Best Practices Partner Guide

Transcription

1 Partner Training System Best Practices Partner Guide Version 5.0, Revision A

2 This Guide describes a number of Best Practices that we have learned over the years while working with our Partners as they sell and use the Intronis Cloud Backup and Recovery solution. It is not intended to be read cover to cover. Rather, it is intended to be consulted when you need help solving an issue or problem. If you face an issue, consult the Table of Contents to find the topic. Click on the topic or page number and the document will jump to the page(s) indicated. To return to the Table of Contents, click the Intronis logo on any page. You can also search the Guide using the standard Acrobat Reader Find function. Click on Edit in the tool bar, and select Find to open the find toolbar. If following the Best Practices in this Guide do not solve your issue, please contact Intronis Technical Support at Phone: or support@intronis.com Link: For best results when hard copy is desired, this document is designed to be printed in two-sided mode. b

3 Table of Contents Supported Environments...1 Backup Software Requirements...1 Web Portal Requirements...2 Mobile Requirements...2 Section One: Developing a Disaster Recovery (DR) Plan...3 Overview...4 Conduct a Data Assessment...6 Save Your Data...7 Schedule a Backup...8 Run a Test Backup...9 Run a Test Restore...10 When in Doubt, Give Us a Shout...11 Section Two: Setup and Go...13 Overview...14 Preferences...15 Changing Your Password...15 Verifying/Updating Your Contact and Billing Information...16 Providing Your Employees Access to the Management Portal...17 Configuring Reporting Conditions...19 Initial Seeds...21 What is an Initial Seed?...21 Initial Seed Requirements...21 Initial Seed Recommendations...22 c

4 Flat Files and Folders Backups...23 Mechanics for File Backups...23 Configuration Recommendations...23 Virtual Machine Backups...24 Backing Up Shared Files and Folders...26 System State Backups...27 How Intronis System State Backup Works...27 Key Differences Between System Backups for Server 2003 and Server Local Vault Backups...29 Local Only Backups...29 How It Works...30 How to Set Up Local Only Backups...30 Turning On Local Vault From the Management Portal...31 How to Manage Local Only Backup Subscriptions...32 Changing Cloud Backup to Local Only Backup...32 Restores...34 Basic Steps to Restore Data...35 Restoring from the Management Portal...35 Specific Restore Situations...37 How to Restore Microsoft SQL Databases...38 How to Restore Full SQL Backups...38 How to Restore Differential SQL Backups...38 Virtual Machine Restores...39 Section Three: Managing and Monitoring Your Solution...43 Overview...44 Backup Status Reports...45 Setting Up the Backups Status Report...47 Checking the Backup Status Report...48 d

5 Editing Notifications by Computer...49 Configuring Computers Individually...49 Configuring Computers Using Templates and Groups...50 Using Templates and Groups...50 Templates...50 Groups...54 Viewing Activity Logs...55 Editing Backup Sets...55 Additional Usage...56 Plan Percentage Report...56 Archiving Rule...57 Deleting Files and Stray Files...58 Stray File Delete...58 Automatic Stray File Delete...60 Review Remote File and Server Usage...61 Replacing Computers...62 Section Four: Plug-ins and Integrations...63 Overview...64 SQL Permissions...65 SQL Backups...66 Features and Options When Creating a SQL Backup Set...66 Configuring SQL Databases to be Backed Up in Intronis...67 Exchange Information Store Backups...69 Backing Up Exchange Databases with Intronis...69 Configuring Exchange and Exchange Backup Sets for the Highest Rate of Success and Data Efficiency...70 Exchange Forcing Full Backups...71 Exchange Mailbox Level Backup Configuration...72 e

6 Exchange Mailbox Level Backups...73 Backing Up Individual Mailboxes with Intronis...73 Autotask Integration...76 Initial Setup...76 Ticketing Setup...79 Billing Setup...80 Billing Preferences...81 Contract Name...81 Usage Value...81 Billing Strategies...82 Rounding...86 Monitoring...87 Autotask Status Report ConnectWise Integration...89 Initial Setup...89 Ticketing Setup...95 Billing Setup...96 Usage Value...97 Creating Cross References...98 Billing Strategies...99 Monitoring ConnectWise Status Report Section Five: Avoiding Common Problems Overview Open and Locked Files MAC Address Lock File System State Backup Failing on Server Unable to Connect to Servers f

7 Reboot Stops Backup Agent Backup Agent Won t Start Don t Swap Local Vault Drives Deletes Deleting Flat Files and Folders Deleting Exchange, SQL, and System State Data Deleting Exchange Mailboxes Anti-virus Exclusions Keep Your Private Key Safe Proper Procedure for Switching Between Local & Online Appendices Appendix A Troubleshooting Autotask Appendix B Creating Services in Autotask Appendix C Past Plans Errors in ConnectWise Appendix D Creating Products in ConnectWise Appendix E Using the Less Included Field in ConnectWise g

