Installation
Set up of initial Backup set
Processing of Data and the SourceCopy System
Compression, Encryption and Security
Transmission Offsite
Offsite Storage at Diversified
Restoring Data
Disaster Recovery
1.1.
How do we control and monitor SourceCopysm?
At installation, the
SourceCopy administrator console software is installed on as
many or as few workstations as required and will require a valid
logon, ensuring no unauthorized access. The administrator
console acts as your interface with SourceCopy and
enables the Customer Representative to configure all backups and
restores.
1.2.
Is software installed on any other machines?
The SourceCopy backup
software is totally agent-less, requiring no additional software
to be installed on any machines.
The
only exception is when the optional E-mail Message Level Restore
(MLR) module is chosen, which requires a software component on
E-mail server.
1.3.
If SourceCopy is agent-less, how does it access our data?
Using the administrator
console, a new backup set is created. You must provide a
username and password to connect to a server or workstation.
SourceCopy
also fully integrates with NT domains, Trusts and Novell® NDS
trees.
1.4.
Do we need to create a user for SourceCopy on all our
servers?
No but a dedicated domain
user, with correct access rights, is recommended and should be
set for ‘no password expiration’ for obvious reasons.
1.5.
What access permissions does this user require?
This user must have certain
permissions or user rights to back up files and folders. If you
are an administrator or a backup operator in a local group, you
can back up any file and folder on the local computer to which
the local group applies. Likewise, if you are an administrator
or backup operator on a domain controller you can back up any
file and folder on any computer in the domain or any computer on
a domain with which you have a two-way trust relationship
(except System State data; see note below). However, if you are
not an administrator or a backup operator, and you want to back
up files, then you must be the owner of the files and folders
you want to back up, or you must have one or more of the
following permissions for the files and folders you want to back
up: Read, Read and Execute, Modify, or Full Control.
1.6.
How is our SourceCopy system connected to our network?
The SourceCopy system is has one connection to your
network and one secure logical or physical (depending on demand)
connection to Diversified's network.
1.7.
Who installs the SourceCopy service?
If the customer already has a
technically savvy staff, the installation and configuration are
quite intuitive. Although generally not required, Diversified
can install the SourceCopy system unit and the
administrator console software at your site and provide the
necessary training.
1.8.
How is the first backup done, given that there will be a
lot of data?
For large data volumes, the
initial backup can be done to a portable unit, backing up at LAN
speeds to a large array of disks. When the full backup of your
data is complete, the disks are transported back to
Diversified's Data Center. Future backups, which are purely
incremental, will be transmitted via the data line connection
and synchronized with your initial backup data at the
Diversified Data Center. (Note that
all data is encrypted. Should the disk should be lost or
accessed during transportation, the data will remain secure.)
1.9.
What platforms are supported?
SourceCopy
has full agent-less support for a range of network platforms.
·
SourceCopy
has extensive OS support: Mac OS X, VMware, Windows 2000, XP,
2003, Novell NetWare, IBM AIX, SUN Solaris, HP-UX, HP-Tru64
UNIX, IBM iSeries OS-400, Red Hat Linux, Novell and Suse Linux.
·
SourceCopy
backs up the following email systems and databases: Microsoft
SQL Server, Microsoft Exchange Server & Outlook 2000, 2003,
Oracle 8 & above, IBM DB2, MySQL, PostgreSQL, IBM Lotus
Notes/Domino Server, Novell, and Groupwise.
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2.1.
Who does Initial Backup Schedule setup?
As part of the site survey
with the Customer Representative, Diversified will ensure that
all your main servers are sensibly configured for optimum
backup. Additionally, you will be invited to send two nominated
Customer Representatives for a full days' session at one of
Diversified's in-house training centers.
2.2.
Who is authorized to use the administration software
console?
Customer Representatives can set up users with access to create
and maintain backup sets and schedules. Only people with a user
ID on the SourceCopy system will be able to administer
its functions.
2.3.
Can users administer backups for their own machines?
Multiple user accounts can be created for use on the
SourceCopy system and access permissions can be set per
backup set. These permissions can be any combination of Backup,
Restore, Delete or Modify, so a particular user could be given
access to backup and restore only their own machine.
2.4.
What frequency of backup can be set?
The backups can be configured as often as every hour or as
infrequently as once a year. More advanced schedule options
include the last working day of the month or even one- off
backups on a particular date.
2.5.
What level of granularity is possible in setting up the
backup, i.e. file level/individual database?
A backup set can include a whole server, share/volume, directory
or even a single file. The backup set could even include just a
registry, should you desire,
and can
even backup up just streams or permissions.
