Member Avatar for richecker

Hi,

I am looking for a recommendation on a decent server backup software. Right now, I am evaluating, novastor, acronis, and datastor, but would greatly appreciate some advice on the matter. Right now, we have 3 servers: a file server, an application server, and a domain controller. I would like to have the ability to build an image so if the domain controller ever fails, we can easily recover. Deduplication is not too important to me since we do not have that much data. We are using SQL Server, but if the application does not have integration for it, it is not too big of a deal since I can specify where the backup goes in the maintenance plan of SQL. I would also like to come in at a cheaper price point and that is why I have been leaning towards novastor, but I would love to hear what others in the field are using. Also, what kind of nas devices are you using? I have been looking at getting one of the synology devices; anybody have any thoughts on these?

Thanks,

Rich Ecker

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Short summary and practical plan for (and building on ’s image-based workflow): focus on three things — reliable bare‑metal/image recovery, application‑consistent SQL backups, and regular System State (AD) backups + test restores. Image-based hot‑standbys are useful for fast RTOs (as described) but restoring a domain controller from a plain disk image can cause AD replication problems (USN rollback) unless the backup is AD‑aware and uses Microsoft‑supported APIs. Build and practice a written forest/DC recovery plan, and test restores in a lab. (learn.microsoft.com)

SQL servers: rely on application‑aware backups where possible. Either use the SQL Server maintenance plan to produce regular full/differential/transaction‑log .bak files to a network share and include those files in your file backup, or use backup software that integrates with SQL (VSS‑aware or agent‑aware). If you do image backups, make sure the product documents how it handles the SQL VSS writer (or provides pre/post scripts) so you don’t end up with inconsistent DBs. See vendor guidance for SQL handling (example: Macrium Server documentation). (knowledgebase.macrium.com)

Budget tool choices: for small sites a community/agent model can be very affordable — for example, there are free community editions that protect mixed physical/VM workloads (check vendor limits and agent support). For image-first protection with easy bare‑metal restores consider server‑focused imaging products that support redeploy to dissimilar hardware; pick the one whose licensing and restore workflow match your RTO/RPO. (veeamapps.com)

NAS and destination guidance: a centralized NAS that supports image storage, snapshots and agent/SMB/rsync ingestion simplifies management. Synology’s Active Backup for Business is designed to centralize Windows/physical/VM image and file backups and offers instant‑restore and dedupe features — note that some ABB features require Btrfs on the backup volume, so plan volume type and retention accordingly. Test restores from the NAS before you trust it. (synology.com)

Quick checklist

  • Take daily System State (or daily WSB) of every DC; keep copies offsite and document DSRM credentials and recovery steps.
  • Schedule SQL full + log backups to a share, retain enough logs for point‑in‑time, and verify DB restores.
  • Image servers nightly (or as appropriate); keep at least one recent full image offsite.
  • Do a quarter‑ly restore drill (one DC and one app server) and update the playbook after each test.
Member Avatar for Reverend Jim

Before retiring I managed two server installations (primary and backup). Each site had approx 10 (Windows) servers. We used Symantec Livestate Recovery to take daily images of all primary servers. The backup servers had identical hardware and disks and were booted into a maintenance mode whereby each day's image was restored to the paired backup server. This required a little prep work to ensure that the backup disks had the same disk signature (used HexProbe to do this). Different disk signatures would result in different drive letters being assigned on boot.

Anyway, the short answer is we had no problems with Livestate Recovery. I use Acronis for personal imaging but have never used it in a server environment.

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