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9 Supported Environments Before installing the Intronis cloud backup and recovery software on any computer, it s important to know what system environments are supported by Intronis and what hardware is required. Following is a list of requirements for running the backup software (and running it from the Web using the Management Portal) along with Web Portal and Mobile requirements. Backup Software Requirements Minimum Requirements Intel Pentium III computer (or equivalent) 512 MB of RAM 250 MB Free Disk Space DSL Microsoft.NET Framework 2.0 Microsoft.NET Framework 3.5 (to allow backup/restore/delete management from the Web using the Management Portal) Recommended Specifications Intel Pentium 4 computer (or equivalent) 1 GB of RAM 500 MB Free Disk Space Broadband Internet Connection Microsoft.NET Framework 3.5 (to allow backup/restore/delete management from the web) Supported Operating Systems Microsoft Windows 7 Microsoft Windows 2008 Server/Server R2 with SP2 Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2008 Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2011 Microsoft Windows Vista with SP1 (32 bit, 64 bit) Microsoft Server 2003 with SP1 (32 bit, 64 bit) Microsoft Windows 2003 Small Business Server with SP1 Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition with SP3 SQL Support Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Exchange Support Microsoft Exchange 2000 Microsoft Exchange 2003 Microsoft Exchange 2007 Microsoft Exchange 2010 (when installed on Standard or Small Business Server versions of Windows Server 2008; does not support DAG or clustered environments) 1

10 Web Portal Requirements Internet Explorer 8 Internet Explorer 9 Firefox 3.6+, Firefox 13 Flash player 6.0 or higher Silverlight 4.0 or higher (to allow backup/restore/delete management from the web) Connection Speed: 450 Kbps or better Android ios Mobile Requirements 2

11 Section One Developing a Disaster Recovery (DR) Plan 3

12 Overview Many small-to-medium sized business (SMB) owners genuinely question the need for any kind of disaster recovery plan (DRP), particularly a data disaster recovery plan. I m just a small business. How much can I really lose? Here are some sobering statistics. 31% of PC users have lost all of their files due to events beyond their control. 25% of companies that suffer a major disaster never reopen. 60% of companies that lose their data will shut down within 6 months of the disaster. 93% of companies that lost their data center for 10 days or more due to a disaster, filed for bankruptcy within one year of the disaster. Fifty percent of businesses that found themselves without data management for this same time period filed for bankruptcy immediately. (National Archives & Records Administration in Washington). It s important to recognize that there s a difference between a simple data disaster and a major business disaster. A data disaster refers to the loss of data due to a server crash, and hard drive crash, some other relatively small accident that deprives a business of its data, or a natural disaster, without affecting the rest of its assets. Developing a recovery plan for the loss of data is relatively easy. But what happens when a major disaster strikes? What happens to your customer s business when they lose all their assets, or there s no place to even work? Being able to restore data is certainly part of a major disaster recovery plan, but all the data in the world won t help a business that has no place for its employees to work, or tools or systems to work with. As an MSP, you have the opportunity to add real value to your service by convincing your customers to develop comprehensive disaster recovery plans. While it may seem melodramatic, ask your customers to think about what happened in Joplin, Missouri when the tornado struck in 2011; or what happened in Vermont when hurricane Irene went through. Businesses lost more than their data. Those that survived and continue to operate today had plans in place to get then through and past what the storms did. Helping your customers develop plans that define where employees will work, what they will work with, and how they will work following a major disaster will go a long way to establishing trustworthy relationships. Remember, you don t have to provide all the answers. You just need to ask the right questions so your customers can develop the answers on their own. While you may not be able to offer more than support in recovering data or providing IT infrastructure after a disaster, convincing a customer to develop a comprehensive disaster recovery plan may be the best thing you could ever do for them. The good news is that disaster recovery planning doesn t require a lot of time or money. It requires the will and a commitment to get the plan done. The effort put into the plan before you need it is time and money well spent. Here are a few suggestions to help you and your customers get started. Establish a planning group. Perform a risk assessment. 4

13 - Realistically, what disasters could occur? - Fire - Flood - Storms - Unique equipment failures - Total systems failures - Others - How would each one affect the business? Establish priorities by identifying which systems/assets are mission critical. Develop recovery strategies. - Where will employees work? - What equipment/tools will they need? - Where will you get the equipment/tools? - What data is essential for the business to operate? Document the plan (include an inventory of all systems and safeguards). IMPORTANT: Test the plan by conducting a disaster drill on those elements that are practical to test, like data recovery. Implement safeguards to reduce risk. Conduct yearly reviews of the plan and drills to ensure it works. Here are two links to information that might be helpful: Preparing-Your-Clients-for-Disaster-Recovery The following pages contain some basic but important suggestions for developing a DRP with each of your customers. 5

