If you have been using the mirroring capability and a disaster strikes your Backup Server computer or Backup Storage drive, you can restore the backup data from your Mirror. We highly encourage you to read this entire section if you find yourself in a situation that necessitates the restoration of your Backup Server from a Mirror.
The time needed to restore your Backup Server from a Mirror is dependent upon the amount of data that has been backed up by your Clients and the access speed to the Mirror.
The route you need to take in order to restore backup data from your Mirror depends on what equipment failed and what you need to reinstall. Read the following scenarios and choose the route that best fits your situation:
My Backup Server computer is operational; but a device in my Backup Storage Group has failed.
My Backup Server computer has failed; and a device in my Backup Storage Group has failed.
If your Backup Storage consists of one (1) storage device:
Physically remove the failed storage equipment.
Attach the Mirror Storage device to the Backup Server computer.
Run Backup for Workgroups.
Go to the Storage panel.
In the Backup Storage list, select the storage device with the message indicating that it is inaccessible/has failed.
Press the Modify button.
Select the Corrected Storage Path or use the Advanced button and enter the path to the Mirror drive.
Press Verify Access to make sure Backup for Workgroups can find and access your Mirror drive.
Press OK.
The Backup Server will now use your Mirror device as its Backup Storage.
If your Backup Storage consists of two (2) or more storage devices AND you are using Interlocked Mirroring:
Physically remove the failed storage equipment.
Attach the Mirror Storage device to the Backup Server computer.
Run Backup for Workgroups.
Go to the Storage panel.
In the Backup Storage list, select the storage device with the message indicating that it is inaccessible/has failed.
Press the Modify button.
Select the Corrected Storage Path or use the Advanced button and enter the path to the Mirror drive.
Press Verify Access to make sure Backup for Workgroups can find and access your Mirror drive.
Press OK.
If you had more than one Backup Storage device fail, repeat Steps 1-9 for each failed device.
The Backup Server will now use your Mirror device(s) as your Backup Storage.
If your Backup Storage consists of two (2) or more storage devices AND you are using Ad-Hoc Mirroring:
Ad-Hoc mirroring does not tie the mirroring devices to the Backup devices on a 1-to-1 basis. As a result, the Ad-Hoc mirroring process distributes the mirror data across the mirror devices at-will; therefore you cannot replace a single Backup storage device with any single mirror device. You need to replace all the Backup storage devices with all of the mirroring devices.
Physically remove all your Backup storage equipment.
Make sure ALL of your mirroring equipment is accessible to the computer running the Backup Server.
Run the Backup Server software.
Go to the Storage panel.
In the Backup Storage list, select the storage device with the message indicating that it is inaccessible/has failed.
Press the Modify button.
Select the Corrected Storage Path or use the Advanced button and enter the path to the Mirror drive.
Press Verify Access to make sure Backup for Workgroups can find and access your Mirror drive.
Press OK.
If your Backup Storage consists of one (1) storage device:
Go to the computer running the Backup Server.
Run Backup for Workgroups.
Go to the Storage Panel. Write down the path to the failed storage drive. You will need this information, so make sure you write this path information down because you will need to setup your replacement hardware using this same, exact information.
After writing down the path to your original storage equipment, including the drive and directory or network share path - you are ready to Stop the Backup for Workgroups Backup Server. If the Backup Server User Interface is running, close it now. To stop the Backup Server Service, right click on My Computer, select Manage. At the Computer Management screen, expand Services and Applications, and select Services. On the right-hand side of your screen, look for the Service named "Backup For Workgroups" and right click on this Service and choose "Stop."
Physically remove the failed storage equipment.
Install your new Backup Storage equipment. Make sure that your new Backup Storage device is configured with the same drive letter or UNC path that you used in the past and wrote down in Step 3 above.
Create the same directory name on the new storage location that you used with your failed equipment. Again, this information is what you wrote down in Step 3 above.
Now you can copy the contents of the Mirror Storage to the replacement Backup Storage device into the folder you created above. When you perform this copy, be sure to include all of the files, and all their subdirectories from the Mirror to the replacement storage drive. Typically, you can take the contents of the folder holding the Mirror data and drag and drop it to the folder you created in Step 7 above.
After the copying is complete (which could take hours depending upon the number and size of the files and other factors), run Backup for Workgroups.
The Backup Server now sees the Mirrored data on the new storage device which is using the same path as the old equipment.
As a result, the Backup Server should be back to normal operation.
If your Backup Storage consists of two (2) or more storage devices AND one or more of your Backup Storage devices have failed and you are using Interlocked Mirroring:
When using Interlocked Mirroring, each Backup Storage device has a corresponding Mirror device. When you have more than one Backup Storage device fail, you can replace the failed storage devices and copy the contents of the corresponding Interlocked Mirror devices to the replacement equipment.
