Sign in
Microsoft.com
 
Microsoft
 
 
 

locked
Questions about Server backups RRS feed

 > 

  • Question

  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote
    I understand the initial steps (add drive as backup, choose which folders are backed up where) but am not clear on a few things -

    1. can I choose the same external drive as backup destination for more than one share? Does WHS check if it has enough space before letting me do so?

    2. How does WHS handle shares that grow over time (or space on backup drive reduces) so the share doesn't fit. Does the backup just fail, will it refuse to start (does WHS delete the backup setting for that folder?), or can i span disks?

    3. What does the file structure on a backup drive look like?

    4. Can they be used to restore lost data by WHS (like a server reinstall)

    I didn't find a technical brief on this feature, does one exist?
    Sunday, March 15, 2009 9:00 AM

Answers

  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote
    1. Yes. You can choose the same drive for all your shares if you like, and if there's room on the drive to back them up.
    2. Windows Home Server uses hard links to previous versions of unchanged files. This allows you to back up a share repeatedly even if all the backups wouldn't fit otherwise. However, if a share won't fit on the backup drive you won't be able to back it up; drive spanning isn't supported.
    3. Folders and files. There's one top level folder for each backup you've done to a drive, then your shares will be under those folders.
    4. Yes.
    There's no technical brief specifically for this feature. It's a relatively small and simple concept; you're just copying files from the shares to the backup drive.
    I'm not on the WHS team, I just post a lot. :)
    Sunday, March 15, 2009 2:41 PM
    Moderator