I have lots to comment on this thread! I Love Retro and ditched Arcserve for
Retro about six months ago. I had used it for years to back up Macs, and now
I'm using it for about ten NT servers, Including one that has over 160 GB of
Drive space, a couple that run MS SQL Server 7, and a Lotus Notes server.
Lots of open DBs on that one. Here are some things I've found:
Retro is much more reliable than Arcserve. It just works. Its easier to
setup, more flexible, and most importantly, easier to restore from.
Open File Manager works to back up the open databases just fine, BUT there
is a conflict between OFM and NT's services for macintosh that causes nasty
crashes on the server being backed up. There is apparently fix for this
available from MS, but it is not available for download, it requires a
(paid) service call to MS Support. I is supposed to be fixed in the next NT
SP, but with Win2k on the market, that may never come. I don't know it it is
a problem in Win2k. I'll be finding out soon...
I have also had trouble with the 400,000 file/defined volume limit in
Retrospect. As web developers we are working with a lot of little files in
pretty complex directory structures. When a Retrospect volume contains more
than 400,000 files you will start to get -519 out of memory errors and the
backup will fail.
The workaround for this is to define the Retrospect volumes at a lower level
of the directory structure, which is a bit of a pain. If that is not
workable, you could try scheduling an automated task with an NT "at" command
to have the large folder zipped into an archive before the backup runs and
them backup the archive. A little Rube Goldberg, but it should work. I
haven't tried it though...
I have been told that this will be fixed in the next version of Retrospect.
I can't wait!
Backing up servers is one thing, but Retrospect's advantages really become
apparent when you want to backup workstations as well. the "backup server"
function is really cool, especially if you have laptop users. Retrospect
uses the network very efficiently! And since the Server version comes with
100 clients, you should have no trouble with client licensing unless you
have a pretty big organization.
I hope this helps, Tom.
--
Ben Eastwood
IT Manager
wilweb.com
5650 Hollis St.
Suite 2
Emeryville CA, 94608
510-594-7037
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> From: "Stephen Jones" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Reply-To: "retro-talk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2001 12:45:58 -0500
> To: "'retro-talk'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Subject: RE: ARCserve vs Retrospect Server Backup
>
> I wonder if St. Bernard's Open File Manager will work in conjunction with
> Retrospect? It works with a ton of other software vendors. Their web site
> is www.stbernard.com.
>
> I do not have any affiliation with that package, I'm just making it known it
> exists and may help guys looking for SQL, Exchange or Open file backup.
>
> Steve
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf
> Of Irena Solomon
> Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2001 11:59 AM
> To: retro-talk
> Subject: Re: ARCserve vs Retrospect Server Backup
>
>
> Hi Jim,
>
> Thanks for the feedback! I just wanted to clarify a few points though, as
> you seem to be running into limitations that should not exist.
>
>> for some reason the support for the HP DLT drive was dropped in that
> version.
>
> Drive support is never removed when we release a software update. Any device
> supported in 5.11 is also supported in 5.15. If 5.15 is having trouble
> seeing your drive for some reason, there's something going on that is
> preventing Retrospect from loading the correct driver.
>
>
>> A Mac backup server will not back up a NT4 server which has MSSQL 7
> installed,
> there is some sort of conflict.
>
> Having MSSQL 7 installed on a machine won't, on it's own, prevent a backup
> of that computer to a Mac. The only limit you'll run into is that Retrospect
> is unable to back up open databases, but this isn't a function of backing up
> to a Mac server. This is because database files have a "lock range," which
> locks in all or part of a database so that it cannot be accessed by any
> other application when it is being accessed by the database software.
>
>
>> One more annoying thing about Retro Windows is that you cannot browse to
> your
> target files
>
> In what situation? There are very few situations that would require you to
> know a path name to access a volume.
>
>
>> And retro cannot not run as a service
>
> Retrospect uses the Retrospect Launcher Service to automatically launch when
> the program is not open. You needn't even be logged in to Windows for the
> program to automatically launch! For more on this, see page 154 of the 5.0
> User's Guide.
>
> I advise you to contact Tech Support with any questions. We can help you get
> your drive showing up in 5.15 or configure any aspect of Retrospect to take
> advantage of it's features.
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Irena Solomon
> Dantz Technical Support
> 925.253.3050
> ++++++++
> Try our new Searchable Knowledgebase at:
> http://partners.dantz.com:591/faq/
>
>
>> From: Jim Cobb <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> Subject: Re: ARCserve vs Retrospect Server Backup
>>
>> I am using Retro Windows to backup a HP LH4 NT4 server with no problems. I
>> cannot upgrade to the latest version (5.15) as for some reason the support
> for
>> the HP DLT drive was dropped in that version. But 5.11 seems to be running
>> with no problems so it's no big deal. A big dissapointment is the lack
> backup
>> to FTP server which is so cool on the Mac version.
>>
>> Another issue is with the Retro windows client. A Mac backup server will
> not
>> back up a NT4 server which has MSSQL 7 installed, there is some sort of
>> conflict. It will work fine with Oracle, however. The Retro Win app will
> run
>> fine with MSSQL 7 however. This is too bad as the best thing I can think
> of is
>> to use a Mac to backup your Win servers (boy does that annoy the Bill
> Gates
>> zombies).
>>
>> One more annoying thing about Retro Windows is that you cannot browse to
> your
>> target files, you must know the path/name of your target directory. And
> retro
>> cannot not run as a service so somebody putzing around with the server
> could
>> quit out of retro and your backup won't take place. I think this was more
> or
>> less rectified in version 5.15, but I'm not sure.
>>
>> Currently I have no data on server 2000 to give you.
>>
>> As you know Arcserve is a confusing PITA nightmare of a program and I will
>> take Retrospect, warts and all, over that software any day of the week.
>>
>> --
>>
>> James Cobb
>> Network Manager
>> LifeNet
>> 5809 Ward Court
>> Virginia Beach, VA
>> 1-800-TISSUE-1
>>
>> On Wednesday, March 7, 2001 8:52 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>>>
>>> I've been using ARCserve for many years to backup my NT 4.0 Server and
>>> NT Workstations and long time ago to backup a Novell server. For the
>>> Mac side of things though I've always preferred and used Retrospect. I
>>> prefer Retrospect because it's much easier to install, use and maintain
>>> than ARCserve. Both products have been very reliable though I'd have to
>>> say that Retrospect has proved to be a little more reliable
>>> than ARCserve.
>>>
>>> Now I'm finding myself needing to upgrade ARCserve to the new ARCserve
>>> 2000. However, I'd really rather drop ARCserve and switch to Retrospect
>>> Server Backup to perform the NT 4.0 Server (and eventually Windows 200
>>> Server) and NT Workstation backups. Comparing the the two product's
>>> features and supported drives looks to be essentially the same.
>>>
>>> Anyone out there with experience using Retrospect Server Backup on a
>>> Windows NT 4.0 Server? I'd love to get some feedback about it.
>>>
>>> Thanks!!
>>>
>>> --
>>> Tom Roth • [EMAIL PROTECTED] • tel 336.716.4493
>
>
>
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