Is there a 'best practice' for ensuring user's PST files are backed up? Does anyone have any recommendations for this? Putting netbackup on everyone's Desktop I don't think is an option, what about have windows backup send bkf files to their network share that is backed up?
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We have everyone store their .pst files on a network drive. The drive is mapped automatically with a logon script. We run an incremental backup on the drive each night and a full each month. It is an easy solution because it does not require any extra software to be installed on the users's computer. The nice part is you only have to worry about backing up one server rather than every users computer. We've never run into any problems with this setup. I can't say the same for people that stored their .pst files on their hard drive! |
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In the past, I've used the Personal Folders Backup addin, but it only backs up when you close Outlook because the database needs to be closed. IMHO, the only fool-proof method is to run Exchange Server and back that up instead. |
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Windows backup and a script ought to work. Frankly though, any question about a business network and pst files should be answered with "don't use PST files, end of discussion". I know you won't like that, but it's a fundementally flawed method of storing data your business needs. |
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After several issues we decided to move PST files to the desktop as Microsoft recommends. Now we are testing PST backup solutions for our enterprise... One solution that stands out is EdgeSafe which allows the backup to run automatically while Outlook is open. It keeps a synchronized backup image of the PST and seems to do that incrementally so backup storage is not inflating. Restore seems pretty straightforward as the backup PST does not need to be reassembled as it is already fully synchronized. |
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I was asked to implement the task of backing up 35 PST files ranging from 800Mb to 2000Mb. Windows XP and Windows 2000 workstations are assigned to the users and we have a Windows 2000 domain controller we use to back up files on 3x 500Gb external hard drives. I found several methods from applications to scripts. Local or remote applications would be my last resort. I came across this script based on Volume Shadow Copy Service, CopyWithVss. I haven't run the script yet, but I wanted to know if there would be a problem if the path had spaces. Would mounting the destination path of each PST folder with a drive letter be more practical? My concern with mounting option is that i would eventually run out of letters since I have 35 and possibly more workstations to back up. Lastly, can someone give me an example of CopyWithVss if it were run on a production network? The script is a bit cryptic even after reading several times. Where in the script do I enter the source and the destination? I'm a Mac user so please excuse my ignorance with Windows platform. |
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It seems everyone runs into the same problems, everything I've had to deal with has been mentioned above... What I wish would work is the idea of extracting old messages to folders and files (using a tool, not manually) so that they can be backed up as individual files instead of one giant PST. The problem is that none of the s/w I've tried is simple enough for the average person to use. |
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protected by Jeff Atwood♦ Feb 17 '11 at 19:53
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