Voxtalks

elysrand · Post by **elysrand** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 4:33 pm

Backups are easy to make. But have you ever tried doing a practice restoral from a backup, using blank drives in the machine installed temporarily just for that purpose? Thought you hadn't, almost no one ever does, until after it is too late. It is the biggest hole in the illusion of effective backup that we have ever run across, and we see it in almost every client here. No one ever thinks about scheduling the time and labor to do a practice restoral, to see if it actually works without issues on your own live hardware. When you MUST do one, after a catastrophic crash, it is too late to discover to your dismay that the backup image doesn't quite restore properly.....

Database replication to a remote hot spare for a script-driven site like yours is easy, too, and so is remote management. VPN tunneling to the remote site puts the remote server directly in your Active Directory LAN too, securely, on both a NetBios and IP level. That's why all server hardware has two high-performance NICs by default nowadays. One sits on the Internet to serve traffic on-demand. The other runs the VPN link to home. Most IT guys just don't know all the tricks to make it work. Not saying yours don't of course, I am sure they do. But most will say that is is not possible when it really is.

charlyg · Post by **charlyg** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 4:41 pm

This man speaks truth.
I am just the desktop tech, but I have run across many many, supposedly good backup tapes, that haven't been tested.

At UMG, we have a terrific backup system. Our biggest issue is everyone keeps ALL of their email, and they NEVER delete anything. We recover email way more than files. We have some with 10 to 20 gb of personal folders in Outlook!! We are evaluating strategies to "solve" this dilemma, and there is a product out there that will "manage" personal folders.

johnhall · Post by **johnhall** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 5:23 pm

Elys, I guess we're the exception because we have practiced restoration. And we've had a need to do it from time to time, with no problems so far.

Indeed, all of our servers have multiple NICs and they're put to good use. We've also used remote management for years and I've successfully done some network reconfiguration from under a thatched canopy out in a remote Belize jungle.

elysrand · Post by **elysrand** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 5:36 pm

Cool

SSH2 is great, a better Telnet than Telnet ever could be.

So, then there is also no reason why anyone cannot replicate their tables for a script driven primary site, effectively despite latency, to a remote hot-spare in a remote colo through a VPN and a second NIC? You just have to know how to do it and have a colo partner who can support it.

johnhall · Post by **johnhall** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 4:45 am

. . . and bandwidth simply not available through the 100 year old copper we have at this end of town.

elysrand · Post by **elysrand** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 5:28 am

Yep, you would need a chatter-speed of at least 400 kb/s to maintain MS SQL Server merge replication. If the copper there will support a DS1/T1, it is possible, since the maintenance stream for a low-volume site's merge replication is no more than 1 to 1.3 Mb/s on average. Bulk loads and snapshots take lots longer at DS1/T1 speeds, but those only need to be done in the late evening every week or two at most, and usually only once every few months if your server is stable, and the merge agent timers can be set from their defaults out to about 30 minutes or so to allow the snapshots time to complete.

What would be sweet is if Verizon FIOS is available yet where you are. It's all tri-mode fiber to the telephone closet at 30 mb/s down and 5 mb/s up for less than $200 per month, complete with static IPs

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 8:16 am

Yow. Migraine imminent.

johnallg · Post by **johnallg** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 2:36 pm

You know, I followed that, but I agree Paul.

patrickkelly · Post by **patrickkelly** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 3:49 pm

Of course, there could be an altogether different reason why VoxTalks is down, one that has nothing whatsoever to do with backups.

leesh · Post by **leesh** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 4:15 pm

elysrand · Post by **elysrand** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 4:40 pm

winston · Post by **winston** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 4:50 pm

Do tell.

fireglo · Post by **fireglo** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 8:34 pm

elysrand · Post by **elysrand** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 1:21 am

kennyhowes · Post by **kennyhowes** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 3:46 am

I hate to admit it, but I thought of that too.