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 Here are answers to common questions about our Remote Backup Service along with some tips and tricks that we have found useful.
General
A. Just what the name implies, a backup of your data that is conducted over the Internet.
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A. To protect computer data that cannot be recovered in a disaster. Keeping a copy offsite, away from potential harm is the best way to do this.
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A. Your data is stored initially in our Data Storage Center in Memphis, Tennessee. We then copy that data to multiple Data Centers we maintain in other cities. It is available to you from anywhere in the world that has an Internet Connection, 24/7/365.
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A. The data transmitted is encrypted before it ever leaves your computer so that it is completely secure from being read by anyone else. You have a key code that unlocks the data. Even we cannot read it.
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A. Actually they are less expensive. Tape backup machines are expensive to buy and must be maintained. Proper tape rotation requires you to keep a minimum of ten tapes in use and they should be replaced on an annual basis. Drives must be cleaned and checked for veracity. All this requires someone’s time and know how. It adds up to a lot more cost than our service over time.
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A. Back up files that you cannot easily replace. Items such as Operating System files, programs ( things like Word or Excel) any other program that you have on CD do not need to be backed up. Data files, such as your documents or spreadsheets, Irreplaceable files like birthday photos need to be backed up to the offsite data server. Choose what you cannot recover any other way.
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BackupRX Backup
Please try the following:
- Check if [Control Panel] -> [Administrative Tools] -> [Services] -> [Online Backup Scheduler] is available and started
- Check if C:\Program Files\BackupRx Backup Manager\home.txt contains the home directory for your backup account (e.g C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\.obm)
- Check if C:\Program Files\BackupRx Backup Manager\jvm\bin\SchedulerOBM.exe exists
- Check if C:\Program Files\BackupRx Backup Manager\log\Scheduler\info.log contains the startup loading entry, e.g.
[2005/12/12 12:42:44] OS Name=Windows XP
[2005/12/12 12:42:44] OS Version=5.1
[2005/12/12 12:42:44] Scheduler Version=5.0.1.3e
[2005/12/12 12:42:44] Java Vendor=Sun Microsystems Inc. Version=1.4.2_10
[2005/12/12 12:42:44] [info] Starting Scheduler, User:'backup-account', Home:'C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\.obm'
- Check if C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\.obm\log\Scheduler\debug.log contains the debugging information for your scheduler
If there is anything wrong identified from the above steps, please download a new installer (obm-win.exe) from our website or the customization portal and try again.
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Are you backing up files from a network drive? Please check if you have included the valid Network Resources Authentication info for the particular backup set, this is required for scheduled backups that access any network resources. You can refer to the following screenshot:
http://www.BackupRx.com/support/Network_Resources_Authentication.JPG
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If you are using port 80, please check whether your proxy server accepts "HTTP CONNECT" calls on port 80 and you may want to try other ports like 443 to see if your proxy server accepts that.
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Currently, it is not possible to do hard disk image backup with BackupRx Backup Manager. However, you can still backup/restore the operating system by doing the followings:
To backup all files including the operating system, please do this:
- Add all files to your backup source
- Add a SystemState backup type to your backup account (Windows only)
To restore all files including the operating system, please do this:
- Re-install the operating system and applications
- Restore the SystemState backup to your machine (Windows only)
- Restore all files to your machine
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You can try running “osql –L” in a command prompt, you should see
Servers:
(local)
SQLSERVER1\INSTANCE1
SQLSERVER2\INSTANCE2
If you have a firewall installed, please disable it. UDP Broadcast must be allowed.
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If you have firewall installed on your network, please make sure UDP port 1434 is allowed on the SQL Server.
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You can change the recovery model by running the following commands against each of the database that you want to run transaction log backup.
C:\> osql -E -S SQLSERVER1\INSTANCE1 -Q "ALTER DATABASE xxx SET RECOVERY FULL"
Where
SQLSERVER1\INSTANCE1 = the SQL Server and the corresponding instance
xxx = the name of the database
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You may want to try altering a few Windows Parameters.
