Well I actually did a reinstall from scratch. The problem just seemed to keep getting worse. Although the system files shows correctly as 20gb for now, I can see the 0000etc. folder for the client backups on the D: partition, and one two of the data drives, one has my PC's backup config and the other has my Wife's PC info. We'll see what happens after the first backup. This can't be from the add-in, so maybe ppk3 has a new behavior? Can't find any info on this issue at all.

The database files can be distributed across multiple drives, if you're seeing the System show correctly as 20GB then it's almost certain that your backups are not duplicated.

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Alex Kuretz
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yeah, it's all good now. I originally had 789GB of "system files" of which 301GB would be one copy of backup, and none of the usual suspects like shadow volumes were the culprit. Once I reloaded everything, the bogus space was recovered and I could tell where everything was going. Thanks for the help!

To: Yakuza

Thanks for a great Add-In. I have installed it and backed up my WHS Database with out incident. I have been reviewing all of the information on the wiki, and this thread, and honestly I havent been able to read each page. So I apologize in advance for asking a question that propabaly has been answered already, but here goes.....

I am upgrading my WHS box. I have a custom built system. My orginal barebone box has failed and I have purchased a higher quality box (once again lesson learned there). I have done all of this backing up, becasue I will be installing a fresh copy of WHS, and I wanted to make sure that I will be able to reinstate my WHS backup DB? And is it as simple as attaching the back up drive and just clicking restore back up?

Thanks in adavnce.

Essentially yes, do be sure to fully update your new server to the latest patches from Microsoft before you restore the DB. There's more info here:
http://www.mediasmartserver.net/2010/01 ... me-server/

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Alex Kuretz
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Hi yakuza,
thanks for the help with my past issue. Here is one new one

For the first time, i tried using the add-in BDBB today to backup the database. I connected an external drive via USB which has nearly 750 gb free. Under the settings tab, under WHS BDBB, i chose the backup option. A pop-up lists the size of the database as 156GB. However under backup target i only see storage pool as an option. i checked and the external drive is visible to the server and is recognized as one under "Non storage hard drives". I however have not added it to the server as it contains other stuff that i dont want to overwrite. Must this drive be added to the server for the BDBB function to work or is there a work around? Alternatively is there a way, to backup to a different computer on the network?

thanks,
asda

@ asdaHP

Have you assigned the drive a drive letter under "disk management"? If so, the drive should show up in the WHS BDBB window as a target location. You can also add the drive as a backup drive without formatting the drive. This will assign it a drive letter and should make the drive visible to WHS BDBB. When you press the "backup" button you should get a drop down box to choose the target drive. You can also use the "Network Share" button to add a network location for the backup target. You will need to know and input the exact path to the network location as WHS BDBB cannot search the network for available drives or shares. You will also need to make sure the network target has all sharing permissions set.

Thanks. It worked by adding the drive as a backup drive and opting on the next window to not format the drive. I guess I have just been very hesitant given the complaints in some consumer sites of how the server may delete all the data when a drive is added. Now i know that it is only when a drive is added as a storage device that the drive gets wiped.
asda

Glad you got it working, and yes, WHS only erases the drive when you add it to the storage pool.

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Alex Kuretz
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I want to say "Thank you". I just recovered from a catastrophic failure. I retrieved all of the backups that I backed up with this add-on!!!!!!!
It was not a good day, but have everything back now.

Great to hear, thanks for the success story!

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Alex Kuretz
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I am trying to setup a bulletproof backup system. Right now, I have WHS backup all of my desktop machines (I have 3 internal drives, approx. 5TB of storage-- only about 3.5TB used, and most is recorded TV). I have two 2TB external eSATA drives. I would like to use those to rotate backups to an offsite location.

Purpose of the backups:
1. Accidental deletions of files.
2. The house blows up, and I need to restore and access files from all of my desktops/laptops, as well as all of the files (such as Shares) on my WHS machine.

I am uncertain the best way to do this... I had been using the eSATA drive, and NOT adding it as a drive. Then I used a Batch file, run on the WHS machine as a Scheduled Task, to weekly Xcopy the files to the physical drive letter. The problem with this method, is I have no backups of my desktops/laptops. I am concerned about copying just the backup directory, as (a) it is huge, and (b) if I do have a disaster, would I just copy over the directory?

I have now just learned of BDBB-- which sounds great. Could someone please explain the best way to utilize it?

Would I just run it periodically and have it use the external drive letter? Or do I make the eSATA drive part of the array and use for backup, and then use this also to that drive?

I appreciate the feedback of someone who KNOWS what to do, and make it automated. I assume I am 95% there, but that 5% is bothering me. For now, I just hope the house doesn't burn down.

Thank you!

Definitely read the BDBB Wiki article, as well as the Backups whitepaper which describes the manual steps to backup the backup DB which is what BDBB automates.

How big is your backup database? BDBB can use your backup drives either as designated backup drives in WHS, or else just as drives attached to your server but not added to WHS.

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Alex Kuretz
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I read the wiki and article-- that is why I was so interested in the program.

However, I am unclear on what backup regiment/setup to use... As asked in my question.

Your advice and experience would be greatly appreciated.

Let's start with my original question -- How big is your backup database?

There really isn't much of a regiment, it's up to your personal tastes how often you want to backup, and I've already told you that you BDBB will see your drive either as a WHS-designated backup drive, or a simple attached drive.

_________________
Alex Kuretz
Remote Notification: Monitoring and alerting for your Home Server via email, Twitter, text message, RSS, push notifications, and on your Mac desktop
Have you tried our Add-Ins?