FAQ
FAQ about Unitrends Rapid Recovery Solutions
- Q: Are all drives the same on all DPU's?
- A: All drive trays are the same on all rack-mounted DPU's (DPU 2000, 3000 and 5000 models). They are different on DPUSFF models.
- Q: Are you still supporting CTAR? If so, where can I get more info?
- A: Yes, Unitrends currently supports CTAR. Please contact Support Services for more information: 888.374.6124 or support@Unitrends.com.
- Q: Can a DPU also be a Vault?
- A: Yes. A DPU can serve as both a local DPU and as a vault for other remote sites. This is pretty common with 2-site customers that have a DPU at each site and vault to each other.
- Q: Can I still use my existing tape backup system?
- A: Yes, your current tape backup agents should work fine with the addition of the high-speed Untrends agents.
- Q: Can you help me restore individual mailboxes/messages?
- A: Using our Exchange administration client you can securely restore individual mailboxes quickly by simply dragging from the backup mail store to the live Exchange mail store.
- Q: Does Unitrends handle Exchange mail server any differently than the normal backup setup?
- A: Yes, there is an agent -- Microsoft Exchange Backup/Restore. This is included as part of the BP Client software.
- Q: Does Unitrends handle SQL Server any differently than the normal backup setup?
- A: Yes, there is an agent -- Microsoft SQL Backup/Restore. This is included as part of the BP Client software.
- Q: Does Unitrends support backing up laptops?
- A: Yes.
- Q: Does Unitrends support Mac OS and OS X?
- A: Yes.
- Q: How can I take my files off-site? If your system is Disk-to-Disk (D2D), then I assume I'd have to take the entire system home with me? Correct?
- A: The Hot Swap discs can be rotated out. Unitrends also offers Secure Data Sync for secure, electronic off-site vaulting of backups.
- Q: How do I contact you for support?
- A: Dial our Support Center at 888.374.6124 or email us anytime at support@Unitrends.com.
- Q: How do we install and support a Unitrends product?
- A: We have gone through great efforts to ensure our DPU/DPV solutions are easy to deploy, easy to manage, and easy to recover your data quickly.
- Q: How do you license the products and services?
- A: Our licensing is based on the amount of data that you would like to protect and is not based on number of clients.
- Q: How much does it cost to have a data protection/rapid recovery system in place?
- A: Wow! Less than the cost of loosing the data in the event of a system crash or disaster. The initial cost is typically less that what you would pay for a traditional tape backup solution. But remember Unitrends Rapid Recovery solution is faster, more reliable, and more secure!
- Q: I have a one man IT shop and we currently don't protect but a fraction of our data. What can Unitrends do for me?
- A: Whether you're a small business or large we enable everyone to easily protect and recover in the event of a systems crash in a matter of minutes versus hours or days without reinstalling your operating system or applications.
- Q: I have a SAN in my infrastructure. Can I use it along with my Unitrends DPU?
- A: YES. Although Unitrends does not support peer-level connection directly to the SAN, you can backup SAN data through any client that is connected. This also allows any Direct Attached Storage (such as a boot drive in the client) to be protected as well.
- Q: I know Unitrends products are reliable, but what happens when my Unitrends DPU crashes? How do I restore it?
- A: The dpu ships with a recovery CD that can be used to re-image the dpu.
- Q: I'd like to archive old data off to tape. Does Unitrends support that?
- A: Yes we do enable you to archive old data off to tape however you have to keep in mind that tape is slow, unreliable and in an emergency might not be there for you.
- Q: If I have open files on my servers when a backup runs, what happens?
- A: Open files can be backed up with Unitrends Snapshot technology and Open Data Manager for Windows.
- Q: Is there a difference between block-level and sector-level backups?
- A: Block-level backups and sector-level backups both refer to what Unitrends terms Bare Metal backups.
- Q: Is there a difference in how data is stored on a Vault compared to the DPU?
- A: Yes. The DPV, or Vault, stores server-level backups as a "Running Master" rather than separate backup files. This means that there is no history on the vault, only a copy of a server's most recent backup data. This format provides immediate file-level access in a Disaster Recovery mode, and provides simple server-level recovery.
- Q: We currently use tape to backup information. How is this different?
- A: Compared to the old school method of copying data off to tape Unitrends take a simple, more secure approach and ensuring your system will be returned to operations in minutes versus hours or days. Our approach is called Rapid Recovery.
