Windows Home Server - Backup to LAN

1. Saw the post on Backup Windows Home Server Folders to an External Hard Drive, and the teaser: "In future articles we’ll be covering automated backup solutions locally, over a LAN, and online backup as well."

   I recently went through the process of setting up backup of a WHS to a NAS device, and after a lot of trial and error with different programs and configurations, settled on robocopy. Here's what I did:

   1. Selected a NAS whose file system supports large file sizes (important for video backup - don't get a cheap NAS with FAT32! I chose a Buffalo LinkStation Live.)
   2. Created a new WHS user named 'backup' with full permissions to every share on the WHS.
   3. Created a new NAS user with the same name/password as the WHS backup user
   4. Created new share(s) on the NAS and gave only the backup user access (important, since the data on the NAS won't inherit the security permissions from the WHS - don't want everybody on your network to see the backup data)
   5. Install robocopy on WHS (simply copy robocopy.exe to C:\Windows\system32 or similar)
   6. On WHS, create scheduled task for each share to be backed up:
   

   robocopy \\whs\share \\whs_backup\share /COPY:DAT /E /FFT /DCOPY:T /R:0 /W:0 /TS /FP /NP
   /LOG:\\whs_backup\share\backup.log

   Command line explanation:
   /COPY:DAT - since your NAS doesn't have NTFS, the only thing you can reliably copy is the data
   /E - subdirectories included
   /FFT - since we only want to copy files that have changed since the last backup, and since NAS doesn't have NTFS, have to use this option to ensure the timestamps are selected correctly (this was the hardest thing to figure out!)
   /DCOPY:T - copies timestamps on folders too
   /R:0 - don't retry locked files (don't want the automated backup to hang)
   /W:0 - don't wait between retries
   /TS /FP /NP /LOG - log file settings (really useful to figure things out when it's not working!)
   (Note that I didn't use the /PURGE option; I want to keep files that might have been accidentally deleted in the source. Might be a good idea to run a purge job occasionally, though, especially if the NAS starts to fill up.)

   7. Made sure the scheduled task was set to run as the backup user - required for read/write permissions to the NAS folders
   8. (Not sure if this is necessary) Went into the WHS control panel users panel and made the backup user a member of the backup operator group
   9. (Optional) Installed the WHS Advanced Admin Console add-in so I could remotely check/modify scheduled tasks, and can browse to NAS shares via 'My Network Places'

   That's it - it's been running like clockwork for two months now, backing up several hundred gigs of data and several thousand files in a 6-client small business network. The NAS is physically located in an adjacent building (wireless bridge connects the two), so should be protected even if one of the buildings gets hit by lightning.

   Restore process (which I haven't had to use yet) is simply connecting to the NAS as the backup user (password required!) and browsing for the desired files.

   How-To Geek, hope this gives you a head-start on your next WHS article!

   
   

   #

   bobbo33
   

   Reputation:24

   Posted 5 months ago

   
   

2. Hey, this is great stuff!

   
   

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   howtogeek
   

   Reputation:175

   Posted 5 months ago

   
   

3. That's an excellent post!

   
   

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   Kieshley
   

   Reputation:3

   Posted 5 months ago

   
   

4. So wait, are you backing up your WHS to another NAS?

   
   

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   Brystan
   

   Reputation:5

   Posted 5 months ago

   
   

5. @bobbo33: Very cool post!

   
   

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   mysticgeek
   

   Reputation:12

   Posted 5 months ago

   
   

6. I'm currently looking for a file server for use at home that has good data backup capabilities. In examining WHS, this is best info on an automated backup to the WHS server data that I've seen.

   It does seem a little cloogy(sp) to use an NAS to backup the WHS, but at least it can work. It seems though that using Robocopy would allow backup to any other drive in the network, including the drives on other PC's. This would save me having to buy yet another disk if this is possible.

   I'm not a big fan of trusting the RAID or any drives in a single enclosure with a common power supply to store more then one data backup as I've heard of bad power supplies frying multiple drives in a raid array.

   Any idea on how to get Microsoft's attention to what appears to me (and others) a rather glaring problem? Ideally the system disk and the network data stored on the WHS should also be automatically backed up to an external drive attached either directly to the eSATA or USB ports on the WHS or to another drive on the network.

   4/5/2010

   
   

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   HaroldEnnulat
   

   Reputation:1

   Posted 3 months ago

   
   

7. @HaroldEnnulat: Actually, this post is about backing up from from your WHS to an external NAS, preferably in a separate location for true external data redundancy (disaster recovery).

   Out-of-the-box, WHS automatically backs up all client data to its internal disk(s), and if you have more than one disk installed, replicates it across them, providing internal data redundancy.

   So, if you want to make a copy of all that data to an external disk (via eSATA or USB port as you suggest), look no further than the original post that inspired this one: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/10797/backup-windows-home-server-folders-to-an-external-hard-drive/

   To put it all in perspective, HTG's original post gives you a manual method of taking a snapshot of WHS that you can take with you for disaster recovery. Conversely, my method automatically takes those snapshots on an on-going basis. Same goal, just different end devices (external HDD versus NAS).

   
   

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   bobbo33
   

   Reputation:24

   Posted 3 months ago

   
   

8. So wait, are you backing up your WHS to another NAS? methoo.com

   
   

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   Anonymous
   

   Reputation:1

   Posted 3 months ago