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RBS Knowledge Library

Article Number: 100047
Software: RBACKUP Version 8.3

This is one of the most frequent questions we see:

"How do I do that first full backup?"

There are several answers, depending on what level of service you intend to offer your clients.

About half our RBS Service Providers do on-site backups for their clients and install the RBackup Client software. The other half simply send out CDs and have their clients do the installation. You can run your Remote Backup Service either way. The most successful RBS Providers by far are those who DO NOT offer an on-site backup service.

Those who go out to do a full backup onsite charge more for that service. RBS does not make an official recommendation about which method of business is best, except to say that we are a "Remote Backup" company. Our products and services are specific to remote backups. There are plenty of tools for doing full backups, though. Check the Internet for them.

Answer #1: Don't do first full backups. This is the answer we give to people who want to run a no-frills Remote Backup Service. With this method you do not do a first full backup. Instead, you simply start backing up files that change after installation of the Remote Backup software. This is the method that will gain you the most customers in the shortest period of time, without the necessity of visiting each one.

A typical configuration for this type of service is to do incremental backups Monday through Thursday, and a full Remote Backup on Friday or Saturday. A full Remote Backup differs from a full on-site backup in that a full Remote Backup does not back up the entire drive - it only backs up critical files, but it backs them up whether they've been changed since the last backup (and therefore needs to be backed up) or not.

Answer #2: Go on-site and do the first full backup. This is for people who want to offer the highest level of service, and you should charge a premium for it because it is A LOT of trouble. It backs up ALL DATA on ALL DRIVES and can take a very long time.

To do this you will need one or more portable backup units - tape, CD, or DVD. You will want portable units that connect to the USB port or Parallel port on your clients' computers. There are some special concerns you need to be aware of.

Anything that goes wrong with your clients' computers after you have placed hands on it may be blamed on you. NEVER, unless you are already the designated repair person for your customers' computers, open the case of the computer. That's why you should use portable backup units - so you don't have to take the cover off to install an interface card for your backup unit.

Backup units are expensive, and so is your time If you are going to offer this level of service, you are going to be limited to installing only the number of clients that you can manage, one at a time, each one taking hours. That might mean only one new client a day. And while you're out doing backups, who's answering your phones and handling normal business issues like marketing and looking for new clients?

Your clients will have to shut down their computers and networks for the time you need to do a full backup. The reason backups are usually done at night after businesses are closed is that the computers are not being used then. Files are closed and available for backup. During the daytime files are open and people are editing files that need to be backed up. This results in incomplete backups and maybe even backup failures.

You may be taking on an added liability doing full on-site backups. For most clients, there's the assumption that if you show up with your portable backup unit and dump "everything" down to a tape, that you will be able to restore it for them. The facts are, that unless you do that backup at night when the business is closed, you may miss some files. You may also have a bad tape. There are a lot of things that can make a tape backup useless.

I suppose that I've made a case for NOT doing on-site backups, now, even though at the top of this article I told you that RBS doesn't make an official recommendation about which method of business is best. So, it's clear now that we recommend most RBS Providers NOT do full on-site backups.

Whichever method you choose, be sure to properly manage your clients' expectations. Make sure they know the limits of your service, and use an adequate Service Agreement.

(SALES)

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