14 Conduct a Data Assessment Don t leave yourself or your customers vulnerable. Know what you need to protect! The first and most important step in successfully protecting your customer is knowing what data they want or need to safeguard. A surprising number of partners miss important files and folders, simply because they don t know the data exists or that it is important to the customer. The best rule to follow with every customer is that old adage, Never assume anything about what should or shouldn t be backed up. Conduct a data assessment with every customer. It may take a little time up front, but the avoidance of potential problems later is worth the effort. It also helps establish rapport with the customer by demonstrating your genuine interest in their business success! First, develop a standard customer questionnaire. A few suggested questions include: What applications do you use to run your business? Who uses them, when, and how often? Where does the data reside? What are your data retention requirements (e.g. how long do you need to keep files)? Are any copies kept onsite or offsite? What s the impact on the business if the data is lost? What s your recovery point objective (RPO); i.e., what s the minimum required to run he business? What s your recovery time objective (RTO); i.e., how quickly must the RPO be achieved? Second, the questionnaire to the customer and schedule a face to face meeting. Review the answers. Ask for a tour of the facility. Talk to the end users. See everything for yourself. Make sure you understand your customer s needs and objectives. Discuss the pros and cons of various protection options and agree on a plan. Document the plan for the benefit of all parties and update it at least every 6 months (sooner is usually better). Don t leave yourself or your customers vulnerable. Know what you need to protect! Once you know what to back up, create the backup set or sets. 6

15 Save Your Data Part of the data assessment is determining how long to retain the data. In some cases, as with medical records or tax records, legal requirements determine the length of retention. When there are no legal requirements, the length of retention is up to the customer and should be based on several considerations. Some of these include: What data is mission critical? Data like client information (for law offices) may need to be kept longer than customer information (for businesses). What data is time sensitive? Financial information (revenue and expenses) for purposes of tax reporting or securities reporting needs to be kept longer than say, comparative analysis of two different sales/marketing campaigns. What data is just nice to have? There is certainly some data that customers will want to save just for the sake of saving it. But when that data starts to push the limits of the customer s storage amount, they should understand that it doesn t have to be saved for long periods. Setting criteria for retaining data is highly important when discussing backups. Because deleting data from storage is different from deleting it on a Windows-based computer. If a file or folder is inadvertently deleted from Windows, it can be recovered with certain software. If data is deleted from backup storage, it s really gone! Use delete with caution. Don t assume the next backup will restore the data. Don t assume the data can be retrieved after deleting it. Don t take any unnecessary risks. The bottom line is this: if there is a chance you might need it, don t delete it! 7

16 Schedule the Backup When first seeing Schedule the Backup in a list of best practices, you might think, Well, yea. But remember, with Intronis, backups can be managed manually. And some customers actually like doing it that way. The risk is that leaving a backup in manual mode means it won t run unless someone actually runs it. What if the person responsible gets busy and forgets? What if at the time they try to run the backup they can t access the server? The data is not protected if the backup doesn t run! The good news is scheduling a backup in Intronis is easy. Backups can be scheduled for any day at any time. They can be blocked within fixed time frames or run until completion. And multiple backups can be scheduled on the same day for those customers who generate important changes in their data throughout the day. 8

17 Run a Test Backup As reliable as the backup and recovery solution you are now offering your customers is, Murphy s Law can rear it s ugly head anywhere and anytime. Human involvement makes it inevitable. Permissions may not be set correctly, required software may not be installed, or remote drives may not be accessible. There are dozens of potential environmental pitfalls that can prevent a backup from running. Performing a quick test will help identify any environmental issues with software or hardware that could prevent the backup from running successfully when it really counts. Review the logs after the backup has run. Look for any warnings or errors to ensure the backup has run successfully. Knowing that everything is working correctly from the start can give both you and your customer peace of mind for the effectiveness and simplicity of the solution you ve just sold them. You can also use the results from a successful test as an additional sales point or as a teaching point for your customer. A successful test backup will demonstrate to your customer that they made a good decision. Use the opportunity to review the reports generated from backups and what is contained in the reports. 9

18 Run a Test Restore After you ve demonstrated a successful backup, go ahead and run a test restore to an alternative location. After all, showing that you can back up data is only half of the reason you offer a cloud backup and recovery solution to your customers. Recovery, or restoring data is the other half. Select a location other than the backed up computer* onto which the restore will occur. After the restoration is complete, make sure the results match the backup set you created. Also make sure the restored data is complete and usable. Again, this will confirm to your customer that they made the right choice with your solution. The temp folder should have at least twice the capacity of the amount of data being restored. * Note: System State restorations may have certain limitations regarding the restore location. With Windows 2003, the restore must be on a similar computer with a reinstall of Windows With Windows 2008, the restore must be to an exact instance of Windows. 10

