (X:\B) new subdirectories named C, D, H, G will be created.
    1. Directory C stores the current updated restored data
    2. Directory H keeps historical versions of the documents and directories
    3. Directory D keeps the indexes for quick finding of different data units and versions
    4. Directory G temporarily stores files in transit
  7. At installation time, the definitions of email sending for alerts' sending are required
    1. IP or DOMAIN address of the mail server (my.domain.com)
    2. Default address to which to send the performance or failure reports (my.email@my.domain.com)
    3. ID name of the backup server- to identify Email origin (BOS-Main)

System's Definition

These definitions are to be changed and adapted according to the organization's needs)

  1. Definition of the system's general history contents. (in Days) (30)
    (Number of days to keep older data versions in the system, between 1 and 65535)
  2. Definition of the maximal used drive space allowed(80%)
    Disk space limitation within which the system can continue backing up (commonly 95%). In case the system exceeds this limit the system won't perform any backup until the contents return to the defined volume limits.
  3. Definition of the daily self-maintenance performing time. (04:00)
    (The time of the daily cycle at which no backup actions are expected. During this time the system will perform its daily self-maintenance, indexes' integrity checking, out-timed (3.a) data deletion, backup of the backup system, indexes' update, etc.
  4. Definition of work with or without Wizard (Yes)
  5. Activation of Auto Recovery Service to the backup system definitions in case they got corrupted or deleted (Yes)
  6. Activation of default values for the Exclude and Force lists within new backup contents (Yes)
    (These lists will be default in case of creation of new backup sessions)
  7. Definition of Backup Target drive (Var)
    (In a fixed backup server there is no need to change this data. When backing up to a mobile disk drive, the target drive to which the backup will be performed, needs to be defined here)
  8. Scheduling definition for the complete building of the Index tree. (Friday)
    (Once a week, at a time when no other processes are expected. This is a preventive process that rebuilds all indexes)
  9. Change backup groups definition – Filters (Mask). Default is *.* See table
  10. Change of default definitions for the Exclude and Force lists. See table
  11. Definition of users and access passwords
    1. In case no Local Administrator was defined, the default account for backup must be defined. (Local Administrator)
    2. Default backup account must be defined Domain Backup Account
  12. Email definitions and definitions' correctness check
  13. Definition of Remote Access rights to the backup server (255.255.255.0)
    (The permission or prohibition of IP system access through Firewall addresses. The definitions are made as in common systems.

Definition of backup contents (Session)

  1. Every session needs to be named
  2. It is possible to define up to 65565 sessions
  3. Definition of any data unit's is done by pointing at it with the mouse and adding it (A backup object is any file, directory or volume requiring an assigned treatment at backup time)
  4. Up to 65535 backup units can be defined for every session (see definition of Backup Unit)
  5. Defining the sending of statements during backup performance and at backup errors None
  6. Definition of special Exclude and Force lists for a session Default
  7. Defining operations to perform previous to backup activation (No)
  8. Defining operations to perform after the backup completion or only after a failed backup (No)
  9. Defining rights to run session in more than one simultaneous events (No)
  10. Definition of network disconnection after backup completion (No)
  11. Definition of inside rights to recognize service (No)

Definition of Backup Units
(A backup object can be any file, directory or volume, on any server, workstation or other network data source, found on any operating system with an access rights system allowing access through it to files on it. For this purpose, any Windows, Novell, Mac OsX, Linux, etc. system)

  1. Every backup unit can be defined with its own unique definitions
  2. Definition of backup path (Var)
  3. Inclusion of Subdirectories (Yes)
  4. Definition of user account to connect to data source (Default)
    (It is possible to set a different account for every backup object)
  5. Definition of backup groups (*.*)
  6. Definition of backup limits by date and/or volume (No)
  7. Definition of ignoring failures for this backup unit (No)
  8. Definition of postponing/delaying action for this unit (No)
  9. Defining limitation of unit's version number to keep, between 0 and 9999999 (99999999)
    (Default is 9999999 versions within the system's limits - 3.a)
    (It is possible to combine a backup limited to version's number to a determined object, and then an additional object's full backup of all the directories in which it its contained)
  10. It is possible to set the order of activation of backup units
  11. It is possible to include backup sessions as backup units within another backp session, to approximate activation schedules of sessions.

Definition of backup schedules

  1. It is possible to set different schedules for every session
  2. It is possible to set up to 65535 different schedules in the system
  3. It is possible to set a schedule as a one time schedule, once a day or several times a day
  4. It is possible to set a time range so that the daily backup will be activated only when activating the system during that time frame.
  5. For multiple time scheduling, it is possible to schedule from once a minute and up to every 24 hours
  6. It is possible to set schedules to specific weekdays
  7. It is possible to set schedules to specific dates of the month
  8. It is possible to postpone/delay the activation of the scheduling

Backup/restoring process

  1. The primary backup process performs a full backup of all the data defined in the session
  2. At the end of the backup process, a full restoring process is performed to all data in the X:\C directory
    In this directory the backed up data will be found in a subdirectory named after the source computer and in the exact directory tree format as in the source.
  3. In every recurring backup session the data will be backed up in the following three ways:
    (recurring backups back up the changed data only, except if differently defined)
    1. New data will be backed up and restored to the matching directory.
    2. Updated data will be backed up and restored to the matching directory and the former version of the data will be stored under the archive sub directory X:\B\H
    3. Data deleted from the backup source will be deleted from the X:\B\C directory and transferred to the matching archive directory. In its place, a pointer file will be created, to enable finding and restoring the deleted data.
  4. Every process performed by the system is reported by the reporting system
  5. All the updated data will always be present in its original format which enables full restoration even in the backup software's absence
  6. All the data is accessible by operating system tools and without the need of additional software or installations' involvement.

