How to Back Up Your Network, Part 2



By: Walter Metcalf
Date: 08/02/00


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  1. Creating Set Files

    1. Preparation

      1. Logon to the local PC using the administrative userid. This will start the Requester program if it is not already running.

      2. Make sure all PC's on the network have the shares defined for the drives you wish backed up and that they are on line. If you wish to verify which PC's are online you can type the following command from any OS/2 command prompt:
           NET VIEW
        This will return a list of all the computers the local PC can see. If one of the network computers you wish to back up is missing, try shutting it down, powering it off for a few seconds, turning it back on and restarting OS/2.

    2. Start BackAgain/2000

      1. Open the BackAgain/2000 folder and doubleclick BackAgain/2000 program object.

      2. Click on the "Backup" button.

      3. BackAgain/2000's main window opens. Note the box at the bottom that contains "wait". The first thing BackAgain/2000 does is to initiate a network scan to check every PC it can find, and then look for every shared drive/directory on those PC's. Depending on the size of your network, this can take several seconds to a minute or so.

        1. It's important not to touch BackAgain during this period. During this step you are creating the "mother" SET file, and it is vital that all PC's and all files be checked, or else they will never be included in any of the backups.

      4. When the "Wait" in the bottom box has changed to "Ready" you may proceed to the next step.

    3. Set Backup Options

      1. Click on "Set" on the Main Menu, and then click on "Backup type". From the fly-out menu, click on "Full".

      2. Click on "Options" on the Main Menu, and then click on "Media". From the fly-out menu, click on "Erase options". If you intend to back up the system drive from a maintenance partition, select "Do not erase media"; if, however, you are going to back up all your drives from the main partition, then select "Always erase media". Click on OK.

      3. Click on "Compare" on the Main Menu, and select whatever option you prefer. 1

    4. Select Data to be Backed Up

      1. Left-click on the "+" beside the PC labelled "Local Machine". If necessary, wait until the "Wait" in the bottom window changes to "Ready".

      2. Right-click on the icon representing the Local Machine. From the pop-up menu left-click on "Include all volumes".

      3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for each PC listed in the left window of BackAgain/2000.

      4. You may also deselect any other drives or files, such as the swap drive, *.tmp files, or browser cache files that you will NEVER want to back up. Deselect Windows 9x or NT drives as well, since they will be backed up by a Windows back up program. Repeat this step for each remote PC.

    5. If you are going to use the maintenance partition to back up your system drive, then right-click on the system drive of "Local Machine". From the pop-up menu, left-click on "Unmark".

    6. Create FULL_LAN SET File

      1. Click on File on the Main Menu, and from the drop-down menu select "Save as".

      2. Enter "FULL_LAN" or other descriptive name as the filename in the space provided.

      3. Click on "OK".

    7. Create DIFF_LAN SET File

      1. If the Local Machine's system drive is not selected, right click on it and select "Include All".

      2. Click on "Set" on the Main Menu, and from the drop-down menu select "Backup type".

      3. From the fly-out menu, select "Differential".

      4. Click on "Options" on the Main Menu, and from the drop-down menu select "Media".

      5. From the fly-out menu, click on "Erase options". On the resulting window, make sure that "Do not erase" is selected.

      6. Click on File on the Main Menu, and from the drop-down menu select "Save as".

      7. Enter "DIFF_LAN" or other descriptive name as the filename in the space provided.

      8. Click on "OK".

    8. Create FULL_SYSTEM File (Optional, but recommended)

      1. Boot from a maintenance partition with BackAgain/2000 Workstation installed according to previous discussion.

      2. Start BackAgain/2 and click on "BackUp" button.

      3. Click on "Set" on the Main Menu, and from the drop-down menu select "Backup type".

      4. From the fly-out menu, select "Full".

      5. Click on "Options" on the Main Menu, and from the drop-down menu select "Media".

      6. From the fly-out menu, click on "Erase options". On the resulting window, select "Always erase media".

      7. Right-click "Local Machine" from the left window, and from the pop-up menu click on "Unmark all volumes".

      8. Right-click on the Local Machine system drive, and from the pop-up menu click on "Include all".

      9. Click on "File" on the Main Menu, and from the drop-down menu select "Save as">

      10. Enter "FULL_SYSTEM" or other descriptive name as the filename in the space provided.

      11. Click on "OK".

Next week we'll conclude the series by going through the backup procedure itself.

—Walter Metcalf

For Further Reading:

Backup: Why and How?
Complete description of system backup process using BackAgain/2, the predecessor of BackAgain/2000.

Home and Office Networking
Collection of links on SOHO windows networking.

BackAgain/2000 FAQ
Highly informative list may contain the answer to your question about BackAgain/2000

Notes

1 Although one's first reaction might be that a second comparison pass would be a very good, even essential, idea; in fact, however, modern hardware is so reliable that they have become almost redundant except in the most highly sensitive situations. With the natural redundancy built into a differential backup-based system, and the large amount of time needed for the second pass, the comparison pass is becoming less common. Even for highly sensitive data, it is often better to back it up twice--on different media. Not only does this provide additional security, but it provides redundancy, something not provided by the comparison pass. One situation in which using the comparison pass provides a real service is while using new backup equipment or backup media. Here you might want to verify your backups for a short time or until you were confident they were working properly and there no defects.


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