Nothing will properly handle backing up files currently being written
to during the backup session without inserting itself somewhere
between the OS and the disk/controller hardware.

COTS "hot imaging" programs (Symantec's (recent versions of) Ghost and
BackupExec System Recovery are examples) do this pretty reliably now,
but they create large monolithic disk image files that don't take
advantage of BackupPC's magical file deduping.

I handle this by making sure that always-on apps like Outlook (and in
your case SQL servers) store their files to the OS/apps partition -
and these get backed up separately from the regular data files, via CD
or PXE boot allowing a proper "cold" imaging backup. With decent
network bandwidth and good automation, most clients can get backed up
in a 20-30 minute session - I do this weekly, and each user knows
which day of the week they're supposed to do it - most set the session
running and get their coffee first thing in the morning.

An alternative would be having such apps storing their data on
filesystems with snapshot capabilities, e.g. LVM on a Linux server.

I realize that none of these approaches are easy or inexpensive, but
AFAIK that's the nature of the beast.

Whatever path you take, make sure to test it thoroughly with realistic
scenarios.


On Tue, Dec 21, 2010 at 2:59 AM, Ryan Blake <rblake3 AT hotmail DOT com> wrote:
> That sounds simple enough and something I found initially when doing my
> research.  However, I do not believe this also can handle open files, such
> as Outlook's .pst files or other documents open by the user, such as system
> files.  I want to be able to back up all of these files without the end-user
> having to actually do anything on their part and being able to remotely
> install the software.  End result: I want to be able to restore the entire
> OS just as it was the moment it was backed up.
>
> Maybe I'm mistaken, though.  Will this option backup open files as well
> (including the ubiquitous Outlook data files)?  If not, what options do I
> have to do this?   It seemed so much easier working with rsyncd on *nix...
> From: Rob Poe
> Sent: Monday, December 20, 2010 12:32 PM
> To: General list for user discussion,questions and support
> Subject: Re: [BackupPC-users] Need help with automating Windows client
> deployments & handling the file lock backup problem with open files
> Personally, I use a batch file to install the client.  You have to configure
> the rsyncd.conf and rsyncd.secrets
>
> Using this download:
> http://sourceforge.net/projects/backuppc/files/cygwin-rsyncd/2.6.8_0/
> and these instructions:
> http://gerwick.ucsd.edu/backuppc_manual/backuppc_winxp.html
>
>
> @echo off
> c:
> md c:\rsyncd
> net use x: \\server\utils
> xcopy x:\rsyncd\*.* c:\rsyncd\*.* /Y
> c:
> cd \rsyncd
> cygrunsrv.exe -I rsyncd -e CYGWIN=nontsec -p c:/rsyncd/rsync.exe -a
> "--config=c:/rsyncd/rsyncd.conf --daemon --no-detach"
> cygrunsrv.exe --start rsyncd
>
> rem Les Stott notes you can setup the WinXP firewall to allow
> rem port 873 TCP connections to rsync with the following script
> rem lines.  Remove the rem lines to run these three commands.
> rem
> rem netsh firewall set allowedprogram program = c:\rsyncd\rsync.exe name =
> rsync mode = enable scope = CUSTOM addresses = LocalSubnet
> rem netsh firewall set portopening protocol = TCP port = 873 name = rsyncd
> mode= enable scope = CUSTOM addresses = LocalSubnet
> rem netsh firewall set icmpsetting 8 enable
>
>
>
>
> Ultimately, I am trying to automate the update process to end-users as much
> as possible (which is why I used smb to start with).  I'm looking for
> something I can remotely install and have backup all directories, including
> those currently locked and also including live Microsoft SQL databases
> without the bandwidth cost of SMB and while backing up open files (I
> essentially want a backup good enough that I can use to restore the entire
> "system state," which includes active system files).  I know from my
> previous experience, I was able to successfully backup a MySQL database on
> Linux and restore it when the entire database was "accidentally" deleted.  I
> just am not too confident with Windows and how to do this properly while the
> DB is still running.
>
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