How to transform wbadmin into a fully scheduled, monitored and reliable backup solution for Windows Server 2008

Benefits and achievements
Full reporting and monitoring - email notifications Extended hardware support - NAS, Local disk, rdx Media rotation, reminders and device checking Additional tools for file-based backup: Files, folders and network shares	Transform wbadmin into a rock-solid, dependable image-based backup solution Cost effective solution Simple setup
Benefit from image based disaster recovery and hardware independent restore

If you're reading this webpage, you're probably searching for a simple, straightforward and cost effective way of backing up Windows Server 2008, SBS 2008 or EBS 2008.

And you may be trying to use the image backup that's built into the Operating System itself, but you've run into one of the many roadblocks or encountered some of the limitations that Microsoft overlooked... perhaps you're frustrated at the poor hardware support, lack of email reporting or lack of user-friendly media rotation... and that's forcing you to consider other options.

If so, then BackupAssist is the answer!

Full reporting and monitoring

Perhaps the most important aspect of a backup system is being notified that the backup took place so you can have confidence in the backup system's performance, and be notified if and when errors occur. Another problem is that the built-in wizard removes the drive letter of the backup device so you cannot even see what is on the device! In contrast, BackupAssist shows you how much backup data there is, and what past backup versions are on the device.

Without BackupAssist	With BackupAssist
No report. No information. No confidence. No idea.	View sample report Report emailed to administrator(s). Vital statistics - backup size, time taken Overall status - success, errors or warnings Detailed log Media usage graph - shows how full the backup device is Past backup versions - lists the available past versions of backups on the device

Extended hardware support

Unfortunately, the built-in wizards in Server 2008 will only allow you to schedule a backup to a USB or Firewire connected device. If you want to back up to other devices, such as NAS, eSata disk, local disk, rdx drive or REV drive, you either have to "backup once" (a manual process) or script wbadmin.exe yourself.

In contrast, BackupAssist allows you to schedule backups to all these devices, and do so with no additional configuration. In addition, BackupAssist allows you to see the contents of the backup device (it keeps the drive letter), and it manages things like "Safely remove hardware" and "Add new hardware" to both eject and inject devices to make sure that the backup runs. Additionally, it will also cater for situations where a USB drive's drive letter changes.

Without BackupAssist	With BackupAssist
No scheduled backup support for non USB or 1394 HDDs. No NAS support. No Local Disk support. No eSata Disk support. No rdx Drive support. No REV Drive support.	Hardware selection wizard for wbadmin Full hardware support. Wide range of devices supported. Specific hardware support for each device. Easy configuration and management.

Media rotation and device checking

The concept of media rotation involves having multiple backup devices in a "pool", and swapping these devices onsite and offsite. The purpose is to have a variety of restore points, and to have them stored in different physical locations.

Unfortunately, the in-built Microsoft wizards provide you with absolutely no help in managing this process. It allows you to add devices to a "pool", but leaves the rotation process entirely open. This means that you need to devise your own strategy.

In contrast, BackupAssist contains pre-defined best practice media rotation strategies that you can choose at the click of a button. For example, if you have 5 backup drives, you can easily configure to rotate them as 1 monthly, 2 weekly and 2 daily disks. And BackupAssist will even send your backup operator an email every day to tell them which disk to connect, and check that the correct disk was connected at the time of the backup! This minimizes human error and enhances the reliability and effectiveness of the entire system.

Without BackupAssist

With BackupAssist

No concept of media rotation. User is left to his/her own devices. No in-built schemes. No checking. No reminder messages. No reliability.

Built-in media rotation Built-in media rotation strategies. Best practices at the click of a button. Specific instructions sent to the backup operator. Checking is done every night to make sure that the backup devices are rotated according to plan. If the wrong device is connected, BackupAssist can be configured to either backup anyway and display a warning in the backup report, or to abort the backup altogether.

File based backups for local files/folders and network shares

Finally, as the new Windows Server Backup infrastructure is image based, it does not support backing up specific files and directories, whether they be local or remote (via network share).

However, BackupAssist provides a solution for this - within the product (and at no extra cost) is our File Replication Engine - a separate backup method that allows you to copy files, complete with VSS support and full NTFS security / extended data stream support, from any location to any other location.

Without BackupAssist	With BackupAssist
No file-based backup available. Only entire local volumes. No local file backup. No remote file backup.	Backup specific files and folders File based backup capabilities Simple approach based on exact, VSS aware file copying Backup local and remote (network) files

Free 30 day trial - download and eliminate wbadmin headaches today!

Best of all, BackupAssist is available for a free 30 day trial. During this time, you can:

• See for yourself how easy it is to use
• Experience the immense benefits of BackupAssist
• Dramatically improve the reliability of your backup system with little effort
• Save hundreds or thousands compared to other commercially available drive imaging software