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Want to implement 3 stage backup strategy


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Need feedback on a non standard backup strategy. Questions at the bottom.

 

I have:

-1TB NAS Drive (2x1TB drive in RAID1)

-1 Tape Library (with 15 AIT-3 100GB tapes in the tray; about 1.4TB capacity; VERY SLOW!)

-12 USB drives (with 1.5TB or 2TB drives)

 

I need to backup 3 Windows server and 1 Mac file server with a total of about 1TB of data (compresses about 20%). One of the Windows Servers is hosting Retrospect, the USB drives (1 at a time) and the tape library, the rest have the client only. The NAS is accessible via SMB over the network (DLink DNS-323).

 

Note: I was unable to convince the PTB (Powers That Be) to buy a new tape library with bigger tapes so I have to make do with what we have. The tape library will be binned once it dies or acts up in the future, I just figured we could use it for extra restore points in the mean time. All servers and the NAS are gbit linked (1000mbps).

 

I'm okay with converting the NAS to a non-redundant RAID0 if needed (extra space).

 

"The Plan":

1 - Full Weekly: backup everything (server data) to the NAS drive in one job that runs on the weekend

2 - Differential/Normal Daily: backup only changed files since the last Full backup to the NAS drive every night (estimate about 10-15% data change/day).

3 - Weekly#2: Copy the Full backup from the NAS drive to the tape library each week (these become the secondary weekly backups). Copying should be faster and put less load on the rest of the network/servers in theory.

4 - Monthly full: backup everything to the USB drive at the end of the Month

 

After one Month:

-1 Full backup on the NAS drive

-6 Diff backups on the NAS drive

-3 or 4 Full backups on tape (we have many tapes)

-1 Full backup on the USB drive

 

After one Year:

-1 Full backup on the NAS drive (most recent weekend)

-6 Diff backups on the NAS drive (current week)

-3 or 4 Full backups on tape (multiple weekends)

-12 Full backups on the USB drives (1 per month)

 

 

 

"The Questions":

 

1-Does anyone know if the plan above can be done in Retrospect 7.7? Can it be done more efficiently?

 

2-Any idea how I can ensure the NAS drive gets erased each week? I only need one full plus the Diff's on it.

 

3-How do I add future new USB drives to Retrospect so it can be recognized as a backup target without having to "forget" the previous drives? I want to be able to add drives in the future and be able to restore files from each of the previous 12 months if required. Currently I think we will have to re-catalog the old drives if needed.

 

 

Any input would be appreciated (I know this is not the recommended setup, but it is what I have been given to work with).

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