19 When in Doubt, Give Us a Shout Intronis Technical Support exists to help you. Our support is available 24/7 and it is based on-shore in the United States. At Intronis your call really is important to us. We work hard to keep call wait times down. We spend as much time with the customer on each call as is needed to answer the question or solve the problem. We want our partners to be successful. It s that simple. If you don t have time to talk live with a technical support engineer, send us an . If you prefer electronic communication, use our live chat service through the link below. Phone: or support@intronis.com Link: Have a problem? Have a question? Not sure? Don t guess. Contact us. We re waiting to help. 11

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21 Section Two Setup and Go 13

22 Overview Intronis is a file-based backup rather than an image-based backup, meaning that we back up the important documents and databases you use every day. You are not able to use Intronis to completely restore your operating system. You will need to have your operating system installed before you can use Intronis to recover data. With this in mind, it is best practice to use our files plug-in to select only the folders that contain important working documents. You shouldn t select your whole hard drive for backup since the programs and windows system files need to be reinstalled on your computer before you can use our software. Selecting only the important files, folders, and databases will keep backup costs down and allow backups to complete much faster. Select a particular program s installation folder to be backed up only if a specific software vendor tells you it is necessary to recover data associated with that application. It is not recommended to use the files plug-in to backup Microsoft SQL and Exchange database files since Intronis has separate plug-ins that back them up in accordance with Microsoft s best practices. We backup files based on three criteria: file name, file path, and date modified. On your initial backup you will choose the folders you want us to scan each time you run the backup set. The first backup will take all of the files in those folders. Subsequent backups will scan these folders and only backup new files and the changed parts of existing files. The software runs a block level differential to upload the changed parts of files into what we call revisions. These revisions are basically different versions of a file to restore from. If you have a document that changes every day, a new revision of the file is uploaded each day the backup runs. However if you have a file that remains unchanged, our software will only keep one copy. By default we keep up to 10 revisions of any single file you backup with us, however you can keep more than 10, or reduce this number to as few as 1, in the software. You can also create custom rules to save files based on a tape scheme. The more revisions that you decide to keep for backups, the greater granularity you have to restore from, but the more data you will store on our servers. Since we backup based on file path, if you create a file in one folder and move it to another folder, our software will recognize that as a new file and back it up. We urge customers to use caution when moving files around in folders selected to be backed up because it can result in the upload of duplicate data. 14

23 Preferences There are several key preferences, or settings, that should be configured when you first start using Intronis. These include your password, your contact and billing information, your employees access, and your desired reporting conditions. Change Your Password From the Management Portal home page, click the Preferences tab to expand it and then click on View/Edit Contact Information (Item A) to open the Contact Information screen. Click Change Password (Item B). In the Change Password dialog box, enter the temporary password in the Current Password field (Item C), your new password (Item D), and confirm the new password (Item E) in the spaces provided. Click the Save to continue. As you would expect, clicking Cancel or the X in any dialog will end the operation and close the dialog. Future Password Changes In the future, if you ever change the password for a specific subaccount from the Management Portal, you also need to update that password in the Backup Agent software running on the client machine. This is done by opening the Backup C B D E A 15

24 Agent software on he local machine, clicking the Preferences tab, and scrolling down to Change Password. You will also need to restart the Backup Agent software. Verify/Update Your Contact and Billing Information Verify your Contact Information (Item A, below) and Billing Information (Item B) sections. If incorrect, edit the information by clicking the Edit button within each of the sections. Contact and Billing information will be the same by default. To make them different, uncheck the Billing Information Same as Contact Information box (Item C) and edit as needed. C A B 16

25 Provide Your Employees Access to the Management Portal Click the Preferences tab and select Manage Users from the dropdown menu (Item A, below). In the main Manage Users screen, click the Add User button (Item B) to open the New User dialog box. A B 17

26 Enter username for the staff member you re adding (Item A). Enter and confirm the user s password in the spaces provided (Items B & C). Enter the user s name in the space provided (Item D). Enter the user s address in the space provided (Item E). In the Role window, click dropdown arrow and select role that will be applied to this user (Item F). - Admin Gives access to all features of the management portal - Tech Gives access to management section and backup set related reporting - Finance Gives access to billing section and necessary billing-related reporting Click the Next button to proceed to the next page. Update any necessary contact information in the spaces provided. Click the Submit button to create the user. Repeat this process for each additional portal user. A B C D E F 18

27 Configure Reporting Conditions The Intronis Management Portal lets you define reporting conditions for your organization. This can help your staff prioritize their time by focusing on issues that require action and ignoring those that don t. From the Preferences tab, select Configure Reporting. The main Reporting screen will appear. In the Notifications section, click the Add New button (Item A, below). - In the Add New dialog, enter the address (Item B) of a person who will monitor your clients backup jobs on a daily basis. Click Submit to save the address (item C). Add as many new addresses as desired in this way. - Check the Backup Status Report Summary check box (Item D) to the right of the addresses. This will generate a daily that lists clients whose backup jobs have either triggered a Warning or Failed status. A B D C 19

