Topic: SME Clone backup server

[ber]

 

Hi wondering whether anyone has come across any server backup systems that runs a clone.

Would like to setup a hardware redundancy config, getting nervous about the hardware- want some peace of mind

Thanks

[arne]

I think there is no easy way to keep two servers fully syncronized.

But, using the standard backup to workstation function will give a full backup of the server datas and the configurations. To install a new server and to restore datas and configurations takes only half an hour. (If you have done it a few times.)

Personally I run the SME server virtually now, with vmware. Then it is possible to just stop the server for a minute and make a copy of the virtual server image. Then there will actually be a virtual copy of the whole installation. Doing it virtually it is possible to shut down the one server and to start the virtual backup server in a minute. (But they will not be fully syncronized.)

[JoshuaR]

There are a number of ways to use cloning to manage redundancy.  I suppose it depends what your individual needs are. 

One method is to take daily images of your server with a product like Acronis Image Echo server.  If your hardware fails you can restore these images to any hardware (in theory) using Acronis universal restore (I've used it with success before).

Another method is to set up your server as a VM, then you can take snapshots and have a second box with VMware set up.  That way if your first box fails, you can bring up the VM on the second box with minimal downtime.

There was another product I was looking at recently (it might be only a Windows product though, not 100% sure), but I can't remember the name and its driving me crazy     (I'll have a look and post back when I find the name)  Anyway, basically what it does is realtime incremental backups..anything that changes is instantly replicated to a cloned environment across your LAN (or WAN, but I believe this isn't as common for obvious reasons--although I do know some using it this way). It even creates restore points for the modified data, in case you need to restore something that's been modified a few times.

That's a couple ways of going about it...

[janet]

ber

The simplest already functional approach to take, is to use Affa.
Configure the backup job for very frequent backups eg hourly on weekdays, so your data will only be a maximum of one hour "out of date".

The dedicated Affa backup server can be anywhere, and can be brought online in 5 - 15 minutes using the affa --rise feature, (time depending on the amount of data etc).

See http://wiki.contribs.org/Affa

[JoshuaR]

(I'll have a look and post back when I find the name)

As promised 
http://www.doubletake.com/products/linux/default.aspx

The product is called doubletake, and if none of the other posted solutions fit your criteria, it might be worth having a look at.  They make a linux version, and the product provides asynchronous, byte-level, continuous replication (mouthfull and a half  )

[ber]

Joshua, thanks for the referal, looks good but beyond my budget and know how, looking for an easy contrib, Marys suggestion with Affa seems good, having a few problems trying to install it...Im a newbie and just scratching around with command lines. Got bad GUI withdraws!

[zatnikatel]

if you have the money you could try heart beat if SME supports it you have to server with the same config and data and if one goes down the other takes over you can do it with more than 2 server if you like

[smef@n]

Here's how I worked it out:

I have the following setup:
1. HP DL380 Server, 8x72GB SCSI HDD in RAID 5, 8GB RAM, 2x1Gbps NIC

2. VMWare ESXi 3.5 Hypervisor running on the Server

3. SME Server 7.4 installed as one of the Virtual Server

4. VMWare Infrastructure Client installed on my Workstation which is HPxw4550 Workstation with 2x750 GB HDD Running on RAID-1.

5. VMWare Converter running on my workstation

Here's what I did:

1. Connected VMWare Converter from my w/stn to the SME Server

2. Started a new "Convert" process

3. Provided the details of ESXi Server and got a list of Virtual Servers running over there

4. Selected the desired server to be copied i.e. SME Server 7.4

5. Selected the destination as a folder on my w/stn

6. Started the process.

Note, it takes pretty long for the copy process (mine took 2 hours) as the copying is done over LAN. Once you have a copy on your Hard Disk, you can deploy it back by reversing the process. This way you get an exact replica of your server with all the updates and Contribs installed.

[David Harper]

I realise this is an necro'd thread, but the Affa contrib is designed to provide regular rsync backups to a second server, which can then be promoted to replace the original source server at any later date.

[smef@n]

I do agree that this is an old thread but has vital information.

will AFFA or DAR, back up the updates or contribs? Because this method backup the entire hard disk as a replica.

[mercyh]

Look at the affa information here: http://wiki.contribs.org/Affa

With affa you maintain two servers at the same level. (all updates, contribs, versions are kept the same). Affa then rsync's the data, accounts, etc. over to the backup server on the schedule you specify. If the main server goes down, you rise the second server to replace it. The downtime is very minimal, possibly 15 minutes or less.

[smef@n]

Vow!!! Actually if Affa can maintain the Contribs as well as RPMs, then this is indeed the best solution. Many thanks 

[David Harper]

No, you need to read the post more carefully.

Your job:

With affa you maintain two servers at the same level. (all updates, contribs, versions are kept the same).

Affa's job:

Affa then rsync's the data, accounts, etc. over to the backup server on the schedule you specify.

[smef@n]

oops! my bad...

in this scenario what should be done if i need to avoid re-downloading the rpms and contribs? having a backup server on AFFA is not my intention as that would need investment in another server which can't happen. so pls advise: once again my main requirement is:

1. to prepare the sever and download all the updates
2. create a baremetal backup of entire server and store it on external hard disk or somewhere on LAN
3. Pray the server doesn't crash. once it does then deploy the image on a baremetal setup.

in a nutshell i need something i do with windows servers using Acronis True Image. I tried to do the same with SME but True Image failed as it can't handle LVM which is what SME runs on.

Please advise as I have convinced the management to stop the purchase of MS Exchange and adopt Open Source.

Thanks,
God Bless

[David Harper]

Assuming your typical recovery process in Windows is basically:

1. Deploy image to new server
2. Do Windows update
3. Do antivirus update
4. Restore user files from backup

SME Server isn't all that hard to rebuild by comparison:

1. Install latest version from CD
2. Run yum update
3. Reinstall contribs (yum --enablerepo=smecontribs install smeserver-xxx smeserver-yyy)
4. Do full restore using the Backup panel

So long as you plan your backup strategy carefully, the contrib settings and data are backed up along with the ordinary user data, so there's no need to spend hours reconfiguring everything. Using the new Backup with Dar system, available in SME Server 7.4, this should be fine, although you would want to test it to be sure.

The only issue that comes to mind is that you might have to configure the backup system to go into /opt if you have contribs installed there.