Hello,

We have a dedicated server windows2003. We pay for 40 GB backup per
month. The problem is that our hosting service is backing up the
entire server daily and the result is that our backup is much more
than 40 GB it's - 400 GB/month.

What is the best way to decrease the backup space? I understand that
one way is to create a backup folder and save only new information
there. But then where is the rest of the data stored and restored from
in case of a disaster.

Please answer with as much detail as possible, since I have no
knowledge in this matter.

Thanks!

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Request for Question Clarification by sublime1-ga on 08 Aug 2005 22:31 PDT

merafu...

I'm not clear on how 400GB/month is being calculated.
Does this mean 13.3 GB are backed up daily, and they're
giving you a cumulative figure, even though they're 
overwriting the same 13.3GB daily? If so, why not
have them backup the 13.3GB every 10 days, making 
your total 40GB for the month. If they're not doing
an overwrite, but are backing up 30 days worth of 
full backups, it seems you could also just do the
backup less frequently.

It sounds like you have a higher level of service than you
need or want. I would recommend exploring with your host
whether there is a lower level of service (which might also
cost you less), such as weekly backup of the entire server
plus daily backup of incremental changes.

Some hosting sites may also be able to backup the entire
server on media you supply, for a modest fee. This would
provide a foundation so that only incremental changes
need to be backed up.

Who is your host? Maybe there are pages on their site
which will clarify other options available to you.

Let me know your thoughts...

sublime1-ga

---

Clarification of Question by merafu-ga on 08 Aug 2005 23:17 PDT

My hosting service is RackSpace. Here's the report from my customer
interface (my.rackspace.com). Does this help?

Previous Month Backup Summary:
7/1/05 - 7/31/05  
Server Total GB 
30347-65989 290.242 GB 
Total: 290.242 GB 

Current Month Backup Summary:
8/1/05 - 8/31/05 
paid for: (10GB/week) with 2 week retention  
Server Total GB 
30347-65989 127.717 GB 
Total: 127.717 GB 
Paid For: 40 GB

merafu...

Okay. I bit the bullet and called Customer Service at
RackSpace.com. Given the topic, I was transferred to
a Backup Specialist named Jack Wilkinson, who noted
that he's the *only* Backup Specialist on 3rd shift.

Here's what I found out:

Right now, you're paying for 40GB/month at 10GB/week.
By default, they back up your entire server every
week and hold the data for 2 weeks, no matter how
much is on the server.

So In July, they backed up the entire server 4 times
at an average of 290/4 = 72.5GB every week. In August,
the backed up an average of 128/4 = 32GB every week.

The difference between July and August for the figures
you gave represents the actual change in the amount of
data backed up, which depends on how much is on the
server during backups. The reason for the difference
may be due to the actual utilitarian files you keep
on your server which can certainly fluctuate, depending
on the nature of your server, but Jack noted that 
*sometimes* this is due to users with FTP access who 
store files on the server and forget to clean them up
later. How much and what is uploaded to your server is
up to you to monitor.

He then noted that, if your records indicate backups
that are consistently above a certain level, you can
simply call and speak to an Account Manager or a 
Business Development Coordinator and tell them you 
want to raise your monthly backup from 40GB to, say,
150GB. This will incur an increase in your monthly 
fee, but it's very likely to be less than what you're
paying in overages above 40GB, since overages are
calculated on a certain amount for, say, every 6MB
over the limit (Jack didn't know the exact figures).

Jack asked me to note that he is not in the sales
department, and therefore can't provide any figures
for the cost of current overages vs. the cost of 
increasing your monthly backup allotment, but 
that an Account Manager should be able to do so
and help you to reach a workable solution.

He also mentioned that, again, the entire server
is backed up weekly by default, but a call to an
Account Manager can instruct them exactly what 
you want backed up. So it might be feasible to
create a solid backup of the entire system on
media and then instruct them to do only incremental
backups until the next time you do a major upgrade
of some kind. Before considering that, I would 
recommend exploring the cost of full backups with
a higher ceiling on your monthly backup allotment,
which might be less than you expect.

When I asked about less frequent backups, Jack said
he had seen something recently about a twice-a-month
backup, on the 1st and 15th, with a 4 week retention
of the data. Since this would amount to a fewer GB
per month, I asked if this wouldn't be cheaper, by
nature. Jack noted that he really couldn't say, but
the higher 4 week retention might figure into the 
price, as well as the lower number of GB. Again, 
this is something to explore with an Account Manager
or Business Development Coordinator.


Jack was certainly pleasant enough to deal with, so
I would assume that a call to an Account Manager
would be equally enjoyable. Here are their numbers:
24x7 Support: 1-800-961-4454
24x7 Sales: 1-800-961-2888


Let me know if anything is unclear, or you need more
details about something.

Please do not rate this answer until you are satisfied that  
the answer cannot be improved upon by way of a dialog  
established through the "Request for Clarification" process. 
 
sublime1-ga

Hi...if you are the "system-administrator" for the server in question,
here are some ideas: a) reduce the number of user accounts & dirs on
the server by archiving (backing up and deleting) any accounts that
have not been accessed in last 60 days)...b) on your regular daily
backups, backup only user acccount data and a minimal amt of  critical
system files ... c) follow this simple strategy ... on Friday night,
do a FULL backup of all data in users accounts ... on Mon - Thur night
do an INCREMENTAL backup by backing up only files/data-objects that
have changed, or that have been added, since the last backup...  d) do
a weekly account size audit once a week on all the user accounts to
keep track of which users consume most disk space, then work
especially with those top users to urge them to keep their accounts
"cleaned out"...you can archive (backup and delete) any old & obsolete
files they are not currently needing .... e) look into what type of
file-compression/data compression functions are available, and see if
you can implement data-compression for rarely used files in user's
folders   f) set up a regular weekly data archive function where you
copy data to be archived to a special folder, then you back that
folder up to permanent backup, then delete the data from its original
folder. You keep the archive tape permanenently, and you keep the
listing online in case you need to restore the files later...  g) make
a special backup of Applications just after you have done an upgrade
or modification to their cfg files, but dont put them on regular daily
backups....h) once a month or so, backup all the *.LOG files (which
are kept by many system processes), then go in, examine  the logs, and
clean them out...they can get very large, but by cleaning them out,
you keep them small...i) learn Perl programming... you can download
and install a Windows-compatible version of the very powerful
Perl-programming language from www.activestate.com  ; it installs
easily, then you can learn Perl-programming. Perl provides a powerful
scripting ability, and, as you get the hang of it, some of the things
mentioned above can be automated with Perl scripts...
... these are just some ideas... perhaps you will find them helpful...