2.6.
Can one machine be prioritized over another?
There are literally hundreds of different priority levels that
can be assigned, ensuring maximum flexibility when organizing
your backup schedules.
2.7.
Can multiple machines be backed up simultaneously?
Any number of machines can be backed up simultaneously. However,
as network bandwidth is a major factor, Diversified would
recommend a check of the current LAN
and WAN environments. In addition, bandwidth to the Diversified
System can be throttled by for each client being backed up.
2.8.
Can the software be set to backing up after a certain
time has elapsed?
Yes, the software is designed to fit specific backup windows.
SourceCopy can be told what time to stop, for example at
8:00am when employees are starting to arrive or perhaps by
5:00am if there is an important batch process to run.
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3.1.
Is data held on the SourceCopy System or does it pass
straight through?
The SourceCopy system
acts as a gateway only, passing data through after it has been
compressed and encrypted using delta blocking, common file
elimination, and a digital signature. A database showing
information on what has been backed up is held on the
SourceCopy system, but no actual data files are retained.
3.2.
Is the Database on the SourceCopy system backed up?
Yes, by default
the SourceCopy system backs up its own database at 6:00am
every morning, although this time can be changed if desired.
3.3.
What happens if too much data is passed to the SourceCopy
system?
The SourceCopy system only requests data as it can
process it and will not pull more data across the network than
can be processed.
3.4.
What is de-duplication?
De-duplication is one of the sophisticated ways that
SourceCopy reduces the raw data from your network servers
across all remote offices to a size that can be transmitted over
the WAN. It ensures that the same
data is never transmitted offsite more than once, thereby saving
the bandwidth to transmit only new, unique data. It
achieves this simple elimination by generating a digital
signature of each file as it is backed up and comparing it
against the known details of all previous files. If the digital
signature matches a previously backed up file, it must be a
duplicate and only a shortcut need be transmitted up the line.
Due to the way this technique is applied, it does not matter if
the files are on different servers, at different offices or even
have different filenames.
3.5.
What happens if a server halts or crashes during backup
or if the backup is interrupted for some other reason?
Diversified has a dedicated team who monitor the progress of
backup events 24 hours a day.
If a
problem occurs, it will be escalated through the appropriate
channels. Simple breaks in communications will not necessary
stop a backup since the SourceCopy System can be set to
retry X number of times at Y intervals during the backup
window. You may also set the number of errors that are
acceptable without halting the backup. Note that manual backups
will halt on an error.
3.6.
Does the SourceCopy system hold a connection open to a
server all the time?
No, the SourceCopy system will only connect to your
servers during the specified backup schedule, not utilizing
valuable bandwidth at other times. You may also set a no
activity timeout limit
3.7.
How many versions of my backed up files are held off
site?
By default, 7 versions of each backup are held. Unlike a tape
backup, where the routine is to rotate tapes in a cycle,
SourceCopy will only backup a new version of a file when it
has changed, guaranteeing that the customer is not wasting space
backing up exactly the same version more than once.
3.8.
Will SourceCopy backup my Registry?
Yes, it will, but you must explicitly select the Registry/System
State backup option. When restoring, you will have the option of
restoring your System Registry. In
addition to the Registry you may want also choose to backup the
System State and Driver Database.
3.9.
How are databases, such as Oracle, Sybase and others,
handled?
Databases have
special backup requirements. To properly backup a database, you
must be able to take a "snapshot in time" of the database.
Traditional database backups are done in one of two ways, online
backups via special API functions provided by the database
vendor and full database exports to tape/disk. A third
alternative is to use special device driver software that allows
you to bypass locking issues.
Database APIs
(Online Backup)
Some database
vendors provide special APIs that support the backup of their
databases. For example, the Oracle and Sybase database products
can do an online backup if the backup software properly
interfaces with their backup APIs. Any update transactions that
are applied during the backup process are handled specially to
avoid inconsistencies in the backup. The database vendors often
supply backup software that will backup their databases to
temporary files on disk. For 7-day/24-hour operations, it is
common to do an online backup to disk and then use a secondary
backup program to backup this data to tape.
Database Export
(Offline Backup)
For those
database vendors that do not provide online backup capabilities,
the database must be shut down. Once the database is offline,
the data is copied or exported to a temporary file(s). For
databases that are not active all the time, it is common for the
database to be shut down and exported to disk and then use a
secondary backup program to backup the dump file to tape.
