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PostPosted: Mon Nov 30, 2009 7:24 pm 
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Alex,
Great add-in! I'm about to try restoring a BDBB and have a couple questions.
When my EX495 arrived, I cloned the original HDD and ran the clone for a few weeks. I created a BDBB with 1.0.2.2 to an external drive. Now I've booted the original HDD and have installed all updates including PP3-final (same as on my clone). My BDBB is comprised of 2 client PCs; client "A" is a large backup set (300GB or so) which I don't really need and client "B" is around 50GB and I would like to keep the backups for that one. My plan was to restore the BDBB, keeping the client "B" backups and just removing client "A" after I've copied anything I might need after mounting one of the images.
Should I recover the registry keys? The reason I ask is when I look (but not thoroughly) at whs.reg from the BDBB, it has entries about KnownAdditions, current folders, etc., which do not currently exist in my newly booted system. Will restoring the registry keys cause conflicts because my current users and shares structure doesn't match what existed when I created the BDBB?

If I did a BDBB restore without restoring the reg. keys and had problems, could I just try it again and restore the keys the second time around?

Hope some (or all) of this makes sense. I can live without restoring the BDBB at all...... but my nature is to fiddle right up to the edge of.......... disaster......
Thanks.
Tom


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PostPosted: Mon Nov 30, 2009 10:02 pm 
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Hi Tom,

The WHS.reg is a backup of the full registry and is not used by BDBB, it's only there as an emergency backup for the end user should they need to manually restore it. BDBB does backup just the Client keys in a separate file that is stored with the backup DB and that is what will be restored if you choose that option during the restore process.

I believe there have been some improvements to the Backup engine so that it recognizes backups in the DB even if the client isn't joined, so my suggestion would be to try a restore without restoring the client keys and see if that works for you. If it doesn't, you can restore again and this time do restore the client keys. This sounds like your original proposed plan, and I support that.

I hope this helps, and do let us know how it turns out.

Thanks,
Alex

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PostPosted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 11:35 am 
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Is it possible to use a compressed drive to hold the database backup? My backup database is 1.5TB and my largest external drive is 1.5TB (actually 1.3 something after formatting). I'd like to enable compression on the external drive, but BDBB would let me use the drive as it claims there isn't enough space, sigh. Any suggestions? Also, are there any guidelines or best practices on how to reduce the size of the backup database? I know I have a lot of storage on my attached clients, but I would have thought many (most?) of the clusters between the various machines would be identical.

Regards,
Todd


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PostPosted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 11:52 am 
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toddinpal wrote:
Is it possible to use a compressed drive to hold the database backup? My backup database is 1.5TB and my largest external drive is 1.5TB (actually 1.3 something after formatting). I'd like to enable compression on the external drive, but BDBB would let me use the drive as it claims there isn't enough space, sigh. Any suggestions? Also, are there any guidelines or best practices on how to reduce the size of the backup database? I know I have a lot of storage on my attached clients, but I would have thought many (most?) of the clusters between the various machines would be identical.

Regards,
Todd


Not sure about the compressed drive issue, but probably not as BDBB doesn't compress the backup. Have you considered a 2TB drive?

As for guidelines for reducing the size of the backup database; there are many options. You don't say anything about the drive configuration of your PCs. To reduce the size of my backup database, I only backup the OS and applications drives on my PCs. I don't backup the data drives. I have a separate drive for my OS and applications and a separate drive for data. I keep a copy of the PC data folders on the MSS and keep them sync'd with Synctoy v.2.1


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PostPosted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 2:34 pm 
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I HAVE NOT TREID THIS but one of my clients, a year+ ago, attempted it and claimed to be successful. (The next time I was at his location he had returned to NOT compressing and stated it had just been an experiment. I was never able to confirm or to compare drive usage. And I have never had the motivation to try it myself.)

Cannot hurt to try it. Please report back with success/failure and some indication of the effectiveness. After all, the backup database files are just standard NTFS files (even though not directly readable).

Thanks in advance!

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PostPosted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 4:06 pm 
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JohnBick wrote:
You aren't going to want to hear (see?) this, Alex....

The "big red X" is back. Same as before. Screen shot follows (with Disk Management in background). The TrueCrypt volume was mounted but does not show in Disk Management -- as usual).

YES, I did a restart. YES there was sufficient space on the drives for storage of another backup.

Obviously I will test a replacement...


I installed the add-in and I'm getting the same as this with a big red X. Re-installed & rebooted but still the same problem. Is there a fix?

Thanks.


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PostPosted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 8:52 pm 
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dmkw wrote:
JohnBick wrote:
You aren't going to want to hear (see?) this, Alex....

The "big red X" is back. Same as before. Screen shot follows (with Disk Management in background). The TrueCrypt volume was mounted but does not show in Disk Management -- as usual).

YES, I did a restart. YES there was sufficient space on the drives for storage of another backup.

Obviously I will test a replacement...


I installed the add-in and I'm getting the same as this with a big red X. Re-installed & rebooted but still the same problem. Is there a fix?

Thanks.

