Data Mirroring - Copy to Backup Server

[Archcol]

Using Win2K Server (three questions):

Is there a simple way to mirror a volume from a primary
server to a backup server and insure that they remain
synchronized for both data and security settings at any
instant in time?

We may want to make this large volume available offline
and use Cachemov.exe to point the offline file location to
a suitable space and synchronize daily or hourly.

It would also be desired to have easy access to yesterdays
data without having to retrieve it from a tape backup. Can
the offline files be used for this purpose if they are
only synchronized at the end of the day?

One method that we used in the past was to schedule a
batch copy to the backup server - the only problem is that
the copy gets cluttered with old and temporary files and
needs to be deleted and recreated frequently. Is there an
easier way to update the copy to be the same as the
original volume without synchronizing (this would copy old
files back to the original volume) and without completely
deleting and recopying the large original volume?

 

[Oli Restorick [MVP]]

Take a look at Robocopy from the Resource Kit.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=9d467a69-57ff-4ae7-
96ee-b18c4790cffd&DisplayLang=en

Although this is the Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit, I'm told that the
version of Robocopy included will work with Windows 2000.

There's a comprehensive readme file that tells you how to use it to
synchronise files. It can also copies permissions. Since it's a
command-line utility, you can schedule it to run when you want.

Regards

Oli

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

As Oli said, Robocopy can be great - you can use the /MIR option to mirror
it. Make sure you do a regular robocopy (use the /e and /SEC switches for
sure) first before running the mirror....

If you want a GUI, check out
http://www.sunbelt-software.com/product.cfm?id=111