Scripts are controlling his backups (I think!)

A friend has taken over a business that generates a great deal of documents. His hardware consists of 5 aging, networked pcs in a back room. One machine appears to be operating as a kind of server, although its OS is just standard XPPro like all the others.

This "server" machine appears to be caching\storing all of his docs, but it also seems to be passing them on to another machine, presumably as a backup of the backup.

My problem is to identify how the "server" is passing the docs over to the backup pc. I'm guessing that the operation is controlled by some kind of script, but this is something I've never had to mess with, so I have no idea what this command process looks like or where it is.

I mean, is it likely to be a .vbs (which is the only type of script I've ever had anything to do with) or might it be something else?

Once I know what this thing's file extension is, I can take a closer look at it, see how it works and hopefully duplicate it if the host machine falls over (which could be soon, judging by the age of these geriatric computers. The place is kinda like a Sunset Home for electronic devices)

Thanks folks

 

Admittedly not my field of expertise but my initial thought would be to check the scheduled tasks and see if anything sticks out there as far as backups go.

 

Good call, I guess that the Scheduler would normally show whichever tasks are on its menu.

Trouble is, there's been a development, and the "server" now won't boot, so all my worst fears have been realized. I can access the hard drive when I mount\slave it in another system but its normal Windows-type operations can't be accessed.

So, as I asked earlier, what type of files should I be looking for, ie, what is the file extension likely to be? Is this command process likely to be in the form of .vbs, .txt, or what?

 

Any executable or script (you've given little information). You can rule out .txt unless it's a data file for the executable.

Initialy you should look for .exe .bat .cmd .vbs. You will find thousands of those though, you really need to determine what backup procedures were in place. Even if you can't determine the application used, asking around may help determine the method.

I'm sorry I can't help further.

EDIT:

Since you have access to the HD, perhaps it's a good idea to abandon previous backup procedures and create your own?

 

Thanks Wildfire, you've given me several things to start checking.

There's been another development since my first post which is that the second backup machine has now failed, but the server has resurrected itself. Following this, the "server" pc, has begun to display command-type screens, with messages like (and this is from memory, not verbatim) : "Couldn't create the (Monday, Tuesday etc) backup ".

I've got the failed unit here - now I need to examine the "server" and search for whatever's generating the messages. As you say, I'll look to see if its Task Scheduler has anything queued.

Actually, I was wrong about the "server's" OS, it's Win2K SP4.

Personally, I think the guy should be running something like a Western Digital "MyBook" USB drive (or even two of them), so that they could be detached in an emergency and\or removed from the premises.

What do you think is an effective backup solution that would suit someone with masses of sensitive documentation?

I wonder what lawyers do these days? Surely they don't still rely on the old manilla folders?

 

I'll repeat, my opinion is to abandon any previous backup policies and create your own...

Start now whilst you're still able.

Any business should have backups off premises, so yes this is an important starting point.

It does depend on how often that documentation changes, how sensitive it is and how much the business relies on it.

From your posts I'd suggest at least an incremental backup on site daily, an incremental weekly backup off site and a complete offsite backup fortnightly.

It's not unheard of for businesses to take (incremental) hourly on site backups and (complete) daily offsite backups, the requirements and risks are in your hands.

 

Thanks again for your input, Wildfire. Following your suggestion I was able to find out how the backups are driven.

MSTask.exe is running on the "server ". It's being directed to a folder called C:\Backup_scripts which contains seven files with names like: Wed_backup_script.cmd. That one reads:
-------------------------
@echo off
echo.
Echo Wednesday Backups....
echo.
echo Please Wait.........
xcopy G:\Appliancedocs\*.* I:\Wednesday_Backup\Appliancedocs\*.* /e/s/d/y/q
xcopy d:\Warranties\*.* I:\Wednesday_Backup\Warranties\*.* /e/s/d/y/q
echo.
echo.
echo Completed Data Backups.......................
echo.
Pause
-------------------------
So that's one mystery solved. Next, I need to get his backup system modernized. Anyone able to suggest something suitable?

Like, dedicated hard drives, maybe SATA\RAID\IDE? Or external USB?

And software? Is there anything that stands out as reliable and efficient, but capable of being automated? I do all my backups manually, but there's no way this guy could handle it.

Suggestions would be appreciated

 

Thanks TonyT, sounds a good scheme. How will you do the 'grabbing from the home pc'? I may need to do the same if my friend opts to take the NAS box option.

One other thing, I see that the locally available boxes often have space for 1, 2 or 4 drives. I'm thinking that maybe the 2-drive option might be best, set up in a RAID format perhaps.

What do you think about the 2-drive option? Which RAID configuration would be best?

 

Thanks again TonyT. OK, it looks like he wants to go down that track, so the hardware will probably be a D-Link DNS-323 enclosure, with a couple of 320GB Samsung SATAII drives. Apparently D-Link has built-in backup software, plus it's a print server, so I think I'm facing a steepish learning curve when I try and fit the box into this LAN of 4xWin2K, 1xWinXP desktops, each with their own Brother Laser printer, plus 1xVista and 1xXP laptops!

Your tips will be useful. Cheers