Enterprise Backup solution for multiple laptops?

[Stereodude]

Our office here has ~10 laptops (one assigned to each person). There is currently no backup solution. The folks in corporate IT want us to manually copy the important stuff to the network drives that are located in the corporate office. We have a cable modem with 7Mbit/sec download and 512kbit/sec upload. That's completely unfeasible given the size of the files in question and number of users.

I want a local server in our closet on the domain that will automatically synchronize certain folders on our laptops to it when we log onto the domain. Due to the amount of data it needs to use some sort rsync or intelligent copy where only files that changed since the last run are copied. We currently have a 100Mbit/sec switched network for the office.

Do any of the Windows Server OS flavors have this sort capability, or is there a software package that will offer this sort of functionality for multiple users? My preference is that the software sit on the server and it pull the data from the laptop rather than software that's installed on each laptop that pushes the data to the server.

Thoughts?

 

[Mercutio]

You can do TrueImage Server to automate backups and even to pull data from clients, but it's not a cheap system to implement. It'll probably wind up being a couple thousand dollars for software licenses ($800 for the server, $100 for the corporate client).

ATI 2010 does file deduplication and some other handy stuff. If you add Universal Restore you can also do deployments eleventy times easier, too.

You can do the same stuff with Backup Exec, which is a better product than many other things that say Symantec on them, but I'm not sure what costs are, there. I suspect the overall pricing is probably higher than Acronis.

 

[Mercutio]

And no, Windows Server doesn't have that capacity built in, and the backup client that ships with newer versions of Windows is whole-drive only. Boo.

 

[sechs]

SyncToy and a logon script?

 

[Mercutio]

Synctoy takes too long to run for anything useful.

 

[Stereodude]

I can't believe there's no good solution for this. It looks like SyncBack SE or SyncBack Pro might be contenders.

 

[Fushigi]

Isn't it funny (in a sad way, not haha) how Windows Home Server can do this easily - indeed it's designed to - while the regular Windows Server editions can't? You get the de-duplication benefit and after the initial backup, the daily backups take just minutes per machine.

Granted, it's not meant for business and is limited to 10 clients, but for under $500 ($470 shipped) you can get an Atom-based WHS from Acer + a second TB drive to make 2TB total. You'd be set.

 

[LunarMist]

We use some Altiris thingie at work. I don't think it is global, only a regional 700-1000 user system.

 

[Mercutio]

I think the expectation for corporate Windows is that there's an IT pro responsible for the server and that is where important data lives. We're sort of taught (through focus on rapid deployment) that client machines are disposable.

 

[Fushigi]

Granted, but it still seems bad that the consumer version offers what is in essence critical functionality while corporate versions don't. And while there's nothing wrong with a focus on server-based data that doesn't excuse the lack of a reasonable client backup solution.

Unless your environment is made of thin clients, there will be data on the endpoints. That data will have value and will have an associated risk level (impact if lost, ability & time needed to recreate, etc.). In my field, I see stolen laptops fairly often. Data is walking out the door. Disclosure issues aside every loss/theft means costly downtime for the employee and risk for the organization.

 

[Pradeep]

Whole disk encryption is what my last org went to. There was an initial hit on performance as the drive(s) were encrypted, after that it was seamless to the end users. They just logged on as normal into Windows. If the laptop was stolen, without the login credentials it was junk in terms of recoverable data, and would merely be useful for parts.

 

[Fushigi]

We're deploying full disk encryption right now, actually. It's my major project - the most major of all my major projects this year. About 150 machines this year (Legal, HR, and a few in IT) which included the pilot group and probably between 2000 and 6000 existing machines in 2010. All new laptops will get it as well starting in 2010.

But FDE addresses the issue of disclosure/breach and not the loss of data. Client presentations, RFPs, locally stored email archives, and the infamous Excel spreadsheet that drives the quarterly report are all at risk if there are no backups.

Telling people to keep their data on a server is fine for desktop clients but laptops have an expectation of being able to work while not connected to the LAN. I keep my data entirely on my laptop and just back it up once in a while.

 

[Stereodude]

We have full disk encryption on our laptops.

 

[Pradeep]

We're deploying full disk encryption right now, actually. It's my major project - the most major of all my major projects this year. About 150 machines this year (Legal, HR, and a few in IT) which included the pilot group and probably between 2000 and 6000 existing machines in 2010. All new laptops will get it as well starting in 2010.

But FDE addresses the issue of disclosure/breach and not the loss of data. Client presentations, RFPs, locally stored email archives, and the infamous Excel spreadsheet that drives the quarterly report are all at risk if there are no backups.

Telling people to keep their data on a server is fine for desktop clients but laptops have an expectation of being able to work while not connected to the LAN. I keep my data entirely on my laptop and just back it up once in a while.

Oh absolutely. FDE is not a replacement for backups.

But for management, it's the difference between being plastered on the news with a data breach, plus notification to relevant parties etc, and letting someone know that their precious file they've been working on all weekend has gone titsup. The latter can be minimized with education of users. The former has to be an organizational focus.

 

[ddrueding]

We've gone a different way. There is no storage of company data on workstations or laptops, period. You want to work while away from the office? Here is a MiFi and RDC credentials. No internet access? Enjoy your vacation.

 

[Pradeep]

We've gone a different way. There is no storage of company data on workstations or laptops, period. You want to work while away from the office? Here is a MiFi and RDC credentials. No internet access? Enjoy your vacation.

Nice. Sounds like the potential for a vacation to actually be a vacation.

 

[ddrueding]

Not really. We have ways to get internet to you just about anywhere. Right now I'm up in Tahoe at the condo waiting on the Charter Communications guy to install the cable modem. We also have an army of long-range wireless links to our WAN, cellular internet connections, and a couple satellite links if you choose to go fishing in Alaska. The only place you are safe (for now) is in-flight.

 

[Pradeep]

How about down under?

Plus several airlines now deliver wifi for pay during flights.

I was looking at that "Spot" beacon they advertise for the extreme adventurer, further investigation shows that it's GPS reception is indeed "spotty", and it uses the Globalstar constellation of sats for simplex transmission of your "help" signal. Given that Globalstar is shitting the bed as we speak, seems like a complete non starter against a real EPIRB. Of course the Spot is a toy that lets you try and do Google Map updates of your journey, EPIRB being a hopefully never in a lifetime activation.

 

[ddrueding]

I actually have an EPIRB on my boat. Bought it when I attempted some open ocean single-handed goodness a while back. That is dangerous stuff.

 

[Pradeep]

Well you could always try and kayak by yourself from Australia to New Zealand. (It didn't work out well for the poor bastard).

 

[ddrueding]

That would fall under the "dumb, poor bastard" category.