T
Thomas Kroljic
All,
I'm looking for some advice on backing up our Access databases
(frontend and backends) from one server to another so that our users can
access the database applications within a hour if the one server goes down.
Our current hardware environment consists of three Dell servers. One server,
the main server called JMserver, is running Small Business Server 2000, the
other two servers are running W2K in Terminal Services Application Mode. The
main server is primarily used to handle all communications, especially all
our VPN and dial-up connections. It also runs the MS Exchange server and
Veritas backup (it only backs up files on the main server to tape).
On the other two servers, one server runs our Access database
applications (TermServ) and the other server (QBserver) has all our
Quickbook files and data. I currently have NTBackups schedule nightly on the
two Terminal Service servers to backup important database files to the main
server (JMserver) which in turn backs up the data files to tape using
Veritas.
In addition to the nightly backups from the terminal servers to the main
server, I also have separate NTBackups schedule on the two Terminal Server
running every hour. The hourly backups copy files from one Terminal Server
to the other in case one of the Terminal Servers go South. One NTBackup
backs up all the Access mdb files on the TermServ to the QBserver and a
second NTBackup backs up the QB files on the QBserver to the TermServ
server.
This seems to work OK. But I'm not sure this is the best solution.
Ideally, we want to be able to be up and running, say with all Access
applications on the QB server if the Access server goes South within an hour
or less. Currently, if the Access server (TermServ) goes down, it takes a
little time for me to restore the appropriate backups on the QB server using
NTBackup (restore) and place them in their appropriate subdirectory so the
user can access them (I created the same, matching, subdirectory structure
on the QBserver that I had on the TermServ for all the Access databases). We
also change the IP address (through DNS on the JMserver) for the TermServ
server to point to the QB server so our remote users can access the other
terminal server.
I was hoping that some folks can maybe suggest some alternate
configurations for doing our backups. The ideal situation would be if the
TermServ server goes down, the clients would connect automatically to the QB
server and have access to their Access applications and data. This is
probably pie-in-the-sky thinking. Not sure if Access database can be
mirrored. Even if they can, I wouldn't know for sure if that is the best
method.
Our databases are not that active. If we were to lose an hour's worth of
data, it would not be that big of a problem. Currently, our databases
average about 200mb in size. Not really that large for a small company.
Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Feel free to ask
any questions.
Let me know if this is the wrong forum for this kind of posting.
Thank you,
Thomas J. Kroljic
I'm looking for some advice on backing up our Access databases
(frontend and backends) from one server to another so that our users can
access the database applications within a hour if the one server goes down.
Our current hardware environment consists of three Dell servers. One server,
the main server called JMserver, is running Small Business Server 2000, the
other two servers are running W2K in Terminal Services Application Mode. The
main server is primarily used to handle all communications, especially all
our VPN and dial-up connections. It also runs the MS Exchange server and
Veritas backup (it only backs up files on the main server to tape).
On the other two servers, one server runs our Access database
applications (TermServ) and the other server (QBserver) has all our
Quickbook files and data. I currently have NTBackups schedule nightly on the
two Terminal Service servers to backup important database files to the main
server (JMserver) which in turn backs up the data files to tape using
Veritas.
In addition to the nightly backups from the terminal servers to the main
server, I also have separate NTBackups schedule on the two Terminal Server
running every hour. The hourly backups copy files from one Terminal Server
to the other in case one of the Terminal Servers go South. One NTBackup
backs up all the Access mdb files on the TermServ to the QBserver and a
second NTBackup backs up the QB files on the QBserver to the TermServ
server.
This seems to work OK. But I'm not sure this is the best solution.
Ideally, we want to be able to be up and running, say with all Access
applications on the QB server if the Access server goes South within an hour
or less. Currently, if the Access server (TermServ) goes down, it takes a
little time for me to restore the appropriate backups on the QB server using
NTBackup (restore) and place them in their appropriate subdirectory so the
user can access them (I created the same, matching, subdirectory structure
on the QBserver that I had on the TermServ for all the Access databases). We
also change the IP address (through DNS on the JMserver) for the TermServ
server to point to the QB server so our remote users can access the other
terminal server.
I was hoping that some folks can maybe suggest some alternate
configurations for doing our backups. The ideal situation would be if the
TermServ server goes down, the clients would connect automatically to the QB
server and have access to their Access applications and data. This is
probably pie-in-the-sky thinking. Not sure if Access database can be
mirrored. Even if they can, I wouldn't know for sure if that is the best
method.
Our databases are not that active. If we were to lose an hour's worth of
data, it would not be that big of a problem. Currently, our databases
average about 200mb in size. Not really that large for a small company.
Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Feel free to ask
any questions.
Let me know if this is the wrong forum for this kind of posting.
Thank you,
Thomas J. Kroljic