28 In the Reporting Conditions table (below), assign a status to each condition as Completed, Warning, or Failed. - The status assigned to a condition determines: The color in which an activity appears in reports The notification that is triggered when the condition is met - The Backup Status Report Summary is automatically filtered to only show backups with either a Warning or Failed status. 20

29 Initial Seeds What is an Initial Seed? An initial seed is the initial full backup of your files and folders placed on a local hard drive and mailed to the Intronis office for direct upload to our servers. This option is recommended for uploading the initial full backup of backup sets greater than 50 Gbs, especially where the customer s bandwidth is limited. After uploading this data to our servers, your backups will continue running on schedule, backing up the block level differential changes to the initial upload of the data. The initial seed is a feature that must be enabled by request. Please contact Technical Support to create a ticket for your initial seed. You can or call with the specific username and subaccounts on which you would like to perform the initial seed. We will also you the Local Drive Seed form which should be sent to us with your drive. Initial Seed Requirements Contact support in order to create a ticket for your local drive seed. We will send you the form necessary to be included when sending the drive to us, and enable the local backup option for the account and subaccount in question. Initial seed drives must be formatted as NTFS prior to seeding data to the drive. - This is required to ensure the integrity of the data being copied to the drive. - File systems such as FAT32 have restrictions on the number of files in a folder which can cause problems when performing a seed. - Drives that are not formatted as NTFS or are flagged by our antivirus software will be returned to the customer for proper initial seed drive processing. When setting up the local back up, create the following folder structure on your external drive*: X:\Intronis\username\0000 When starting the initial backup, expand the Local Backup section in the Backup Request dialog. Select Perform a local backup, and select the path you have created above, ending in the subaccount ID. The volume of data must be 50 Gb and larger. You can seed multiple accounts if necessary to achieve this amount. Running the initial seed from the Management Portal creates the file structure automatically. If you run the initial seed from the Backup Agent (i.e., a customer s computer) you must name the folder structure as: Intronis\username\computer. * Folder structure is case sensitive! Where username is the username on this account, and where 0000 is the subaccount ID on this particular subaccount. These are reported in the left-hand panel of the software. 21

30 Initial Seed Recommendations DO NOT put an Initial Seed and a Local Vault on the same drive. DO NOT put an Initial Seed and the Temp Space on the same drive. DO NOT include SQL or Exchange backups if you re doubtful of customer s connection. Send Intronis the initial seed sooner rather than later. You can run backups while the initial seed is in transit. Intelliblox technology sends only the changes made since the initial seed was created. DO NOT delete data without resetting the account. You cannot restore data until the initial seed data has been uploaded by Intronis. Once the local backup is complete, fill out the Local Drive Seed Form and send the form, along with the hard drive, to: Intronis ATTN: Client Services 100 Apollo Drive 2nd Floor Chelmsford, MA Special Notes: Please note any special circumstances that surround this initial seed. 22

31 Flat Files and Folders Backups Mechanics for File Backups There are several key mechanics that Intronis goes through to ensure successful backups. Intronis uses VSS (Volume Shadow Service) to create a snapshot of the volume to backup open and locked files. Intronis copies files and folders to a temporary location. Intronis encrypts, zips, and breaks files over 100 Mb into 100 Mb chunks for transit. Intronis uses name changes, path changes, and date modified changes to determine which files and folders are backup. Intelliblox uploads only the changed parts. File overhead contributes to processing time (number of files, type, and backing up from local or remote location) Configuration Recommendations Intronis technology is file based, not image based, so select important documents and databases for backup. Break backup sets that are over 500 thousand plus files into smaller pieces for more efficient transmission of data. Do not select the entire C drive for backup. When the whole C drive is selected, lots of files that don t really need to be backed up, and sometimes can t even be accessed, are backed up which can result in errors in the logs. Do not overlap the start time of a backup with other VSS utilities like Shadow Protect. Do not start all of your backup sets at the same exact time. While you can overlap jobs (since we create a persistent snapshot using MS provider), you should stagger backup start times by at few minutes at least. Files with different names qualify as different files. Use Stray File removal to keep things clean when backing up dumped files. Run backup sets first that finish quickly, and set ones that take longer to run later during the backup window. 23