# SMB Size
When running applications that copy or move a large amount data to a remote server, the speed of such action is determined by network speed and by the SMB (a protocal related to Windows map drive) size.
NT/2000 negotiates the SMB size and will generally set this to 4K blocks for applications that are moving or copying data to a remote server. By increasing this block size, you will allow the server to complete its file copies faster. This will increase the performance of the application making the copy/move calls.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\Current Control Set\Services\LanmanServer\Paramerters
"SizReqBuf"= REG_DWORD
Set Value To: 16000 = HEXDEC
Ref: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;320829
# Map Drive Auto Disconnect Settings
Ref: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/138365/EN-US/
AND
Ref: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;297684
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\Current Control Set\Services\LanmanServer\Paramerters
Autodisconnect to: fffffff
If you are still having problems, you may want setup a BAT file as follows and scheduled this to run every 10 minutes, where:
- mapdrv = your NAS device network name
- 192.168.1.15 = mapdrv
The BAT file:
--------------------------
ping mapdrv
ping 192.168.1.15
net config server /autodisconnect:-1
net use /persistent:yes
net use "\\mapdrv\DATA STORAGE1"
net use "\\192.168.1.15\DATA
net use d: \\192.168.1.15\DATA STORAGE1
net use e: "\\mapdrv\DATA STORAGE1"
dir d:\
dir e:\
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In addition, create a host file on the server hosting the program, have the following entry in it:
mapdrv = 192.168.1.15
And if you are on a 2003 server, refer to the following:
Ref: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;890553
For Windows 2000, you may want to install the following Hotfix:
Windows2000-KB903237-x86-ENU
Ref: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;903237
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If you want to backup \\SERVER\SHARE that is located on a NetWare server and you are getting "Network drive is not accessible" error message. Please try adding the following command as a [Pre-backup command]
net use \\SERVER\SHARE [PASSWORD] /USER:[DOMAIN | MACHINE_NAME]\[USERNAME]
This will authenticate the current process with the NetWare server and therefore allow your backup to run correctly.
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Upsides:
- You require less backup accounts
- You can use one pair of username and password to configure the backup setting of all backup settings
Downsides:
- You must use different backup sets for different computers
- Whenever a new backup set is created under the backup account, you need to go back to all computers using the same backup account to uncheck the “Run scheduled backup on this computer” option for the new backup set (as backup setting is saved on server and new backup set is default to run on all computers, i.e. with the option checked)
- Improper configuration could easily cause problems, which are difficult to debug.
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You can check which version a client is running by checking the access log. The default location of the access log file is:
- Windows: “C:\Program Files\BackupRx Backup Manager Offsite Backup Server\logs\access_log*.txt”
- Linux: “/usr/local/obs/logs/access_log*.txt”
- Mac OS X: “/Applications/BackupRx Backup Server/localhost/logs/access_log*.txt”
The ‘/obs/obcX.X/file/????File.obc?u=USER_NAME&..ver=Y.Y’ entries contain this information, where:
- USER_NAME = Login Name of a backup account
- X.X = major version of the client software
- Y.Y = minor version of the client software
And since BackupRx Backup Server v5.0.1.5, the version of BackupRx Backup Manager being used is available from the BackupRx Backup Server Management Console under the [Manager User] -> [Report] -> [Detailed Report] page of the corresponding user.
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BackupRx Backup Manager uses its own copy of Java and leaves the system Java VM intact.
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As of now, it is not possible to do incremental dump with mysqldump. But our In-File Delta feature shall ensure that, instead of the entire backup file, only the changed data blocks within the dump file are uploaded to the Backup Server.
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In general, daily snapshots followed by a weekly snapshot or a monthly snapshot, etc. will be removed; weekly snapshots followed by a monthly snapshot or a quarterly snapshot, etc. will be removed; and so on.
This is illustrated by the following example.