Note that the
dump file is normally significantly smaller than the database
because all the empty space is removed and the work areas / temp
areas / rollback areas are not backed up. For instance, a
20-30GB database often produces just a 6GB-dump file.
Even though a
dump to tape is feasible (using the internal backup of the
database vendor), it is not normally done because it holds
"locks" on the database too long which can interfere with
performance.
Driver Software
(Online Backup)
Optionally,
SourceCopy supports Open File Manager (OFM) from St. Bernard
Software and Open Transaction Manager (OTM) by Columbia Data
Products, both of which permits all database systems to be
backed up. It also allows SourceCopy to backup email,
Intranet applications and all other open files, even if the
files are changing during the backup. All database products are
protected by becoming synchronized at the start of the backup
and allowing active changes to occur while the backup is going
on. As a result, open databases are neither skipped nor
corrupted during backups. This puts an end to corrupted database
backups.
3.10.
Can SourceCopy run pre and post commands on servers?
Yes, even though SourceCopy is an agent-less solution, it
is still capable of running commands on remote servers, be it
NetWare or Windows. For example, shutting down a database or
application running on a server to back it up correctly and
restart afterwards, or perhaps interact with some overnight
batch processing.
3.11.
How are MS SQL and Exchange backed up?
Microsoft®
developed SQL and Exchange with the backup requirement in mind.
Both products can respond to API calls requesting the services
to dump their data, while online, to an external destination. In
SourceCopy's case, the product simply asks the specified
MS SQL or Exchange server to stream the data to the
SourceCopy system where it is delta blocked and transmitted
offsite. This process is a totally supported Microsoft function
and guarantees compatibility with your existing Microsoft
systems.
3.12.
How does SourceCopy handle message level restores for
emails?
The agent-less Message Level Restore (MLR) module allows users
to selectively back up and restore individual mailboxes and
email messages for one user or for an entire network, depending
on needs. Using selective filtering, administrators can save
time, money and resources by restoring only selected mailboxes
or emails, instead of having to restore the entire Exchange,
Domino or GroupWise databases.
3.13.
How does SourceCopy handle open files?
Open files are an issue in most backup environments. If a file
is open exclusively on a workstation, it is the server's
responsibility to stop anyone else, including a backup package,
from accessing that file.
To help counteract these issues, SourceCopy has a range
of options which attempt to handle open files. These options,
combined with use of the Pre and Post commands, should enable
the backup of almost any file. More complex environments such
as Oracle or Sybase can usually be configured to dump their data
into a normal file which will be delta blocked and backed up as
normal.
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4.1.
What is delta blocking? How does it work?
Delta blocking is an advanced logic that divides all files into
blocks. When the file is detected to have changed, the digital
signature of each block is compared against the last known
digital signature for the same block of the same file (stored in
the database on the SourceCopy System. Any blocks that
are different are pulled out to be re-transmitted. These delta
blocks will also be compressed and encrypted before
transmission.
4.2.
How and to what standard is the data encrypted?
The small files
and delta blocks of data are first compressed and then encrypted
up to AES 256, which is set by the customer during the
installation of the SourceCopy System. Data remains
encrypted in-flight and at-rest. The backup data is only
unencrypted by the SourceCopy System at your site when it
has retrieved the encrypted data from Diversified for a restore.
4.3.
Is there added compression on already compressed files
(e.g. zip files)?
Zip files and other compressed files are already efficiently
compressed. SourceCopy cannot improve on the compression,
but the file will only be transmitted once. If the file should
change, then delta blocking will be used to ensure only the
changed portions of the file are retransmitted.
SourceCopy
can also be configured to not attempt compression on already
compressed files.
4.4.
What happens if I lose my encryption password?
For your protection, lost passwords can not be recovered.
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5.1.
How quickly will the data be transmitted over the data
line?
A 2Mb data line will backup at approximately 200K/sec, however,
this data is compressed bringing the effective backup speed to
nearer 400K/sec. In real terms, this equates to a transfer rate
of approximately 20 GB per day of compressed data (40 GB per day
uncompressed).
At this stage the data
has also been delta blocked and 'common file eliminated' to
ensure that only new data is backed up.
5.2.
Are there any average backup times for remote backups
over specific communications lines?
No, there are no "typical" times for communication since there
are so many variables involved. The best solution is to run the
SourceCopy software in simulated mode, which will
determine exactly what data needs to be backed up with the delta
scheme and then estimate the transmission time for that data.
5.3.
Is your data encrypted as it travels over the network?
Yes, you can
optionally select to encrypt your data on the fly before it is
transmitted to the Diversified Data Center. We support multiple
levels up to AES. You select the level of encryption and
determine the encryption keys.
