Copying to an external NAS Unit

[ssaggar]

I am going to re-do my entire DPM, not re-install the product but delete all the jobs and basically start that part of it over. My DPM has eaten up my entire DAS unit and I have no space. Something is wrong. Anyway, I want to first, use Firestreamer to copy everything I have over to a portable 10TB NAS unit. I believe from what I have read that Firestreamer can accomplish this without any problem. I want to do this one time so that in case there is an issue I can restore into the DPM and not lose anything. Can Firestreamer take a copy of my DPM jobs (rec points) and move them onto a NAS unit? Second, can Firestreamer moving forward allow me to make weekly copies onto this unit, for offsite storage purposes? I know it can make the copies to tapes, my question is if it can do that same copying over to hard drives?

[jsf]

I am sorry, but it's not clear what you meant to ask, precisely. Can you be more specific?

Firestreamer is a mere tape library, and only does what a tape library normally can. You can move your existing tapes to any other location (a portable NAS unit) and then create new tapes on your main storage unit.

Can Firestreamer take a copy of my DPM jobs (rec points) and move them onto a NAS unit?

If by "DPM jobs (rec points)" you meant virtual tapes, then you can unload the tapes from the library (if they are loaded) and then copy/move them to wherever you like.

can Firestreamer moving forward allow me to make weekly copies onto this unit, for offsite storage purposes

You can create virtual tapes on NAS. However, Firestreamer is not aware of your backup schedule. You need to configure DPM according to your requirements.

I know it can make the copies to tapes, my question is if it can do that same copying over to hard drives

Firestreamer can store virtual tapes almost anywhere, however, it has nothing to do with physical tape and cannot "make the copies" to physical tape directly. However, you can copy data between virtual and physical tapes via the backup software.

[ssaggar]

Thanks. Let me try and be a bit clearer. DPM doesnt backup like a normal backup solution, Veritas or Windows Backup. I want to take what DPM has backed up, and be able to move that onto a NAS unit. Our current DPM backs up to a DAS unit (15 750GB Hard Drives) there is a 9TB Dynamic disk. My understanding is, that Firestreamer can take a backup from within DPM and make it so I can access it via a folder. I can then take that file or folder and copy it over to an external Hard Drive, NAS unit, or whatever? Right now, I cant go to an actual folder to take whats been backed up, and move it. I believe Firestreamer can make it so that I can do this. I read somewhere that the DPMBackup.exe tool can create a moveable shadow backup, it basically creates a .bak file of sorts, so it can be physically moved. My main objective here is to get a file backup of the DPM, which I can move somewhere else.

[jsf]

My understanding is, that Firestreamer can take a backup from within DPM and make it so I can access it via a folder

No, it's incorrect. Firestreamer is not aware of Microsoft DPM at all. Firestreamer can create files on internal and external hard disk drives, NAS and so on, and make the files appear as tapes to DPM. DPM can then back up to those virtual tapes, exactly as it would if you had a physical tape library. You can move the virtual tapes (files) to any location you like.

In other words, you can leave DPM configured for short-term backups to DAS, and enable long-term (and/or short-term) backups to a Firestreamer virtual tape library. You can have the virtual tapes on external hard disk drives and/or NAS, and you can also move the tapes elsewhere.

[ssaggar]

I essentially just need to do a one time backup of all the existing data and move it to a NAS unit. Retaining recovery points and volumes if I can. If I use Firestreamer and create those virtual drives on the NAS, then I can use DPM to make copies to the NAS unit. If I do this for a week then I can have one week of recovery points right?

[ssaggar]

Is there anyway if I create those virtual drives with FS, that I can copy what I currently have, in tact, using DPM onto that NAS unit?

[jsf]

Is there anyway if I create those virtual drives with FS, that I can copy what I currently have, in tact, using DPM onto that NAS unit?

You need to ask Microsoft Support, "Is there anyway that I can copy what I currently have, in tact, using DPM onto physical tape?". If their answer is yes, then the answer to your question about Firestreamer is yes also.

It seems to me that you want to back up the content of the raw disks used by DPM for internal storage. I am not sure if DPM allows it. In any case, I would follow Microsoft's recommended practices instead of trying to do something unsupported, especially when it comes to disaster recovery. I wouldn't try to invent a new way of using Microsoft DPM. If Microsoft recommends using internal disks for short-term backups and tape for long-term backups, I'd stick to what they say. Firestreamer allows you to replace physical tape with external drives and NAS.

[ssaggar]

Thanks