Go to the computer running the Backup Server
Run Backup for Workgroups.
Go to the Storage Panel. Write down the path to the failed storage drive. You will need this information, so make sure you write this path information down because you will need to setup your replacement hardware using this same, exact information.
After writing down this path information, including the drive and directory or network share path - you are ready to Stop the Backup for Workgroups Service. If the Backup Server User Interface is running, close it now. To stop the Backup Server Service, right click on My Computer, select Manage. At the Computer Management screen, expand Services and Applications, and select Services. On the right-hand side of your screen, look for the Service named "Backup For Workgroups" and right click on this Service and choose "Stop."
Physically remove the failed storage equipment.
Install your replacement equipment. Make sure that your new Backup Storage device is configured with the same drive letter or UNC path that you used in the past and wrote down in Step 3 above.
Create the same directory name on the new storage location that you used with your failed equipment. Again, this information is what you wrote down in Step 3 above.
Now you can copy the contents of the Mirror Storage to the replacement Backup Storage device into the folder you created above. When you perform this copy, be sure to include all of the files, and all their subdirectories from the Mirror to the replacement storage drive. Typically, you can take the contents of the folder holding the Mirror data and drag and drop it to the folder you created in Step 7 above.
After the copying is complete (which could take hours depending upon the number and size of the files and other factors), run Backup for Workgroups.
If you have experienced failure across multiple devices, Backup for Workgroups will display the next Backup Storage device that is inaccessible. Repeat Step 2 through Step 8 above for each drive failure.
Once all of your failed Backup Storage devices have been replaced, the Backup Server should be back to normal operation.
If your Backup Storage Group consists of two (2) or more storage devices, and at least one of these has failed AND you are using Ad-Hoc Mirroring:
Ad-Hoc mirroring does not tie the mirroring devices to the Backup storages devices on a 1-to-1 basis as seen with Interlocked Mirroring. As a result, the Ad-Hoc mirroring process distributes the mirror data across the mirror devices at-will; therefore you cannot replace a any single Backup storage device with a any single mirror device. In this case, you need to replace all the Backup storage devices with all of the mirroring devices. Since there is not a 1-to-1 correspondence, you cannot simply replace a single failed Backup Storage device and copy the data from a Mirror, because no single Mirror corresponds to that particular device. As a result, we recommend that you use your Mirror equipment as the Backup Storage and bring new Mirror devices online when appropriate.
Physically remove all your Backup storage equipment. Should you have a mixture of operational drives and failed drives in your Backup Storage Group, you must replace ALL of them with the Mirroring equipment. You may choose to repurpose the operational Backup Storage drives as new Mirrors after you have completed the steps in this section.
Make sure all of your mirroring equipment is accessible to the computer running the Backup Server.
Run Backup for Workgroups.
Go to the Storage panel.
In the Backup Storage list, select the storage device with the message indicating that it is inaccessible/has failed.
Press the Modify button.
Select the Corrected Storage Path or use the Advanced button and enter the path to the Mirror drive.
Press Verify Access to make sure Backup for Workgroups can find and access your Mirror drive.
Press OK.
If your Backup Storage consists of one (1) storage device:
Select the computer that you want to use to run the Backup Server software.
If the failed equipment is attached to this computer, physically remove the failed storage equipment.
Attach the Mirror Storage device to this computer that you want to use as the Backup Server.
Run the Backup for Workgroups Setup program.
Navigate through the Setup program to reinstall Backup for Workgroups.
When reinstalling the Backup Server, the Setup program will scan the computer and find the backup data on the Mirror drive.
Navigate through the rest of the Backup for Workgroups Setup Wizard.
After completing the Setup/Installation Wizard, your Backup Server should be running normally, and it is setup to use the Mirror in place of the Backup Storage.
In the near future, we recommend that you purchase equipment to be used as a new Mirror drive.
If your Backup Storage consists of two (2) or more storage devices:
Select the computer that you want to use to run the Backup Server software.
If the failed equipment is attached to this computer, physically remove the failed storage equipment.
Attach ALL of your Mirroring Storage devices to the computer that you want to use as the Backup Server.
Run the Backup for Workgroups Setup program.
Navigate through the Setup program to reinstall Backup for Workgroups.
The Setup program will scan your computer and locate the first Mirror device that you are repurposing as part of your Backup Storage Group. Press Next.
Backup for Workgroups displays a list of the Backup Storage devices that were in use. Review this list, if any of the storage devices have changed locations, select the appropriate device and press Modify to make corrections.
The list now shows your Mirror devices in place of the Backup Storage devices. Press Next to continue.
Navigate through the rest of the Backup for Workgroups Setup Wizard.
After completing the Setup/Installation Wizard, your Backup Server should be running normally, and it is using the Mirror devices in place of the Backup Storage.
In the near future, we recommend that you purchase equipment to be used as your new Mirror drives.