Windows RAID 1, Disc image and backups

[deepakvrao]

Hi Guys,

I am not a tech guy, but run a small hospital. Recently had a hard drive crash, and I thought all was OK because we had backups from our hospital management software till the day before the crash.

OS and hospital software was reloaded on a new hard drive, but the backups were faulty. Totally a fault of the software. Luckily I got the data recovered from the crashed drive. Do NOT want to ever be in the same situation again so -

Got a new server which is set up with 2 hard drives in RAID 1

Some questions:

1. I presume a server has a hardware RAID setup?
2. Is there anyway I can check that the mirroring is actually happening?
3. Is there any way I can tell if/when a hard drive fails. If I can only tell when the second drive also fails, it defeats the purpose right?
4. I was thinking of using the Win 10 built in 'system image' to make an image to an external USB drive. Is that possible when the system is running?
5. I have 2 1 TB drives in a Raid 1, so effectively 1 TB is showing. That is partitioned into C 200gb and D 800 gb. Can I use a 1 TB usb drive to make a image of C and D together? Or do I need 2 external drives, one for each partition?
6. Will this system image copy files that are in use, like the files for a SQL database?
7. The hospital software is installed in drive D. So, is all the data stored there only? Do I even need a OS drive image?

Any other suggestions in which I can make a back up of everything without having to depend on the software backup? Though the software vendor has sworn that they have rectified the error, I would rather have an alternative as well.

Server model is

HP ProLiant ML10 V2 / Intel Xeon® E3-1220v3/ 8 GB RAM/ U B120i 4LFF 1/1TB HDD/ DVD ROM/ Intel® CoreTM i3/ 3.3GHz/ 8 MB Cache/ Non Hot Plug (NHP)/ Ethernet Server Adapter (X1)/ PCIe G2 Full Length (X4)/ HP ILO4/ HP Smart Array B1101 Sata Rapid Controller/ 350W Power Supply/Asia Pacific Server/ Promo/ 3 Years HP Warranty (812129-375)

Link to server is:

http://www.amazon.in/HP-ProLiant-E3...scsubtag=56058409-3c44-46e1-bdc8-bb7d40fe92cb

 

[vivek.krishnan]

Hi,

1. I presume a server has a hardware RAID setup?

YES - It mentions there is a smart controller which means that RAID0/1 support is present.

2. Is there anyway I can check that the mirroring is actually happening?

No. You will need to remove the HDD and connect it to another machine for checking.

3. Is there any way I can tell if/when a hard drive fails. If I can only tell when the second drive also fails, it defeats the purpose right?

Whenever one of the drives fail, you will get a light on the server to mention that the HDD has failed.

4. I was thinking of using the Win 10 built in 'system image' to make an image to an external USB drive. Is that possible when the system is running?

Yes. If you have Windows Server 2008 R2 or later, you should use the Windows Server Backup (WSB) feature for the same. It is extremely useful. Optionally, you can look at Veeam Endpoint backup (free or paid) as well.

5. I have 2 1 TB drives in a Raid 1, so effectively 1 TB is showing. That is partitioned into C 200gb and D 800 gb. Can I use a 1 TB usb drive to make a image of C and D together?

I would suggest getting a 2TB USB HDD if you use WSB as it has versioning.

Or do I need 2 external drives, one for each partition?

Depends on what software you use for taking backups. Ideally one is needed only.

6. Will this system image copy files that are in use, like the files for a SQL database?

Yes, but I would suggest running SQLBackupandFTP, and use a Box account (free) to store the database.

7. The hospital software is installed in drive D. So, is all the data stored there only? Do I even need a OS drive image?

Depends. I would advice to keep 4 HDDs, 2 for OS and 2 for DB. That way, you are pretty much safe, plus you can use dynamic disks to see if the D drive is kept safe!

More additional points

If you can afford it, would suggest to have a tiered backup system. For this, you should do as follows

A. Actual data on Server

B. Backup on USB HDD (WSB) - onsite backup

C. Secondary backup on NAS which is not nearby via xcopy - onsite backup kept in safer area. Please use encryption for safety.

D. NAS should backup data to Box/Dropbox/GDrive as a safety measure. offsite backup. Please use encryption for safety.

Also, if you dont have an issue with virtualisation, do it. That will allow for worst case scenarios where the server can crash and you can immediately restore on secondary server quickly (if HA is not enabled). Since most records are digitized, this can be a life saving thing when the worst occurs.