32 Virtual Machine Backups General Considerations The process for backing up VMs is essentially the same as that for backing up files and folders. There are a few important points to keep in mind when creating a VM backup set. Use a separate Backup Agent for VMs. Don t use the Agent being used for File, Exchange, SQL, etc., backups. The first time you create a backup set, you have to manually enter the IP address(es) of the server(s) (ESX host or vcenter) that host the VMs (Item A). - If the user enters a host IP that is managed by a vcenter, a message is sent letting them know we re actually adding the vcenter. - Upon adding a server, you must authenticate to the server. If it s a vcenter and is using AD credentials, we will first try the agent s credentials and if these don t work you must enter credentials. Select any number of VMs beneath the selected server. Select VMs from multiple servers in the same backup set. A folder itself cannot be backed up, but can be used as a multi-select to easily select many VMs (Item B). All selected and children selected checkbox states will be displayed as usual. B A 24

33 Specific Restrictions and Recommendations You cannot select the VM on which the current agent is running. You cannot select a VM that is already part of another backup set. The names for these VMs are grayed out. You cannot select a VM running Server 2008 on a 4.0 host because we cannot quiesce the guest operating system and thus cannot guarantee consistent/usable data. If running on 4.1 or 5.0, the VM can be selected but a warning is displayed letting the user know the prerequisites for this VM backing up successfully: - The UUID (unique identifier) attribute must be enabled. - The VM must only use SCSI disks. - The VM must not use any dynamic disks. Don t choose a drive/volume/disk within a VM as a Local Vault location. If the VM goes down, all your local-only data could be gone, which would defeat the purpose of the Local Vault. If you try to back up a VM that no longer exists, the system will post an error message. This must be resolved by editing the backup set. During the select step, you will see a list of VMs that were selected for backup that no longer exist, letting you know they must be removed from the backup set. If you restore a VM and a new VM is created as a result (we do not just update an existing VM) that VM will not automatically be selected for backup. You must add this VM to a valid backup set once the restore is successful. 25

34 Backing Up Shared Files and Folders Backing up files and folders that are shared from another computer may not work with Intronis software unless you take certain steps to ensure the backup. Backups of shared files and folders are : Slower Use more system resources Don t let you backup open and locked files (VSS) This issue is based on communication between the computer on which Backup Agent is installed, and the computer that houses the shared files and folders. Best Practices The best practice to ensure backup of shared files and folders is to first copy them directly onto the machine which has the Backup Agent installed on it whenever possible. If you can t install the files and folders on the computer being backed up and you have to try and back them up from the computer that is sharing them, use the Share Manager feature in the software to add access credentials. 26

35 System State Backups A System State Backup is a backup of operating system configuration files and is recommended as part of a server disaster recovery plan. System State Backups include: System Registry Active Directory* COM + Database SysVol Certificate Services* IIS Metabase* System State Backups are only meant for recovery to the same server or to another server with the identical operating system and hardware. Microsoft does not support restoring System State to different hardware as referenced in the Knowledge Base article, How Intronis System State Backup Works The Intronis System State plug-in leverages the built-in Windows backup tools to create a System State Backup. Windows 2003 and XP use the NTBackup utility, which comes installed with the operating system, to create a System State Backup. Windows 2008 however requires the Windows Backup utility to be installed, which does not come natively with the operating system. You must add the Windows Server Backup utility through the Programs and Features section of the Control Panel. If you are on a Server 2008 installation and you do not see System State as an option in our software, this means you do not have Windows Backup installed. With these Windows utilities installed, all you need to do is set the schedule in our software and the number of weeks of backup you would like to keep. Our software will call these utilities to create the backup file on the system before we back it up to our servers. In accordance with Microsoft best practices, System State is scheduled by default to run once weekly. However, you can run the System State Backup every day if you desire. NTBackup generates a.bak file which our software takes and backs up to the remote servers. To restore the information, you would tell our software to restore to your computer, producing the.bak file, to which you could then point NTBackup in order to restore. Windows Server Backup creates a number of small files that we package and bundle into a.tar file. Once you restore this file using our software, you can point archive software such as 7 zip or WinRar to this file to unzip it, and then you can point Windows Backup to the directory in order to restore the files. We attempt to use our Intelliblox technology to take block level differentials from backup to backup, however frequently there are too many changes between the files to do so. Please allot more space in your backup plan based on the number of System State Backups you are planning to keep. * Item only backed up if you have the specified services installed. 27