You sure you have the latest copy/version?

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PostPosted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 4:07 pm 
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JohnBick wrote:
You sure you have the latest copy/version?

Yes. I've also downloaded & re-installed it again from the site here just in case. Same result. Running with PP3 and latest patches.


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PostPosted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 5:22 pm 
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Hmmmm... I did not see it a couple days ago. I'll try again tomorrow.

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PostPosted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 11:44 pm 
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There are no known issues that would cause this. The most helpful info will probably the HomeServerConsole.log file, which can be found on your server in: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows Home Server\logs.

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PostPosted: Sun Dec 20, 2009 7:55 am 
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I've attached the log as requested. Hope it helps.

Thanks,
Dave.


Attachments:
File comment: Home Server Console Log
HomeServerConsole.091219.0852097500.2072.zip [1.8 KiB]
Downloaded 390 times
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 20, 2009 11:09 am 
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JohnBick wrote:
I HAVE NOT TREID THIS but one of my clients, a year+ ago, attempted it and claimed to be successful. (The next time I was at his location he had returned to NOT compressing and stated it had just been an experiment. I was never able to confirm or to compare drive usage. And I have never had the motivation to try it myself.)

Cannot hurt to try it. Please report back with success/failure and some indication of the effectiveness. After all, the backup database files are just standard NTFS files (even though not directly readable).



Well if I try it I'll probably have to do the backup manually as BDBB refuses to let me try using the drive as the destination as it claims there isn't enough free space on the drive. I can't see any reasonable way to fake out BDBB to let me try using it as the destination. But I agree it sure seems like it should work as the compression would occur under the covers so to speak.


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PostPosted: Sun Dec 20, 2009 11:14 am 
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cavediver wrote:
Not sure about the compressed drive issue, but probably not as BDBB doesn't compress the backup. Have you considered a 2TB drive?

As for guidelines for reducing the size of the backup database; there are many options. You don't say anything about the drive configuration of your PCs. To reduce the size of my backup database, I only backup the OS and applications drives on my PCs. I don't backup the data drives. I have a separate drive for my OS and applications and a separate drive for data. I keep a copy of the PC data folders on the MSS and keep them sync'd with Synctoy v.2.1


Yes, I've considered a 2TB drive, but wanted to try out BDBB before buying another large drive.

You say there are many options to reduce backup database size. Where would I find these options. Rearranging the client drives at this point won't help unless I want to discard all my old backups. So I'm trying to find a way to do this.

One thing that amazes me is that there aren't more ways to view and control what's backed up. I think it would be great to have a tool that let you browse what's been backed up, the details of the backed up files (how many other files share the clusters, etc.)


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PostPosted: Sun Dec 20, 2009 11:33 am 
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toddinpal wrote:
You say there are many options to reduce backup database size. Where would I find these options. Rearranging the client drives at this point won't help unless I want to discard all my old backups. So I'm trying to find a way to do this.


The options all have to do with how you configure the data on your PCs and your MSS, and configuring your backups of each PC to only backup the essential drives. If you have 5 PC's with one large drive, each full with the OS, applications and data, there's not much you can do unless you're willing to re-configure your PCs. A smaller drive with OS and applications and a larger drive with data is one option. If you have your data drive sync'd to a MSS share and duplicated, then you don't need to backup that drive. Since the data is on the MSS with duplication on and also on the PC, you have 3 copies of the data files. Then your PC backups will be much smaller.


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PostPosted: Sun Dec 20, 2009 11:50 am 
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dmkw wrote:
I've attached the log as requested. Hope it helps.

Thanks,
Dave.


That is helpful, thanks. The issue appears to be a weird volume name, can you share the a screenshot of all attached volumes under My Computer on the server?

Code:
[1]091219.085232.1406: UI: Error: FancyListView draw error m.Msg 513: System.IO.IOException: The directory name is invalid.

   at System.IO.__Error.WinIOError(Int32 errorCode, String maybeFullPath)
   at System.IO.__Error.WinIODriveError(String driveName, Int32 errorCode)
   at System.IO.DriveInfo.get_VolumeLabel()
   at Microsoft.HomeServer.HomeServerConsoleTab.WHSBDBB.HomeServerSettingsExtender.GetAllBackupTargets()
   at Microsoft.HomeServer.HomeServerConsoleTab.WHSBDBB.HomeServerSettingsExtender.BackupsGroupBox_Paint(Object sender, PaintEventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.OnPaint(PaintEventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.GroupBox.OnPaint(PaintEventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.PaintWithErrorHandling(PaintEventArgs e, Int16 layer, Boolean disposeEventArgs)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmPaint(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.GroupBox.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.DebuggableCallback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)
   at System.Windows.Forms.UnsafeNativeMethods.CallWindowProc(IntPtr wndProc, IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam)
   at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.DefWndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.DefWndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ListView.WmMouseDown(Message& m, MouseButtons button, Int32 clicks)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ListView.WndProc(Message& m)
   at Microsoft.HomeServer.Controls.FancyListView.WndProc(Message& m)

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