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Backing up a mixed OS X and Windows 2000 Home Network

Rev: 19 Jul 2005.

Introduction

This took me a while to figure out. I think it might be worth sharing. If you know the terrain, the information here should help you. It's not intended for a novice user.

I first wrote this in 2003. Then I backed up about 12GB of data and an additional 18GB or so of applications. Now I backup a complete set of about 70 GB. Blame it on iPhoto and iTunes. If I buy an 8 megapixel SLR in late 2005 that would easily exceed 100GB. With the video I've started doing it will soon be a TB data set. The 2GB DAT tapes I used in the 1990s don't cut it any more.

I have a mixed LAN with one XP workstation, one legacy Win2K workstation (soon to be replaced with a G5 iMac) and a Mac iBook running OS X.When I added the iBook to my network I tried finding a solution that would let me backup the iBook data to a Windows 2000 SMB share. Nothing was satisfactory, in part because of the fragility of Windows SMB shares with an OS X client, but mostly because of problems with file name representation and handling of Macintosh resource forks.

I wanted a single solution that would backup everything, I wanted it automated, fast, and painless. I considered DVD backup and decided that was at least 6 months away and the capacity was insufficient. Ultimately my only choices were backing up to an external Firewire or USB 2.0 hard drive or using a removable IDE drive. For various reasons to do with cost, capacity, simplicity, availability of interrupts and PCI slots, I went with removable IDE drives. I also ended up going with Dantz Retrospect Professional for Windows.

Strategy

In addition to the following I create a Retrospect emergency recovery CD periodically.

1. I will use 3 drives, an internal 200GB drive and two external 200GB drives in USB enclosures. (I would like to switch to drives that support hardware encryption, these are just coming out.)
2. The internal drive holds the single Backup Set Retrospect works with. It also holds alternative backup solutions (mirrored images of my iBook, data backed up using Microsoft's Backup, etc). The truly paranoid person prefers to have more than one Backup approach -- and I don't trust Retrospect all that much.
3. Once 2-3 weeks or two I bring ONE of the offsite USB enclosures on-site. I copy the encrypted backup set from the internal drive to the USB enclosure drive. Once it's safely copied I recycle the Backup Set on my internal drive.
4. Another 2-3 weeks later I bring the SECOND of the offsite USB enclosures on-site and do as above.

Since Retrospect does incremental snapshot backups, I can restore changed files to any daily state. I have 3 complete backups at all times, each containing iterative versions of my data. The oldest backup is about 8 weeks old, the second oldest is 2-3 weeks old, and the newest is a day old. In addition I burn CDs and DVDs of my image library and store them in a safe deposit box.

My data is not truly impregnable, but it is far safer than our family photo albums. Were the house to catch fire, the computer would be of far less interest to me than the photo albums.

Dantz Retrospect Professional (Windows)

Dantz made great Macintosh backup software in the 1980s and early 1990s. No longer This is not great software. I think the most recent versions have been rewritten by drug crazed gerbils. Buggy with cryptic and usually misleading error messages. Perhaps because of this Dantz charges a LOT for technical support. A single support call costs more than their software, which is available for around $80.00. To put it mildly, they discourage calling tech support. You need to know that ahead of time. In their favor you get a month or so of support calls after new product registration (but register promptly).

Dantz does have a very good and frank customer forum where you can learn a great deal, and a mediocre knowledge base and set of technical documents. Some advanced functions require add-ons to the base software (such as backing up locked files).

Nevertheless, for what I'm doing, this is (sadly, still as of 7/05) the only game in town. I backup up all the data from all my machines nightly to my hard drive data store file. It takes less than an hour. I do a full backup of everything once a week to the same store. The client software installs on the old Win2K machine (Windows client) and my iBook (Mac client). The client sits DEEP in the OS, and you can access ANYTHING on those machines from the server using a simple password. The HOST software can backup the local machine and any network drives. The base package allows use of two clients, so I can backup my three machines.

Here are a few things to know:

• You can encrypt the backup store -- this is important since you're taking it off-site in a removable hard drive. You can use the hard core slow encryption or the quick and dirty encryption -- depends on you CPU power and anxiety level.
• Sorting out the files on the CD (server software, clients) and the web updates (new clients, server patches) is a confusing mess. Spend some time on it.
• This is a complex and powerful piece of software. I used it many years ago on a Mac, but I still needed to study the manual (very good PDF manual) and the online help. Some configuration tips for my setup:
  • everything goes into one backup store, an encrypted file (not drive) on an NTFS file system (so it can grow large). With this type of backup the catalog/directory is stored in the file. The UI is very confusing when you creat this file -- you think you're just determining where the catalog will be located but it's the location of both the file and catalog
  • backup is "smart". Retrospect only adds a file to the store if it doesn't already exist. Normal backup just adds new files. If it's a new instance of an existing file (file is elsewhere in repository) it adds only a catalog entry.
• You can restore anything you backed up, including an entire system on a particular day or week. So if you learn that a file was corrupted 3 weeks ago, and you have 3 weeks of worthless copies, you may still be able to go back and find a good version.
• You need to create Backup Scripts. I started out with a data and full backup script for each backup set. That was a pain. Now I have one full script for each drive that backs up everything except cache files to.
• Enable the "launcher" so Retrospect will start up automatically. See preferences.
• In matching options leave it at the default setting. Backup file only once, then if no change or only change is location, create a pointer to the file. Over time get many snapshots of data, can roll back to any day (so multiple versions of files)
• Really need to avoid backing up cache files (their script doesn't cover everything - duplicate and edit!). Read the manual to figure out how to edit the "Selector". I had to extend their "no cache file" selector to deal with newer applicatons. They should update these on their web site more frequently.
• Don't bother compressing the catalog. It takes forever with a slow system and it slows EVERYTHING down. (Possibly worse if you have an encrypted Backup Store.)
• These items were true of Retrospect 6, I'm now on 6.5.
  • You can disable disable "turn off removable storage manager" in preferences since using hard drive. You need this setting if you're using Retrospect with tape drives, but it disables an important part of Windows 2000 - the removable storage manager.
  • I use NT Passthrough even when ASPI installed (impt for SCSI, using IDE controller that emulates SCSI, so set pass through). Use Ctrl-Alt-PP to see hidden (secret) preferences where this is set.
  • There's a known bug in my release, it gives an error message on files that are locked that it should just ignore. Dantz wants you to pay for the upgrade to get the trivial fix. I ignore it.

Hard Drive Removable Vantec Bay and Cartridge (Obsolete)

Hard Drives and Controller

I use two Western Digital 80 GBWD800JB ATA 100 Caviar hard drives with ATA 100 (80 wire) cables configured to use ATA 100 throughput.. They are identical which means I need fuss with only one set of drive utilities, one set of jumper configurations, and there are no surprises with device support. I recommend having two identical drives.

I have an internal Promise Ultra 100 Tx2 IDE controller for historical reasons ^[2]. The only thing connected to it is the Western Digital drive. Consequently backup is very fast and I can use the machine during a backup if I choose to. (I usually don't, backup occurs at night.)

Vantec

Update: As of 7/05 I'm still using the Vantec's, but I don't recommend this approach any longer ^[3]. I would instead recommending buying two identical well cooled USB enclosures and matching drives, then rotating the enclosures. I've been happy with one I recently purchased.

I'll retain my review here for a while for any who might come here looking for more information.

I use a Vantec EZ Swap MRK 103F (review is of a fancier version, mine cost only $25) removable IDE cartridge (rack swap) I bought through Sidewinder Computers. These devices are used mostly by people who need to frequently swap boot drives, but they work well for my purposes. They are all made in Taiwan and appear to have been invented there. Some of the older plastic ones would cause high speed hot hard drives to melt down, the Vantec has a good reputation and is aluminum (so conducts heat) with a working fan. It is supposed to support ATA 133 7200 RPM drives. These pictures tell the story, comments and tips are below. Click on thumbnails to see larger images.

Note: These are not robust devices. The cover that's supposed to flip down when the drive bay is empty fell off when I was pushing it open. The fan in the drive bay has been malfunctioning after a few months of use. It's best to buy at least one extra drive bay.

Drive bay and cartridge	Bay and catridge, separate	Drive installed in cartridge

Drive bay and cartridge in case note limited clearance!	Case exterior, cartridge removed	Case exterior with cartridge/drive installed

• The bay is quite long. As shown above it just barely fits my relatively small case. It's about 1" longer than a typical CD-ROM drive.
• Adding this drive introduces a new cable join between the IDE controller and hard drive. I would worry about trying to run data through at ATA 133 speeds. I tested both drives with Western Digitals test utilities. I got one error on the first test and the drive had to restart -- but I never got another error on many repeat tests. In practice I've had no problems so far.
• You use fragile, cheap looking keys to unlock or lock the drives. This turns the power off and on to the drive. On first use it's common to think the drive isn't working because the power's not on! Turning the key part way locks the drive but turning it fully enables the power. This key looks very easy to break. Be gentle.
• The drive has a fan. Vantec fans are relatively quiet and well made, but this is extra noise.
• Since I rotate my hard drives so one backup is off-site I had to buy two bays and two cartridges (they were not sold separately).
• When I rotate drives Monday morning I put the cartridge in bubble wrap and a baggie and carry it to work in my briefcase.
• There is one persistent problem. I have historically mapped drive letter f: to my home file server. Every time I switch drives Windows 2000 assigns the next available drive letter to the "new" drive -- which is drive letter f:. So I have to use Disk Manager to remap the drive letter. This is a real pain in the neck.

Links

• Macintosh PowerBook and Windows 95 connectivity: SCSI/Link, Ethernet, MacLAN PC AppleTalk, Home Intranet LAN, and modem sharing via a Windows 95 proxy server (historic page @ 1997)
• Wireless Home Local Area Network (LAN)
• iBook and OS X Notes and References

History

• July 2005: revised to reflect newer practices
• April 2005: bad news with the older Vantec cartridges and a newer 200GB Barracuda.
• July 2003: switched to simpler method, BAT script.
• Feb 21, 2003: initial version.

Footnotes