Assume today is 17Jan06, and the Advanced Retention Policy is as follows:
- Daily: retain for 7 days
- Weekly: retain for 4 weeks (the job will be performed on Saturday)
- Monthly: retain for 3 months (the job will be performed on 1st of each month)
If “Remove overlap policy” is NOT enabled:
Then a total of 14 snapshots (7+4+3) will be kept on the server accordingly, i.e.:
(daily) 10Jan06, 11Jan06, 12Jan06, 13Jan06, 14Jan06, 15Jan06, 16Jan06
(weekly) 24Dec05, 31Dec05, 7Jan06, 14Jan06
(monthly) 1Nov05, 1Dec05, 1Jan06
If “Remove overlap policy” is enabled:
Then only the following snapshots are kept: 1Nov05, 1Dec05, 1Jan06, 14Jan06, 15Jan06, 16Jan06.
Specifically, the weekly policy overrides the daily policy so 10Jan06, 11Jan06, 12Jan06 and 13Jan06 will be removed. The monthly policy overrides the weekly policy, and 24Dec05, 31Dec05 and 7Jan06 will be removed as well.
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EZ-Click
Please try the following:
1. Check if [Control Panel] -> [Administrative Tools] -> [Services] -> [Online Backup Scheduler] is available and started
2. Check if C:\Program Files\EZ-Click Backup\home.txt contains the home directory for your backup account (e.g C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\.obm)
3. Check if C:\Program Files\EZ-Click Backup\jvm\bin\SchedulerOBM.exe exists
4. Check if C:\Program Files\EZ-Click Backup\log\Scheduler\info.log contains the startup loading entry, e.g.
[2005/12/12 12:42:44] OS Name=Windows XP
[2005/12/12 12:42:44] OS Version=5.1
[2005/12/12 12:42:44] Scheduler Version=5.0.1.3e
[2005/12/12 12:42:44] Java Vendor=Sun Microsystems Inc. Version=1.4.2_10
[2005/12/12 12:42:44] [info] Starting Scheduler, User:'backup-account', Home:'C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\.obm'
5. Check if C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\.obm\log\Scheduler\debug.log contains the debugging information for your scheduler
If there is anything wrong identified from the above steps, please download a new installer (obm-win.exe) from our website or the customization portal and try again.
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Are you backing up files from a network drive? Please check if you have included the valid Network Resources Authentication info for the particular backup set, this is required for scheduled backups that access any network resources. You can refer to the following screenshot:
http://www.BackupRx.com/support/Network_Resources_Authentication.JPG
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If you are using port 80, please check whether your proxy server accepts "HTTP CONNECT" calls on port 80 and you may want to try other ports like 443 to see if your proxy server accepts that.
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Currently, it is not possible to do hard disk image backup with EZ-Click Backup. However, you can still backup/restore the operating system by doing the followings:
To backup all files including the operating system, please do this:
1. Add all files to your backup source
2. Add a SystemState backup type to your backup account (Windows only)
To restore all files including the operating system, please do this:
1. Re-install the operating system and applications
2. Restore the SystemState backup to your machine (Windows only)
3. Restore all files to your machine
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Yes. You can set the backup software to retain multiple copies of your files. Open the client and click on the icon for settings. In the “Recycle Bin” box choose the number of days you want to retain deleted files. (The default is Seven) You can type a number in the box if you want to keep more copies. The software will retain every changed copy of files created during that time period.
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Restoring files with EZ-Click is simple:
Open the EZ-Click software
Click the “Restore” button.
In the restore screen, choose the file or folder from the directory tree
Choose whether you want the latest version or an earlier version by selecting the date of the backup or choose to show all files from all backups radio button
Choose to restore to the file original location or browse to a different folder to restore the file(s) to
Click the restore button.
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You may want to try altering a few Windows Parameters.
# SMB Size
========
When running applications that copy or move a large amount data to a remote server, the speed of such action is determined by network speed and by the SMB (a protocal related to Windows map drive) size.
