In the 8 months or so since I originally released the Windows Home Server Backup DataBase-Backup (BDBB) Add-In there’s been 16 pages of forum discussion and thousands of downloads of the add-in. We’ve since learned that it’s necessary to also back up and restore the Client PC registry keys so that the backups are properly linked to the client PCs if you do a restore onto a server that has been through Server Recovery or Factory Reset. I’ve also had a couple of feature requests, with automatic scheduling of the backups and the ability to back up to a local network share being most asked for features.
I’ve been working on improving BDBB for a couple weeks now, have had some great help testing from the MediaSmartServer.net forum members, and I am pleased to announce the release of the next version of WHS BDBB. Here is what’s new:
- Correctly shows available space for Server Storage (thanks redjessie!)
- Correctly displays TrueCrypt encrypted drives (thanks JohnBick!)
- Automatically backs up the Client Registry keys necessary to properly link the backups with the Client PCs
- Automatically backs up the entire WHS.reg in case the user wants to manually restore part or all of the registry
- Prompts user to restore the backed up Client Registry keys when restoring the Backup DB
- Supports backup and restore to network locations, including UNC and Samba shares
I’m quite excited about the network backup feature, it’s worked really well in testing and I hope a lot of users will enjoy this. You’ll notice that I haven’t added the ability to automatically schedule backups, this is something that I’ll keep on the back burner and consider for a later release.
You can download the installer here in the forums, and read more about BDBB in the Wiki.
I welcome any feedback and bug reports you may have, however I do ask that we direct this discussion to the forums in this topic so that we can centralize discussion and get the benefit of the entire MediaSmartServer.net community participation. Let me know what you think of this new version of WHS BDBB!
Article by Alex Kuretz
I'm Alex Kuretz, and I'm the founder of MediaSmartServer.net. I was the Lead Test and Integration Engineer at HP for the MediaSmart Server until April 2008 when I moved on to other opportunities outside HP. I've kept active in the Windows Home Server community, creating several add-ins and helping users make the most of their Home Servers.
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The Add-In worked great and actually seemed to be faster than the previous version. I like the updates however I do not see a version number on the Add-In once it is intalled.
Hi Tim,
I see the 1.0.1.6 version in the Add-Ins settings tab, as well as on the Help window. Do those not show up for you?
Thanks,
Alex
Hi Alex,
Great Add-in! Another missing puzzle piece MS “forgot” to put in WHS.
I LOVE being able to save to a network share. I have an external NAS I can now save to. Wonderful add-in!
Thanks for the feedback, Andres and Dan!
Hi Alex,
The add-in works great. My network-shares works too. Great job.
So as Timothy says: i like’s that the add-in works faster…
Thanks for this type of helpfull software!
I guess I fail to see the usefulness unless it can be scheduled…as I view this as a key component for off site backup…yet I can’t schedule it?
Hi Aaron,
Discussion about why scheduled backups are not included can be found in the BDBB forum discussion here:
http://www.mediasmartserver.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4078&start=30
this is probably a stupid question but this is machine independent right ? i have a tranquil server, will it work ?
Yes, this Add-In is for Windows Home Server, and is not hardware specific.
I’m sure you’ve heard it plenty of times, but thanks from one more user. My system drive failed on me last night, and – of course – my daughter’s laptop suffered a crippling blow from a “computer smart” friend. Although it took a little more work than I would have liked to restore the WHS back to functioning staus, restoring her laptop once WHS was back up was a snap.
Thanks for the feedback, Stephen, and I’m glad the Add-In helped you!
Alex, I simply love this addin you have created. I have it running on 4 WHS machine and have used it to restore destroyed PCs several times. Probably a tired subject, but do you plan any changes to allow for scheduled backups? This would make an excellent product even better. Maybe it could be an optional item for guys who could use it in smaller installations. Hopefully, I will get a positive answer, but in the meantime let me just say THANKS for this product.
Wayne
Hi Wayne, thanks for your comments and feedback, I appreciate it! And be sure to check out the latest version 1.0.3.3. if you haven’t.
Scheduled backups is the most requested feature, and is something I expect to implement at some point but am not sure when that will be at this point. Keep watching the site for news!
Scheduled backups would be an awesome addition
I’m new to this Add-In. It looks great! (I’m trying it right now)
However I’m looking around the add-in and I don’t know if I missed something, but is there a way to only back-up the backups from certain computers?
I have several computer backups (215GB), but I only care about backing up one single computer, as it is the most important one, and because it’s smaller size. Is there a way to do that? If not, add it to the Requested Features List
You’re doing a great job Alex! From Alex
Hi Alex, thanks for the feedback. Unfortunately the WHS Backup Database is not documented and to my knowledge has only been partially reverse engineered (by another Alex, not me
) so there is no way to pull specific computer backups out of the database.
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