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    Howdy,

    I'm getting ready to install WHS 2011 at our church office.  There will be 4 PCs total (the server and 3 clients).  The church staff is not very technically inclined so I'm looking to make everything as fool proof as possible.

    Ideally I'd like to find a backup solution for the server that is automated and online so no one ever has to do anything.  I don't know how big the data will be with the client PC backups and the shared files.  (Shared files wont' be much but 2 XP machines and 1 7 machine will take up some space)

    First question is, do I have to have the server make backups at all, or could I use something like Mozy or Carbonite to just back up the entire server machine to the cloud somewhere.

    If I do need server backups, can the Server back up to its own hard drive or do I have to have at least 2 drives in the machine?  I don't think we'll ever use up a lot of space for shared files so if I can just use a single 250gig drive to handle the OS, shared files, client backups, and then the server backup, that'd be the easiest.  If not, can it back up to a secondary internal drive or will it only use external drive?

    If I make a server backup, could I then use Mozy/Carbonite to sync that file/folder/drive and have that act as my backup?

    I don't want to have to rely on using an external drive and having someone at the office swap it out every so often for DR.

    If I'm totally off base or just flat out misunderstanding how this works, please let me know.  I haven't used WHS before and am just trying to get all my ducks in a row before I start anything.

    Thanks!!

    Tuesday, June 12, 2012 7:08 PM

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    You can use an internal drive for Server backups (I use a SATA enclosure so I can remove the HDD easily), just don't format the disk or it will be allocated to Server storage.

    Yes. you can still do Client Backups to a single server drive. On installation you will have a D: drive with a shared folder entitled "Client Computer Backup", which is where they will be located. If you elect to set up a Server Backup (as above), you can back up these Client Backups.

    If you can't do a server backup, you will need to back up the whole of the Client Computer Backup folder as WHS saves space by backing up a single instance of common files across your clients i.e. the OS files.

    Think about how long a Cloud based restore will take if you have much data and the cost before committing to that route.

    Phil P.S. If you find my comment helpful or if it answers your question, please mark it as such.


    • Edited by Phil Harrison Tuesday, June 12, 2012 9:55 PM
    • Marked as answer by Sean Zhu - Wednesday, June 20, 2012 2:55 AM
    Tuesday, June 12, 2012 9:54 PM

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    You can set up the server to automatically back up itself, your shared data and client computer backups to an external drive - ideally eSATA. In an ideal world, you would rotate a second external drive offsite to cater for theft, flood fire etc.

    See here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/backup-restore-overview-2

    Phil P.S. If you find my comment helpful or if it answers your question, please mark it as such.

    Tuesday, June 12, 2012 7:20 PM
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    So if we don't want to have to use an external drive for anything, does that mean we can't use the Server Backup feature then?

    Can we still do Client Backups if there are no external drives and only one large drive internal to the server or will it only back up to a second drive inside the server?

    If we can't do the server backup, is there a list of the most important files/folders to back up via an automated cloud backup utility to insure we can restore the client machines (backing up their backups and the backup database or whatever else is needed) and the shared folders (those I can set myself).

    Tuesday, June 12, 2012 8:42 PM
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    You can use an internal drive for Server backups (I use a SATA enclosure so I can remove the HDD easily), just don't format the disk or it will be allocated to Server storage.

    Yes. you can still do Client Backups to a single server drive. On installation you will have a D: drive with a shared folder entitled "Client Computer Backup", which is where they will be located. If you elect to set up a Server Backup (as above), you can back up these Client Backups.

    If you can't do a server backup, you will need to back up the whole of the Client Computer Backup folder as WHS saves space by backing up a single instance of common files across your clients i.e. the OS files.

    Think about how long a Cloud based restore will take if you have much data and the cost before committing to that route.

    Phil P.S. If you find my comment helpful or if it answers your question, please mark it as such.


    • Edited by Phil Harrison Tuesday, June 12, 2012 9:55 PM
    • Marked as answer by Sean Zhu - Wednesday, June 20, 2012 2:55 AM
    Tuesday, June 12, 2012 9:54 PM