 

[deepakvrao]

Thanks Vivek, for such a detailed reply. Will take me a couple of days to absorb, but will start right away. The few days that the data recovery too cost me years of life. Cannot go thru that again.[DOUBLEPOST=1476633245][/DOUBLEPOST]

Vivek,

If I create a 'system image' from the windows built in thingie, say once a week, will it save me if everything crashes? Say, this is to a USB drive kept elsewhere.[DOUBLEPOST=1476633308][/DOUBLEPOST]And, will the system image work to copy SQL database files while they are open?

 

[vivek.krishnan]

Yes, it will work. Please avoid using USB pen drives as they are more easily lost and have a lower reliability and can get lost easily IMO - instead use USB HDDs or SSDs. Secondly, I would not recommend doing this on Windows 10, as there is a chance you will not be able to restore on dissimilar hardware - bare metal restore. Look at OneDrive/Google Drive/Dropbox as well.

With SQL, yes you can make a backup when the databases are running, provided that you are able to make a VSS consistent backup with the application as well. Else, look at SQLBackupandFTP and keep your data on BOx.

I would advice to keep your data on a Windows Server or get a Linux/FreeBSD server with RAID1 or the likes.

Kindly please check and ensure you can account for your backups. It would do no good if the data is leaked.

 

[deepakvrao]

Thanks again.

I just used the SQLBackupandFTP, and got some back up files. Any idea if I can ensure that they are accurate? Sorry for so many noob questions.[DOUBLEPOST=1476644912][/DOUBLEPOST]Just doing a trial of Acronis True Image. Thoughts? Seems an easy software to use. Will I be able to get back up and running with all SQL data intact in case of a crash?

 

[vivek.krishnan]

As I told, take a backup and check against the backup done manually. Please note that the program gives zipped files.

I would not recommend Acronis unless there is no option. I prefer to use the inbuilt backup tools as they are more probable to work with least hassles, and you may not need an agent. Look at Veeam as well

Optionally, if you want some better advice, please post in Spiceworks or/and reddit/sysadmin. You will get some good answers there are well.

 

[deepakvrao]

Thanks so much Vivek. Can't thank you enough. Here is what I have done till now.

1. Raid 1 setup in server
2. Autoback up databases with hospital management software to local drive, USB drive, network drive, and cloud
3. Autoback up databases with SQLbackupandFTP to local drive, USB drive, network drive, and cloud
4. System image daily with Acronis and AOMEI Backupper to USB drive and Acronis cloud

Once in a week I'll ask software vendor to check the latest backup at whatever they charge me, unless someone can give me a software that can check the latest entry in a SQL database.

If after all this I lose something, I'll go back to paper and pen.

 

[vivek.krishnan]

Back to paper and pen... LOL

I think you are pretty good to go. Please keep a bare metal backup of the server as well, in the event the server crashes, for recovery.

 

[booo]

okay... self proclaimed disaster recovery expert here

The few days that the data recovery too cost me years of life. Cannot go thru that again.

if the data is really that important, you should start thinking about storing data in the cloud. usually if you buy a virtual private cloud machine; preferably from amazon ec2/MS Azure/google compute platform. simply put, the cloud will ensure that your data is stored in atleast different locations with at least 99.999% up time.
since you are working with windows os, I guess azure would be best bet.
The amount that you are spending on the new machine should be roughly equivalent to 2 years of subscription.

you could also try to see if your application's developer is providing any cloud instances which would be usually chaper than the compute.

Now, coming to your server, if you want to install everything locally, I suggest that you install some kind of hypervisor like virtual box and run your software as a virtual machine. this will help you in several ways, you can take backup of entire system as a single file and also create snapshots every now and then which would be incremental backups instead of entire system. this type of setup is also very useful in case if you have any hardware failure where you can simply move the virtual machine to a newer hardware. just like running a cloud compute instance but in your premise.

 

[vivek.krishnan]

^ +1 to Virtualization, as this is what I have suggested and use and should be used to be make your system hardware agnostic, thus reducing downtime.

Cloud is a good option, but as this is a hospital, I think they should check and make sure of compliance.

Finally, please get a system audit done every few months to check for any possible issues.

 

[booo]

Cloud is a good option, but as this is a hospital, I think they should check and make sure of compliance.

I remember sitting through an hour long online HR training session about HIPAA. but yeah, hospital information is very personal and should be secured. which brings us to the aspect of encrypted volumes. be sure to encrypt the drives. windows provides bit locker which you should use.