5.4.
Do we need to install a firewall?
In order to operate, the SourceCopy system needs to
establish a session with the Diversified System on port 4401. If
you have a firewall installed, you need to allow access to port
4401.
In a standard firewall configuration there is an inside network
interface (i.e. your LAN with the SourceCopy system) and
an outside network interface (i.e. the Internet or WAN). The
inside network is considered to be 'trusted', while the outside
network is 'not trusted'.
5.5.
What happens if the primary data line breaks?
As part of the SourceCopy solution, Diversified can
install a dedicated secondary line in addition to your primary
Internet connection. In the event of a line failure, this
secondary route will allow Diversified to immediately diagnose
and escalate the problem. Should a prolonged failure occur, we
could deliver the back end system to site to allow backup and
restore to continue.
5.6.
Does all of our data get transferred every day?
Only new and unique data will get backed up. Duplicate or
unchanged files will not be transmitted.
5.7.
At what point is the data deemed to be ‘backed up’ and
‘offsite’?
The data is backed up in real time so when the administration
console indicates that the backup is complete - it is also an
indication that the backup data offsite.
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6.1.
What format is the data held in, i.e. on disk or tape?
The data is held on disk for rapid access times and is
additionally backed up to automated tape libraries and
replicated – in real time - to a secondary data center.
6.2.
Is it secure and separate from other customers’ data?
All customers have separate logical system units at the
Diversified Data Centers. Authentication is performed between
the relevant SourceCopy system and logical system units
each time they connect to re-verify the authenticity of the
SourceCopy system. Additionally, the backup data is held
encrypted, using the customers' unique keys, so anyone else
would be unable to read it.
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7.1.
At what point is the data available for restore?
The data is available for restore immediately after it has been
backed up and is held offsite.
7.2.
Can an individual file or registry be restored?
Yes, you can restore an individual file or registry and also
specify which version you want to restore.
7.3.
Can SourceCopy perform bare-metal restores?
Assuming that the machine in question has had a full backup of
all files, registry, system state, and driver database, and the
data is being restored to a machine of similar hardware, then a
full disaster recovery of that machine is very simple.
After installing the operating system, there is no need to apply
service packs, configure domain security or install additional
software to the new machine, as all this information will be
included in the restore.
7.4.
Can you restore a whole backup set to a point in time,
e.g. last Monday?
Yes, SourceCopy will display all the files that were
backed up on any given day. Providing the backed up files have
not been deleted by an administrator or overwritten by more
recent versions, then it is possible to restore from any given
date.
7.5.
How quickly will data restore over the leased line?
A 2Mb leased line will restore at approximately 200K / sec,
however, this data is compressed, bringing the effective restore
speed to nearer 400K / sec. Additionally, as all the data is
held offsite on disk, the access time for the data is virtually
nil. A traditional tape restore scenario may take at least half
an hour to locate, insert and catalogue the tape.
7.6.
What if the data line is congested with backup data?
The data line is bi-directional, i.e. there is 2Mb each way. The
restore data is transmitted down the line, while backup data
transmits up the line. There will be very little, if any,
conflict between the two. Typically, backups occur 'out of
office hours' while restores are required during the working
day, however it is possible to perform both restores and backups
simultaneously if desired.
7.7.
What happens if the file or group of files to be restored
is too large, i.e. it will take too long to transfer back to the
SourceCopy system?
A threshold point will have been agreed, whereby the time taken
for a specified amount of data to be restored down the wire will
take longer than it would for Diversified to remove it from the
Data Center and transport media manually to your site.
If this threshold is reached, Diversified will ship the data
direct to your site for restore at LAN speeds. This threshold
depends on the amount of data to transmit and the bandwidth of
line installed.
7.8.
Can data be restored to a different machine on our
network?
Yes, the restore data can be redirected as desired. You are able
to browse the network and provide connection credentials for the
redirected restore, just as you do for creating the initial
backup set.
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8.1.
Can we prioritize which data is restored in the event of
a disaster?
Yes, you can select easily which files/directories/servers you
wish to restore. There is no need to restore non-essential data
until a later time if desired.
8.2.
What happens if the SourceCopy system and/or the whole
site are lost?
Diversified can interact closely with your disaster recovery
plan, providing a portable unit of disks, holding your data and
a new SourceCopy system to any required site in the
world. This site may even be the site of your disaster recovery
company. This combination of the portable unit and new
SourceCopy system can enable LAN speed restores to
reconstruct servers and workstations.
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