May 3rd, 2002
Once you have a small business up and running with a handful of computers you have to look at a serious backup strategy. Programs can be reinstalled, updates downloaded again, but the data generated by yourself and those around you is unique and should be protected. The best way to protect that information is to store it centrally and perform regular backups. To accomplish our goal we’ll look at both ends of the process; setting up the server and setting up the clients.
Let’s take a step back and look at the server. Every business with multiple users, big or small, should have a dedicated server. A separate machine that shares files, printers, internet access, email, intranet pages, etc. The two most common operating systems for a server are Linux and Windows NT or 2000. Our process here is generic and will work with either. As well all machines, server and clients, should have anti-virus software and the latest virus signature updates.
Our first step is to set up a bunch of folders ( directories ) on the server; one common folder with access for all users and individual user folders with restricted access. Every user on your network should have their own login and password, so permissions can be set on folders to limit access on the network. All users on your network ( remove “everyone” access if there ) have access to a common folder, so documents can be shared and worked on collaboratively. I usually call the folder common or company, and share the folder on the network with the same name.
Each user has a folder created for them as well, with access restricted to that user and the administrator. That way a level of privacy and security can be maintained for the individuals documents. This folder can be named the same as the users login, typically first initial and last name, and shared with the same name followed by a $ sign. Adding the $ at the end of the share lets the server know to hide this share, so those browsing the network through Network Neighborhood won’t see them.
To make sure these two shares are available to users at all times you can run a batch file when they log in. This option is found under the user’s properties. Here’s a typical instruction for Windows PCs:
@echo off
net use X: \\server\common
net use Y: \\server\user$
Use Notepad or any text editor to enter the save it as a *.bat file. The net command has been built into every Windows version since 3.11 so this will work. It tells the operating system to map the common folder to drive X and the user’s private folder to drive Y. Simple and straightforward. Through this file you can also copy over virus signatures, flash messages and perform general PC “housekeeping”.
Moving on to the client PCs, we want to set them up to use only their network drive for saving files. If we keep all data on the server and back it up nightly, everything is safe.
This is a two step process: make the software use the network drive as the default location and keep reminding the users to only save software on their “personal and private” drives. Since Windows 98 you have been able to specify the location of the My Documents folder. Right click on My Documents, select properties and under Target enter the drive letter of the users private share. This will take care of all applications that are certified for the OS, such as Microsoft Office. For others you’ll have to set the default directory through the application’s options or preferences menu. This will also have to be done for every application if you’re still using Windows 95. Microsoft Office users can take advantage of the Office Profile Wizard to backup all their customizations of the office suite.
This takes care of most files, but doesn’t include email applications. Microsoft Outlook is the most common email application and saves everything into one *.pst file. The location of the file varies by operating system, but can be found by searching for it. The safest option is to move the user’s *.pst file to their network share. This method varies on every version of Outlook, but can be found by hunting in the Options menu or by right clicking on Personal Folders and selecting Properties. A surefire method is to locate the *.pst file and copy it to the network share. When Outlook is opened the next time it will indicate the pst file cannot be located; you then browse for the file and everything’s good to go.
Other email applications vary in how they store files, generally spreading them across multiple files. For Outlook Express backup and restore check out this excellent site.
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