The easiest and most affordable backup of Windows Server
How to back up OS image of Windows Server 2012 R2 to USB connected external hard disk
The Windows Server standard backup function has made it easy to back up the Windows server OS area.
Stateless servers (Web servers, AP servers, etc.) can be fully backed up with this function.
DB server recommends backup using DB tool dump file and paid backup software, but backup implementation cost can be reduced by limiting paid backup software to DB server and file server.
In this article, the external HDD connected to the server is targeted as a backup acquisition destination.
Please format external HDD with NFFS
- The easiest and most affordable backup of Windows Server
- Install Widnows Server Backup
- Batch job for OS Full Backup
- Related articles
Install Widnows Server Backup
First, install Windows server backup feature
- [ Server Manager ] -> [ Manage ] -> [ Add Roles and Features ]
- Click [ Next ]
- Select [ Role-based or feature-based installation ]
- Click [ Next ]
- Click [ Next ]
- Click [ Next ]
- Select fiature [ Windows Server Backup]
- Click [ Next ]
- Click [ install ]
After Installation finished, you can access Windows Server Backup
[ Server Manager ] -> [Tools ] -> [ Windows Server Backup ]
Batch job for OS Full Backup
Script is the best way to simplify each step and reduce work errors.
Create a PowerShell script
- FileName : backupjob1.ps1
Set-Location $PSScriptRoot
start-transcript console.log
wbadmin.exe start backup -allCritical -systemState -backupTarget:S: -quiet
stop-transcript
This creates an OS recovery image of the server that was backed up under "S drive".
- EFI system partition
- Local disk (C :)
- Bare metal recovery
- System status
When you run the script, please change "-backupTarget: S" part according to your environment.
You can check the running screen from the GUI
You can check the progress screen from the Windows server backup GUI screen.
How to keep more than 2 backup generations?
Windows Server Backup can manage generations when an external HDD is specified as the backup destination.
And you can save backups as many generations as the remaining capacity remains
Recommend external hard disk
Recently, the server itself has been equipped with USB3, and it has become possible to take backups at low cost at high speed.
Also, USB-connected SSDs are becoming very affordable (480GB is the actual price of 100 USD !)
- Server with USB3
- USB connection SSD
I recommend you can prepare both.
I think that it is very good to be able to implement unattended and high-speed backup at low cost in order to perform daily operations with a small number of people.
When to back up
OS recovery image is positioned like system backup
This procedure is basically performed one by one, rather than every day, less frequently, once a month or quarterly, and with an image to keep before and after Windows patching and application version upgrade work Recommended for operation
If you want to make a backup every day, unattended operation is best, such as backing up to an external NAS.
How dow I restore ?
Reliable backup is still early
It is a backup that can only be restored. Let's restore another server or a free virtual machine to the target
When restoring a Windows Server backup OS that has been backed up to a shared folder or NAS, network settings may be trapped.
If you make sure that you are back, you can rest assured
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