FM Server Back up

[Tomo1]

I want to back up all the files on my server constantly. So if the server went down at 12.00am, when the files are retreived off B/U, they will have the time and info from 12.00am. At the moment they are only backed up nightly!!!

[LiveOak]

How much time between "contantly's"? You can create any number of backup scripts. It doesn't make much sense to backup every 5 minutes, if the backup takes 10 minutes to run. We usually backup between 2 and 4 times per day.

FM Servers are VERY stable, when properly setup. Even when the servers crash, the files are not necessarily destroyed and usually recover. We seldom have to actually resort to a backup copy. The only way to backup EXACTLY before the server crashes is to use the Clairvoyance() function !

If you give us more of an overview of what you are doing and your exact concerns, there is probably a solution. There is really no way to accomplish what you stated using FileMaker or a single server. Banks use Tandem (trade name) redundant machines with cross checking to accomplish this sort of reliability. Even then, they may lose a user transaction at an ATM and pop a message that the transaction didn't complete. If your criticality is really that great, you may need another approach entirely.

-bd

[Tomo1]

We want to back up say, 5 times a day to a seperate Mac or storage device. We have been having trouble with our server (G4), people can't log on because nothing appears in the Host box. When we run Norton Disk Dr the Hard Disk is Severely damaged. We are looking into running FM server on a Raid? What if the Server did go down and nothing could be retreived off it. This is why I would like to Back up on another Mac/media.

[Kurt Knippel]

Take a HUGE step back here. There is obviously some other issue going on here. The fact that you disks are being continually damaged indicates some other serious problems that are not related to Filemaker.

What is you setup like? OS? Machine specs? FM Version? # of Users? # of databases? Size/brand of drives? Network settings? Other server software running?

You need to figure out what the problem is before you start experimenting with cures.

[Anatoli]

My wild guess -- are all databases opened through HOST button? Do not share the folder with databases!

[Anatoli]

RE: The only way to backup EXACTLY before the server crashes is to use the Clairvoyance() function !

Good tip! If someone can developed this he/she will get very rich!

[LiveOak]

Agreed. You absolutely need to find out what is going wrong with your server before you worry about FM. Major items:

1) Use FM Server version.

2) Don't run AppleShare IP or ANY other applications on this server besides FM.

3) ABSOLUTELY FIND OUT WHAT IS CAUSING DISK CORRUPTION. THIS IS NOT NORMAL AND MORE BACKUPS ARE NOT A FIX. Your should suspend use of this machine until the problems are solved.

-bd

[Tomo1]

We have narrowed down the proble we are having to a faulty HD. What back-up method would you recommend, taking into consideration we may soon be using a Raid?

[LiveOak]

I wouldn't spend the money for RAID systems. An Ultra160 SCSI card and Maxtor Atlas 10K III drive are just as fast as RAID systems with slower drives. SCSI drives are of a MUCH higher quality and longevity than the current junk being produced as ATA drives.

It's astounding, I have SCSI drives that still work from 1987, but if a modern ATA drive lasts three years, it's a major event! We've cut the cost of so many devices that they have become junk!

(The following assumes your running OS 9.x)

Even better, if you databases aren't too large is to use RAM Disk. Set RAM disk up with Clarkwood Softwares RAMBunctious and their Peek-a-Boo. Peek-a-Boo forces allocation of processor time to FM and prevents the slowdown when the finder is clicked into the foreground. Of course, use a good UPS with this setup. Give your server 1GB+ of RAM, Setup RAMBunctious for write-thrus every 10 min (not continuously, you'll lose all the speed), and backup 4 times a day with FM scripts. RAM disk is faster than RAID. You should see about a 2-3 time speed improvement.

-bd

[Tomo1]

We already have Raid Technology with a Terabite of space so as we have it do you recomend to use it.. The system we use is 9.1. A while ago I posted about the RAM Disk and I got told they are not very good? Thanks for the info on B-U.

[Kurt Knippel]

RAID is best for the redundancy. The hot-swappable RAID drives make replacement and backup easy, but for pure performance single high speed SCSI drives are much better.

We have now been running 4 Filemaker server for more than a year in RAM Disk. We have between 256MB and 512MB in each server, most of it dedicated the the RAM disk. We have not experienced any stability issues at all, in fact stability has increased dramatically. Speed is phenominal!

The servers are so stable that they are headless Cubes. They have neither keyboard, nor mouse, nor monitor attached. What little maintenance we need to do with them (generally only moving DBs on and off as the office needs them) is done remotely via Timbuktu.

I highly recommend this configuration, even for an all Windows shop!

[Anatoli]

RE: I highly recommend this configuration, even for an all Windows shop!

Nice try

But even that will not beat my NT box

In respect to RAIDs and SCSI: SCSI is 5-10 times better than ATAxx. And good SCSI Raid will be faster and reliable than any combination of ATA.

Remember the big baby from FWB with 6 hot swappable disks? I was selling those, in their time it was awesome! Even now it still works great!

[Ricardo]

Just been reading through your replies.

I am wanting to setup a Fm server on a PC runnning NT.

Honestly!, which is the best backup solution i can use.

Thanks.