Macrium Reflect Professional >> Image >> NAS

[Mainstay]

You guys have got me really interested in Macrium Reflect Professional and I have a quick question that I don't see as being answered.

I would like to backup 5 workstations to a new QNAP (TS-253) and retain ~7 copies of each workstation.

Does MRP PROPERLY delete the old copies (greater than 7 days)?

This is where I've had issues in the past... the NAS fills up and new images are not properly captured.

Any recommendations on settings or setup?

Also, can MRP do the incremental images actually work on restore? You need the full data set to reconstruct, but so long as the NAS and the backed up computer don't both go at the same time, you are OK (yes, we will also be taking a copy off-site).

 

[Moltuae]

Yes to all. I've used it like that for many years.

For full disk backups, I typically do something like this:

• Configure Reflects Default settings: Backup retention, email notification, encryption, etc.
  
• Run the first Full backup manually (with verification), using the option to save the backup definition (as an xml file).
• Set a schedule to run the saved definition, as a full backup, once a week.
• Set a schedule to run the saved definition, as an incremental or differential backup, each day (or more).

As well as full restoration, you can mount the backup images and restore individual files, so a good retention of frequent differential/incremental backups will effectively provide versioning too.

Macrium has never failed to restore a backup for me, no matter what the backup type (full, incremental or differential). I would strongly suggest that you configure it to verify after each backup though and use the email notification feature.

Also, if you join their reseller program, you'll get a reasonable discount.

 

[Mainstay]

Thank you for the terrific information.

The interface completely clicked with me... it was like all the settings from Acronis that "should have been / once were" there. I am testing the system as an image file... but am already really liking the idea of being able to refine my settings and then transfer them to the other 4 systems.... and changing just the parts I need to change.

I am not really sure how I missed this program... but then again, that is sort of the point of these forums.... to be introduced to new ideas for the same problems we all face.

Your comments in the other Macrium threads was what got me interested... so thank you Moltuae =)

Edit: Ha! just as I finished typing, my first "success" email came through... data transferred and verified - nice!

 

[Moltuae]

You're more than welcome. Glad to help.

You should delve into the vbs/bat scripting options; that's really impressive. It even creates the script for you, so with little or no coding you can create all sorts of custom backup operations. For example, I have a script that checks for any running VMware Workstation VMs before performing a full, nightly system backup. It detects the running VMs, suspends them, creates a backup of the drive (inc VM folders) then shuts down the host machine.

 

[Mainstay]

Do you normally use incremental or differential backups?

I need to ensure that each day's work is properly reflected... such that file x on Monday is preserved... and that same file on Tuesday, if changed, is also preserved.... so that we have 7 distinct copies of file x by the end of a week (allowing for a damaged / corrupted file to have several restore options).

Thank you for any direction you can offer!

 

[Moltuae]

Either. Both incremental and differential can be used for versioning.

It depends on the computer usage, but it's mainly a matter of mitigation, to give you the best chance of recovery should any backup files become corrupt.

Differential backups always reference the last full backup, so to recover data from those, you need only the differential backup and the last full backup to be present and intact. Incremental backups, however, are a backup chain, with each one referencing the last, right back to the last full backup. Since recovery from incremental backups may rely on the integrity of several backup files, you might conclude that those present the greater risk, but since differential backups will generally be larger (because they're repeatedly backing up changes since the last full backup), there's a greater chance that one or more of them could end up spanning a bad sector.

I use either, basing my choice on the system usage. On a system that typically sees no more than the modification/creation of a bunch of Word docs or Excel spreadsheets on a daily basis, I would probably choose differential backups. Whereas on systems that are more likely to see larger daily data changes, I would probably choose incremental backups. In either case though, I schedule a full backup at least every week or two, always use the backup verification option and, where possible, I create 2 sets of backups (eg. one to a second, internal drive and one to a NAS/External drive). If you use Reflect's scripting, you can have it copy the backup to another location once completed, or you could just schedule a second backup job.

Also, when you're backing up to a NAS or network drive, I find it useful to use Reflect's network login feature rather than permanently mapping the drive, to ensure the backups can't be accidently or maliciously damaged.

 

[Mainstay]

So awesome - thank you!

 

[Moltuae]

No problem

I would recommend you do some tests, just to familiarise yourself with it and to make sure it works the way you're expecting.

If you drop a few small test files in a folder and use the files and folders backup feature, the backups will only take seconds to complete. Create a new backup of the files/folder, save it as a backup definition and run it a few times - full, incremental, differential - while modifying/deleting some of the test files. Using the shell extension, you can right-click any of the backup files and explore them to compare what was backed up. Reflect mounts the backup as a drive, so you need to remember to right-click the drive afterwards and unmount it.

 

[Mainstay]

I have now installed and configured this on 4 systems that HAVE backups, but now have that extra extra layer of protection.

The deployment is highly intuitive (the only oddity is in the seemingly redundancy of the email notification options) and absolutely everyone is thrilled to pay for that extra bit of local protection.

I combine a USB drive with BackBlaze so the MR images get backed up offsite as well.

One company that pays $600 / month in offsite backups was blown away when I added this extra protection for $150 for the software (~100% markup) + $75 deployment + $5 / month in backblaze + $130 2 TB USB HD.

They thought it was a steal (and I must say, this IS mission critical data).

 

[Moltuae]

It certainly is good. I use it for everything. Love the ability to encrypt the backups and the scripting features that make backup scheduling infinitely configurable.

the only oddity is in the seemingly redundancy of the email notification options

In what way?