36 Key Differences Between System State Backups for Server 2003 and Server 2008 System State Backups for Server 2003 are performed through the NTBackup utility that comes pre-installed with Windows, whereas system state backups for Server 2008 are done with the Windows Server Backup program which does not come pre-packaged with Windows. In Server 2008, Microsoft requires that you perform the System State Backup on a non-critical volume. A critical volume is a drive that contains files and programs that the operating system uses. The Windows Backup utility creates the backup file on this non-critical drive and then we back it up using our software. One option with Server 2008 is to create a new partition with Gbs free and use that for the System State Backup. Microsoft uses its own criteria to determine what a critical drive is, so Intronis does not have the ability to create the backup file on a drive that is marked as critical by the operating system. If you only have one hard drive, use a portable hard drive to create the backup file. This portable drive can be used as temp space for other backup sets or as your local vault. If you do not have another drive or the ability to use a portable one Microsoft does have a work around in this Knowledge Base article, The article details making modifications to the registry in order to use a critical drive to create the backup file and will work for local system state backups but not ones run with Intronis software. The System State Backup size is much smaller on Server 2003, ranging from a couple hundred Mb in size to roughly 1 Gb depending on the computer. System State Backups for Server 2008 can be up to 5 or more Gbs in size. These sizes are dependent on the machine backing up and are determined by the Windows backup utility. System State backups are only meant for recovery to the same server or to another server with the identical operating system and hardware. Microsoft does not support restoring System State to different hardware. For more information as to why the backup size is larger for Server 2008 please review this article: 28

37 Local Vault Backups Local Vault is a function that keeps a copy [of the data stored off-site] locally on a USB drive or NAS device. Local Vault sync writes data simultaneously to both places. Local Vault async writes to the local drive first and then copies completed backups to the off-site location. Local Vault sync will sync the data back to the Local Vault if the data on our servers doesn t match the data on the Local Vault. For example, if a backup runs when the Local Vault is disconnected, Local Vault sync will put the Local Vault back in sync with the server when the Local Vault is connected again. Best practices for Local Vault include: Use regular sync for most situations. Avoid using async unless customer s internet connection is really slow. DO NOT put the Local Vault and Temp Space in same folder. Create different folders for each computer on a NAS or shared drive. Async can be monitored from the View Current Activity section of the software and can be canceled if necessary. Local Only Backup Local Only Backup works in conjunction with Local Vault. Using the Local Vault device as the storage space, the Local Only Backup feature allows you to create backups that are ONLY stored on the Local Vault. These backups are not stored on the Intronis servers and do not count toward your remote storage.* Local Only Backup allows Intronis partners to backup non-critical data exclusively to a local storage device on the customer s premise. This allows partners to take a hybrid approach when looking to backup customer s information. The best part is that these Local Only backup sets are able to be managed exactly like our online backup sets. This means partners do not need to utilize a different reporting system for remote and local backups and will only need to train technicians on one solution, saving valuable time and money. Local Only Backup sets allow partners to separate critical data from non-critical data. Non-critical data can be stored to a device on the customer premise in an encrypted format. Critical data can also be stored on the same device to speed up restores, in addition to the Intronis Cloud. * At this time Intronis only supports using a single device for local only backups. It does not support hard drive swapping, and has not designed the local only feature to be a tape solution. The reason why we do not support swapping drives is that the software will write the base copies of files on the initial backup to your local location, and then use our Intelliblox technology to write just the block changes to the drive. If you are swapping drives, you could have the base copies on one drive, and just the changes on others, which will create problems when attempting to restore, because the pieces of files could be on different drives. 29

38 How it Works Local Only Backup allows you to store as much data as you like on the Local Vault. We bill our partners for the Local Only Backups by using a subscription based model. Partners purchase local only backup subscriptions for each computer with the software, that will be performing Local Only Backups. The subscription fee is $4.95 per month and subscriptions must be added first from the Management Portal. Each local backup subscription you purchase will be included as part of the fees on your monthly billing. How to Set Up Local Only Backups Log in with your partner account to Click on the Pay Bill tab and select Manage Subscriptions. In the Local Backup screen, click "Add Subscriptions" and enter the number of subscriptions you want to buy in the field (Item A) and click "Next." On the following screen you will be asked to confirm your choice by clicking "Submit." Once you have added the subscription you can enable it for the computer on which you want to perform local only backups. Navigate to the Computer info screen: Manage Accounts/Computers>Account>Computer Click Edit and check Enable local backup subscription (Item B) and then click Save. After you enable the Local Only subscription you must ensure the customer's Local Vault feature is turned on within the software. B A 30

39 Turning on Local Vault from the Management Portal While still in the Computer info screen, click the Settings tab (item A). Click Preferences (Item B). Select the Software Preferences tab (Item C). Check the Enable the Local Vault checkbox (Item D) and enter the destination for it in the path field (Item E). You can point the Local Vault to either a USB drive or NAS device. The check boxes beneath the path field enable you to select either Local Vault sync or Local Vault async. In this example, sync is selected. Click "OK" to save the changes. C D E A B 31