- Q: We have multiple locations to protect, how can I protect and get my data offsite?
- A: Unitrends offers Secure Data Sync as a part of the overall Rapid Recovery solution & Business Continuity offering.
- Q: What is a DPU?
- A: The Data Protection Unit is our on-site turnkey rapid recovery system that provides secure, fast and reliable protection of your data with backup and recovery capabilities and full system recovery capabilities (Bare Metal).
- Q: What is a DPV?
- A: The Data Protection Vault is our off-site turnkey rapid recovery system that provides secure, fast and reliable protection of your data with backup and recovery capabilities and full system recovery capabilities (Bare Metal).
- Q: What is Bare Metal Recovery (BMR)?
- A: In the event of a systems crash BMR give you the ability to rapidly recover the entire server in minutes vs. hours or days without having to partition, format or reinstall your operating system. It's a complete block-level snapshot of the entire partition and or system.
- Q: What is Secure Data Sync?
- A: Secure Data Sync is an asymmetric replication product that allows for data synchronization between one or many Data Protection Units (DPUs) to a single Data Protection Vault (DPV).
- Q: What is the difference between data back up and rapid recovery?
- A: Compared to the old school method of copying data off to tape Unitrends take a simple, more secure approach and ensuring your system will be returned to operations in minutes versus hours or days. Our approach is called Rapid Recovery.
- Q: What kind of impact will a Unitrends DPU have on my network performance?
- A: The DPU is designed to be a lights-out, scheduled service. This means that you control when backups take place and when network performance is impacted. The DPU is capable of accepting a large amount of data from concurrent clients which has the potential to create increased network traffic; however, running backups during normal operating hours is generally undetected.
- Q: What kind of impact will a Unitrends DPU have on my server performance while it's running a Hot Bare Metal or Cold Bare Metal backup routine?
- A: The normal nightly backup produces very little demand on the client, typically between 15%-20% when running. Hot Bare Metal backups are about the same, and neither will interfere with normal server activities. Cold Bare Metal, on the other hand, requires the client be shut down and off-line while the backup of the OS takes place.
- Q: What operating systems do you support?
- A: The DPU supports over 23 operating systems including Windows, Novell, Unix, Linux, Solaris and many more (Full list available here).
- Q: What's the difference between a Bare Metal backup and a file backup?
- A: Bare Metal backups are performed at the partition level while file backups back up all the files on the system. Bare Metal backups are used to restore the machine to a fully functional state after which the last Master and last Incremental (file backups) should be restored to bring the machine back to the most current state.
- Q: What's the difference between buying a Unitrends appliance and Norton Ghost or other Symantec products?
- A: Ghost is a simple image tool, but it is not designed as a backup product. It has limited OS support and is not an integrated backup and recovery solution, just one small piece. Unitrends is an integrated solution for rapid recovery.
- Q: What's the difference between Cold Bare Metal and Hot Bare Metal backup?
- A: Cold Bare Metal is performed by booting the server off of Unitrends Bare Metal boot media and performing the Bare Metal backup when the system is not booted into its native OS. Hot Bare Metal can be performed on the system while it is still booted and operational into its native OS.
- Q: What's the difference between full backup and incremental backup? Which does Unitrends support?
- A: A full backup is a Master backup, which backs up all the files on the system. An incremental backup backs up all the changed files from the last Master. Unitrends supports both full and incremental backups.
- Q: When I do a restore, will Unitrends defrag (defragment) my files at the same time?
- A: Unitrends does not defrag the files when it performs the restores.
- Q: Where are your offices located?
- A: Unitrends is headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina.
- Q: Where can I go to learn more about the Unitrends product roadmap?
- A: Ask your reseller or Unitrends Sales Person to share upcoming release and roadmap information: 800.648.2827
- Q: Where do I go to get more detail on error codes?
- A: There is no current listing of error codes; however, please contact Support Services for questions regarding an error message: 888.374.6124 or support@Unitrends.com.
- Q: Where does tape backup fit into the Unitrends solution?
- A: Unitrends’ solution enables the user to be able to create weekly, monthly or quarterly archive backups which can be written to either disk or tape for long term storage.
- Q: Why would I use disk technology over tape?
- A: You run your business on disk technology so why not trust it with your backup data! It's fast, secure and most importantly reliable.