Backup/restoring system's backup

The backup of the X:\C restored area to an external conventional tape backup solution can be used to ship the backup media to an alternative location for DRP purposes.

  1. The X:\B\C directory contains a complete copy of all files in network workstations and servers at backup time.
    The backup of the X:\C restored area to an external tape is similar to a simple direct backup from every data source to the backup tape, but without all the network traffic this would have implied.
  2. In order to backup all data from the restored area to the tape drive, only this directory has to be defined

Data Restoring

  1. It is possible to restore data from the level of a single file up to the level of all the backed up data from a data source.
  2. The restoring is performed by selecting the data required to be restored and clicking the Restore button.
  3. It is possible to restore data to its original location or to an alternative location
  4. It is possible to restore data by sending it over email
  5. It is possible to overwrite data existing in the restoring target or to change the name of the restored file
  6. It is possible to restore "only new" files
  7. It is possible to restore "only updated" files
  8. It is possible to set a user account through which to perform the restoration process
    (General recommendation: it is not recommended restoring data to its original location. The data should be restored to an alternative location previously to its transfer to the final location)

Reporting System

  1. The report system includes three levels of reports in order to improve the system's management
  2. The first level is the main report, which centralizes all performance reports in the system and their summaries
    This report contains the status icon (OK, failure, or alert), performance summaries that include the number of scanned files, new files, changed files, deleted files, errors found, backup volume, total backup time, and system statistics such as empty disk space and percentage of disk space usage.
  3. By viewing this report's summary it is possible to immediately notice any irregularity or change in the backup process
  4. By pointing and selecting a specific report from within this report' it is possible to view the contents of any specific performance report
  5. The second level is the performance report which contains all the report's details, which are detailed for every backup unit.
    In addition, this report contains also the results of the local disk checking, backup contents details, registration details and more.
  6. The third level is used to closely examine every object
    This report details all an each backed up, changed or deleted files in each of the backup units, by the means of an Excel spreadsheet.
  7. The detailed report contains information on every file involved in the backup process
    Accordingly to the session's definition (4.e) it is possible to save a copy of the performance report in another network directory, to send it over email, to print it to printer, or to send it over as a Pop-Up message to another network station.
    H It is possible to define the sending of alerts also just in case of a backup failure.


Email backup system


Installation of Exchange backup system

  1. Outlook software must be installed and functional with all its functions and updated service-packs
  2. The software must be connected to the Exchange server by an Administrator Account.
  3. All mailboxes to be backed up in the server must be defined at the local workstation.
  4. An assigned backup/restore directory must be defined in directory X:\B\C -=Outlook Shadow=-
  5. Office 2002/2003 recommended

System Definition

  1. Definition of the assigned backup/restore directory X:\B\C\-=Outlook Shadow=-
  2. Definition of the email files' maintenance hour (02:00)
  3. Definition of configuration files' backup (No)
  4. Definition of email account to which to send over alerts (No)
  5. Definition of the directories required to be backed up - Backup contents. (Var)
  6. Definition of email attachments to exclude from backup, such as .exe files, etc. See table
  7. Definition of backup limits by date. (No)
  8. Definition of backup limits by volume. (No)

Backup contents definition
The definition of backup contents allows the backup of every directory and its subdirectories, subdirectories only, or specific directories only.

Backup scheduling definition
As explained in paragraph 5, the definition of the backup scheduling is performed from within BOS software.

The backup/restoring process

  1. The backup process has three phases
    1. Full backup in which all objects contained in the mail-server are backed up and restored as single files in the restored directory.
    2. Quick backup, which is scheduled and updates the added or updated objects in the restored directory.
    3. Comprehensive backup which performs a check of validity to the objects and removes those deleted from the source server's restored directory.
  2. The full backup is performed only during the system's first run
  3. The scheduled backup is performed according to the organization's needs - every half hour or every hour
  4. The special backup is performed once a day at a time when normal backup processes are unexpected
  5. The final product of the process is a directory tree containing all Email Server data units as separate units.

Data Restoring

  1. The restoring of data is performed in the following ways:
    1. Restoring of a single document by choosing it with the mouse and opening it from the system or from the BOS software.
    2. Restoring a number of documents or entire mailboxes by creating a PST file connected to the local Outlook software, in order to examine it, or to drag it, or to make a full copy of it and sending it to a recipient.

The backup of all Email Server's contents from the backup system to an external backup system is performed as stated in paragraph 8.


Miscellaneous

Immediate backup of contents

  1. It is possible to perform immediate backup of any network accessible object by selecting it and clicking it with the mouse to backup.
  2. In an immediate backup of contents it is not necessary to define contents, the content are all data units existing within the selected object
  3. When backing up contents, it is not necessary to define scheduling. The process is performed immediately.

Immediate restoring of contents

  1. Immediate restoring of contents is performed in the backup system in the same way as described in paragraph 17 for backup.
    In addition, it is possible to restore every data unit present in the restored directory by the means of regular system tools, without using BOS.
    It is possible to restore every single object - document or email item- by double clicking on it through the backup management system or through the regular operating system.