Configuring Multiple NICs on Windows 2008 Server for Network Backup

Question

I have a IBM x3650 M4 running Windows 2008 Server and it is used as the DNS Server and the File Server. I also have a Windows 7 machine on the same network configured as the "backup server".

I am using UrBackup tool that schedules a backup everyday. The data is "pulled" by the "backup server" from the Windows 2008 server.

Since the server has multiple NICs, i would like to use one of them as a dedicated link for backup of data.

How can i configure the DNS entries / hosts file entries on the Windows 2008 server so that the dedicated NIC is used instead of the public NIC during backup?

I know i will have to configure a new NIC on the "backup server" also but that one is easy.

How do i force the backup script to use the dedicated link and not the public one?

Thanks for your help.

Regards, Anand

Answer 1

You make sure your backup server can reach the file server via its IP on the separate NIC and then your backup scripts / settings must point to the IP of the new NIC.

Easy.

Answer 2

Anand, you could try this by adding static route from your Windows Server to backup server. Let's assume your Windows server primary NIC is 192.168.10.9 and your secondary 192.168.10.10; while your backup is 192.168.1.100;

Then you could add this static route:

route add 192.168.1.100/32 192.168.10.10 metric 10

Low metric value would force this 1:1 route to be primary path for ethernet packets.

Answer 3

It's quite simple:

• add a new network interface to the Win2008 server
• add a new, dedicated IP address to the new interface
• configure your Win7 machine to point at the new IP address assigned to the new server interface.

Answer 4

Thanks for the responses.

Although it is easy to configure the backup server to point to the new NIC of Windows server, how do i ensure that traffic is directed on the dedicated NICs?

Ex:

Windows 2008 Server

Primary NIC - WinSrv1 (172.25.1.10) Secondary NIC - WinSrvBck (172.25.1.50)

Backup Server (windows 7)

Primary NIC - Srv1 (172.25.1.11) Secondary NIC - SrvBck (172.25.1.51)

There is no setting in a backup tool that says that, "Push or Pull all traffic using the secondary NICs or the hostnames".

Although i can tell the tool that the data is on "WinSrvBck", how to ensure that data travels from WinSrvBck only on SrvBck ?

Is there something in Windows that can tell the OS to use SrvBack for backup data?

Thanks, Anand