Symantec Backup Exec 2010

Having a solid backup strategy is important in all IT policies. Find out how Symantec Backup Exec 2010 can help your nonprofit organisation's backup strategy. Symantec Backup Exec 2010 is just one of the many products that nonprofits can avail of through our technology donations and discounts program.

A backup strategy is the single most important aspect of an organisation IT policy. If you lost everything, all electronic data in your organisation, what would you do?

So what decides a good backup strategy and the software that goes with that strategy?

• Ease of backup
• Backing up only the files you need and or choose
• The ability to back up data that is not duplicated
• The ability to archive data
• The ability to restore data and or systems quickly

That is where Symantec Backup Exec 2010 should be your choice when you want a software solution for your organisation’s backup and recovery strategy.

Symantec is a name synonymous with quality software combined with support that can tailor their software to cater from the home user to the large business environment. Symantec Backup Exec 2010 is the quick option to:

• Recover files and systems
• Recover individual files
• Recover an entire computer / desktop / laptop / server / workstation

Symantec Backup Exec 2010 will run on the following platforms

• Windows XP Professional / Vista /7
• Windows Server 2003 & Small Business Server
• Windows Server 2008 & Small Business Server
• Windows SQL Server 2008
• Exchange 2010
• A Linux version is also available.

How does Symantec Backup Exec 2010 work?

The Symantec software will take snapshots of the system that it has been configured to monitor at regular designated intervals. Recovery can then be made from these snapshots.

Symantec Backup Exec 2010 allows your organisation to be back up and running far quicker than with normal and traditional methods

These snapshots can be saved to any disc storage device NAS, Firewire, DAS , CD , DVD Blu-Ray.

Off-site recovery and copy can also be made via Remote Server, Network share and off site hard drive.

I always recommend off-site recovery for true disaster proofing your organisation’s needs because if a true disaster strikes you do not need your data in the same building

One of the software’s great features is the ability to restore to different hardware if the need arises (such as a motherboard failure etc.)

One point to remember is that the backing up of entire drives is always the best way of protecting your data.

Symantec Backup Exec 2010 also offers the option to back up entire drives or just individual files and folders.

Installation of Symantec Backup Exec 2010

Installation of Symantec Backup Exec 2010 is a straightforward process, including a useful pre-installation “environment checker” which analyses any issues that may arise during installation.

As you can see from the relevant picture it will highlight any issues that are found. These issues can then be addressed so that a smooth installation can take place.

There is also the installation of the Symantec Live Update which ensures that the software is up to date.

Configuration of Symantec Backup Exec 2010

When you run Symantec Backup Exec for the first time you will need to designate your media servers to begin with by entering your log on credentials for them.

Then after entering your credentials you will be at the setup stage and see a graphical interface to begin the planning of your setup.

You can then start with the “Getting Started” box where you will:

• Create Logon Account to store the credentials of the user accounts that will access resources for backup
• Configure Devices , so you can create the new storage devices for your backup data
• Create Media Sets

Then you should move onto the Job Creation Tasks

• Create A Backup Job , this is where you will begin to set the options for your backup strategy for your business / organisation
• Create A Backup Policy , this is where you manage your backup strategy and create your backup policies

In Job Creation Tasks there is also the ‘Create A Restore Job “where you can begin the wizard to restore data.

The tasks all use ‘wizards” and this is where your network administration person will come in to decide and set the policies necessary to guarantee the least amount of downtime for your organisation if disaster was to strike.

Wizards are available to help many of the tasks and backup jobs are easy to create, copy and re-use with templates to help with many aspects of the Symantec Backup Exec.

Performance is quiet good but as always depends on hardware but you should notice little to no impact on your systems.

A great feature of Symantec Backup Exec is deduplication which means you will not be backing up multiple copies of the same files/ folders , machines etc .

This also means that with Symantec Backup Exec , you will find the images and backups take up less space than you would normally expect.

Summary of Symantec Backup Exec 2010

Symantec Backup Exec 2010 is a great piece of software that is customizable for any organisations needs when it comes to a recovery and backup solution.

It will allow you to be back up and running much quicker than most solutions on the market with the flexibility to adapt to most recovery situations.

So how do you get Symantec Backup Exec 2010?

If you’re an eligible nonprofit organisation, you can sign up for the DonorTec program and go to the Symantec page . There you will find details on Symantec Backup Exec 2010.