NT/2000 negotiates the SMB size and will generally set this to 4K blocks for applications that are moving or copying data to a remote server. By increasing this block size, you will allow the server to complete its file copies faster. This will increase the performance of the application making the copy/move calls.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\Current Control Set\Services\LanmanServer\Paramerters
"SizReqBuf"= REG_DWORD
Set Value To: 16000 = HEXDEC
Ref: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;320829
-----------------------------
# Map Drive Auto Disconnect Settings
==================================
Ref: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/138365/EN-US/
AND
Ref: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;297684
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\Current Control Set\Services\LanmanServer\Paramerters
Autodisconnect to: fffffff
-----------------------------
If you are still having problems, you may want setup a BAT file as follows and scheduled this to run every 10 minutes, where:
- mapdrv = your NAS device network name
- 192.168.1.15 = mapdrv
The BAT file:
--------------------------
ping mapdrv
ping 192.168.1.15
net config server /autodisconnect:-1
net use /persistent:yes
net use "\\mapdrv\DATA STORAGE1"
net use "\\192.168.1.15\DATA
net use d: \\192.168.1.15\DATA STORAGE1
net use e: "\\mapdrv\DATA STORAGE1"
dir d:\
dir e:\
--------------------------
In addition, create a host file on the server hosting the program, have the following entry in it:
mapdrv = 192.168.1.15
And if you are on a 2003 server, refer to the following:
Ref: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;890553
For Windows 2000, you may want to install the following Hotfix:
Windows2000-KB903237-x86-ENU
Ref: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;903237
Back to top
You can check which version a client is running by checking the access log. The default location of the access log file is:
- Windows: “C:\Program Files\EZ-Click Backup Offsite Backup Server\logs\access_log*.txt”
- Linux: “/usr/local/obs/logs/access_log*.txt”
- Mac OS X: “/Applications/BackupRx Backup Server/localhost/logs/access_log*.txt”
The ‘/obs/obcX.X/file/????File.obc?u=USER_NAME&..ver=Y.Y’ entries contain this information, where:
- USER_NAME = Login Name of a backup account
- X.X = major version of the client software
- Y.Y = minor version of the client software
And since BackupRx Backup Server v5.0.1.5, the version of EZ-Click Backup being used is available from the BackupRx Backup Server Management Console under the [Manager User] -> [Report] -> [Detailed Report] page of the corresponding user.
Back to top
EZ-Click Backup uses its own copy of Java and leaves the system Java VM intact.
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It seems that MySQL backup is done with SQL Dump, which generates a single file which is then uploaded. These backup files tend to be huge. Is it possible to do incremental or differential backups with MySQL?
As of now, it is not possible to do incremental dump with mysqldump. But our In-File Delta feature shall ensure that, instead of the entire backup file, only the changed data blocks within the dump file are uploaded to the Backup Server.
Back to top
In general, daily snapshots followed by a weekly snapshot or a monthly snapshot, etc. will be removed; weekly snapshots followed by a monthly snapshot or a quarterly snapshot, etc. will be removed; and so on.
This is illustrated by the following example.
Assume today is 17Jan06, and the Advanced Retention Policy is as follows:
- Daily: retain for 7 days
- Weekly: retain for 4 weeks (the job will be performed on Saturday)
- Monthly: retain for 3 months (the job will be performed on 1st of each month)
If “Remove overlap policy” is NOT enabled:
Then a total of 14 snapshots (7+4+3) will be kept on the server accordingly, i.e.:
(daily) 10Jan06, 11Jan06, 12Jan06, 13Jan06, 14Jan06, 15Jan06, 16Jan06
(weekly) 24Dec05, 31Dec05, 7Jan06, 14Jan06
(monthly) 1Nov05, 1Dec05, 1Jan06
If “Remove overlap policy” is enabled:
Then only the following snapshots are kept: 1Nov05, 1Dec05, 1Jan06, 14Jan06, 15Jan06, 16Jan06.
Specifically, the weekly policy overrides the daily policy so 10Jan06, 11Jan06, 12Jan06 and 13Jan06 will be removed. The monthly policy overrides the weekly policy, and 24Dec05, 31Dec05 and 7Jan06 will be removed as well.
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Liason
Liaison backup servers are managed systems that require specialized knowledge to troubleshoot. Please call Technical support with any issues you may have. If you wish to know more about the system please consult the Liaison User Guide for more information.
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