40 How to Manage Local Only Backup Subscriptions If you wish to stop performing Local Only Backups for a customer, you must first disable any local backup sets. In the software, you can un-check the box next to each Local Only set. If your regular backup sets do not use the Local Vault, you can go to the Preferences section and un-check the Enable the Local Vault box. Then you must log into the Management Portal at Navigate to the Computer info screen: Manage Accounts/Computers>Account>Computer Click Edit and uncheck Enable local backup subscription (Item A) and then click Save. On the following page, click on the Settings tab (Item B), and then click on "Preferences" (Item C). In the window that opens, click on the Software Preferences tab (Item D). Uncheck the Enable the Local Vault checkbox (Item E) to disable the Local Vault. If you do not plan to apply this Local Vault subscription to another computer, you should remove it from your number of paid subscriptions so that you are no longer billed for it. Click on the Pay Bill tab and select Manage Subscriptions. In the Local Backup screen, click "Remove Subscriptions" and enter the number of subscriptions you want to delete in the field (Item F) and click "Next." On the following screen you will be asked to confirm your choice by clicking "Submit." D A E B C F 32

41 Changing Cloud Backup to Local Only Backup It is possible to change a backup that was originally configured to be online to Local Only. To do so, delete the data from our servers, then delete the Backup Set, then recreate and configure the Backup Set as local only. Of course this must be done after the Local Vault is created and Local Only Backup option has been purchased and enabled. Also, this procedure may be prone to errors, so Intronis recommends you perform the procedure with the help of an Intronis Technical Support Engineer. For further information on these features please see our Knowledge Base article on the Local Vault: Base- BASE662SINORTNI. Special Notes: Files that are part of the remote backup cannot be included as Local Only Backup sets. If you wish to convert data in the remote backup into a Local Only Backup, you must delete the remote data first, and create a new backup set designated as Local Only. You can only remove Local Only Backup subscriptions if they are not applied to a particular computer. Subscriptions must be disabled from the computer before they can be removed. Local Only Backups are not available to backup accounts that do business directly with Intronis. Only partners have the ability to enable this feature for their customers. With the release of Intronis version 4.3, master partners can now assign their subpartners Local Only Backup subscriptions. This process is documented in the following Knowledge Base article: Base- BASE1018SINORTNI Select a quality device with an estimated life span of 3-5 years. This device should be at least 4X your current backup size to accommodate data growth over the life span of the device. Do Not utilize the same physical disk or array which contains the data being backed up. Utilize Local Only Backup for only non-critical information. Always store critical customer data in the Intronis cloud. Mailbox level backup sets are a great candidate for local exclusive backups. Back up the entire Exchange databases to the Intronis cloud to restore the entire mail system in the event a disaster strikes. Setting Mailbox level backups to be a local exclusive backup set allow you to restore individual s back in the event of a customer s deletes them or a more localized disaster, but save on the expense of storing duplicate information in the Intronis Cloud. This methodology provides the best of both worlds. 33

42 Restores Restores of data are conducted through the Restore dialog in the Management Portal. The Restore dialog is composed of two panes, one positioned on the left of the window and one positioned on the right of the window. Each pane serves a different function: The left pane shows different views, or ways to filter the data that is stored on the server, or local backup device if Local Only Backups are performed. The views function like any file hierarchy system in Windows; clicking on a view opens the next level, clicking on the second level opens the next, and so on. The right pane shows the contents of the different views and enables you to drill down through the file hierarchy to select the specific data to be restored. Daily Snapshots navigates to and restore data as it existed on a specific date. You can expand a specific day in the list to see the revisions of any files uploaded on that date as well as the most recent version of any file as of that date. Additionally, you can create a snapshot for a date not in the list, by right clicking on Daily Snapshots and creating a new snapshot. Virtual Machines navigates to a list of the VMs that have been backed up. Exchange Information Store navigates to complete Exchange databases by date. Exchange Mailbox Level navigates to all mailboxes or specific mailboxes and even specific messages by date. SQL Backups lets navigates to specific instances of the databases stored. System State navigates to specific instances of the system files by date. In the Management Portal Restore dialog window, the left pane lists seven categories. Files and Folders navigates to stored files based on their same location on the local computer, i.e., if you know where a file is located on the computer (for instance: C:\Users\*username*\My Documents\*filename*) you can navigate directly to that file, and even view the available revisions we have for that file that you can use to restore from. Backup Sets navigates to files according to the backup set they are contained in. Expand the backup set you are restoring from, then navigate the file path in the same way you would in the files and folders category. 34

43 Basic Steps to Restore Data Before restoring data, you must disable any backup sets that might run during the restore in order to prevent those new backups from overwriting the production data that s being restored. This is especially relevant if you ve previously restored the computer from an image backup containing an older version of the file catalog than when you last backed up. Running a backup using the older catalog will replace the one that exists on our servers, removing files more recently backed up. To disable backup sets in the Management Portal, navigate to the specific computer from which data was backed up, select the Backup tab, and slide the slider bar from Automatic to Manual. Restoring from the Management Portal Navigate to the Computer info screen of the desired computer, click the Restore tab (Item A), click Start a Restore (Item B). The Restore wizard opens to the Select screen. Start by selecting the type of data (Item C) to be restored using the file views as described above. C A B 35