Disaster Recovery Frequently Asked Questions

NOTE: This F.A.Q. contains answers to the most common simple questions about Recover IT. For more detailed information or answers, please email your questions to us at recoverit@motherboard.ie or call us on 01 497 5562.

General Questions

- What is Recover IT, and what does it do?
- What is a disk image?
- What is an incremental backup?
- What operating systems do Recover IT Desktop Edition and Recover IT Server Edition support?
- Will Recover IT work with my bespoke applications, Microsoft Exchange, or SQL?
- What is a bare-metal restore?

Questions About The Recover IT Service?

- What does the Recover IT service include?
- How frequently can Recover IT take a snapshot of my system?
- Can I see proof that Recover IT will work on my systems?
- Are there options for offsite storage?
- What do I do if I have a server disaster?
- Can my server be restored if the entire premises has been destroyed?
- I have a hot site. Can my server be restored there?
- How soon can I expect to be back up and running after a disaster?
- How much data can be lost in a server disaster?

Questions About Ordering

- Can I have a free trial of Recover IT?
- Are there any discounts for purchasing more than one license?
- Do I have to commit to a long term contract?
- How customisable is the Recover IT offering?
- Are there any additional costs for the service that I should know about?


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General Questions

Q. What is Recover IT, and what does it do?

A. Recover IT is a backup and disaster recovery solution for Windows. It allows the users to schedule (or manually create) frequent, image-based backups of their local disks and store them on disk-based or network destinations. The backup images include all files, settings, programs and operating system files on the volume, and are an exact representation of the entire volume at the time the backup was created.

Recover IT uses Microsoft's VSS framework to create snapshots of local volumes in a way that is both quick, unobtrusive and does not require applications to be closed before the backup. Recover IT creates a clean and usable backup while programs are running, even enterprise applications such as SQL Server and Exchange.

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Q. What is a disk image?

A. A disk image is a single file containing the complete contents of a server or PC. This includes all of the data, the operating system, all applications, and all settings.

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Q. What is an incremental backup?

A. An incremental backup is a backup method where multiple backups are kept (not just the last one). These backups will be incremental if each original piece of backed-up information is stored only once, and then successive backups only contain the information that changed since a previous backup.

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Q. What operating systems do Recover IT Desktop Edition and Recover IT Server Edition support?

A. At the present time, Recover IT Desktop Edition and Recover IT Server Edition are compatible with the following operating systems:
Recover IT Desktop Edition:
• Windows 2000
• Windows XP (32-bit & 64-bit)
• Windows Vista (32-bit & 64-bit)
Recover IT Server Edition:
• Windows Server 2000
• Windows Server 2003 (32-bit & 64-bit)
• Windows Small Business Server 2003 (32-bit & 64-bit)
• Windows Server 2008 (32-bit & 64-bit)

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Q. Will Recover IT work with my bespoke applications, Microsoft Exchange, or SQL?

A. Yes. Recover IT works perfectly with all Microsoft Windows-based applications

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Q. What is a bare-metal restore?

A. A bare-metal restore is a restore of your entire system to new or existing hardware. Bare-metal restore enables you to restore any machine covered by Recover IT to any other Intel chipset-based machine as long as its hard drive is of similar capacity to the old server.

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Questions About The Recover IT Service?

Q. What does the Recover IT service include?

A. The Recover IT service includes everything you will need to recover from a server disaster. This includes:

• Recover IT disk imaging software
• 2 Terabite RAID partitioned storage device for each server
• Multiple automated incremental update backups daily
• Constant monitoring of every incremental backup
• All callouts to manage and maintain your cover
• Priority response in case of disaster
• Loan of any necessary equipment and servers in case of disaster

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Q. How frequently can Recover IT take a snapshot of my system?

A. Recover IT can take update snapshots as often as every 15 minutes.

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Q. Can I see proof thatRecover IT will work on my systems?

A. Absolutely. Each of our Recover IT clients sees a full live restore of each machine covered to independent hardware to prove that Recover IT works with their specific equipment. This "fire drill for your servers" also demonstrates the actual speed of restore you can expect in a real disaster scenario.

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Q. Are there options for offsite storage?

A. Yes. There are 3 seperate options for offsite backup storage. For more details call us on 01 497 5562 and we can discuss these in more detail.

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Q. What do I do if I have a server disaster?

A. All you need to do is call Motherboard. An engineer will be dispatched immediately to you. The engineer will look after everything.

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Q. Can my server be restored if the entire premises has been destroyed?

A. Yes, as long as you choose to store your disk image backups in an offsite location. If as a result of your loss of premises you have nowhere to locate your server, your restored server can be located in the Motherboard hosting environment and made available via remote access to all of your staff in their remote locations.

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Q. I have a hot site. Can my server be restored there?

A. Absolutely. If you choose to automatically store your incremental backups at your hot site, in the case of a disaster the Motherboard engineer will simply restore your server at the hotsite.

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Q. How soon can I expect to be back up and running after a disaster?

A. Typically, within 40 minutes of a Motherboard engineer arriving at your premises.

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Q. How much data can be lost in a server disaster?

A. You can only lose the data since the last incremental backup. Given that Recover IT can automatically run incremental backups up to every 15 minutes, even in this worst case scenario you could lose only up to 14 minutes and 59 seconds of data.

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Questions About Ordering

 

Q. Can I have a free trial of Recover IT?

A. Absolutely. For more information contact us at recoverit@motherboard.ie or call us on 01 497 5562.

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Q. Are there any discounts for purchasing more than one license?

A. Yes. you can save up to 75% off the cost of multiple licences. For more information contact us at recoverit@motherboard.ie or call us on 01 497 5562.

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Q. Do I have to commit to a long term contract?

A. Absolutely not. There is no fixed-term committment at all. If you decide to discontinue the service, simply tell us and we can stop it immediately.

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Q. How customisable is the Recover IT offering?

A. The Recover IT offering is entirely customisable to suit your needs. with multiple options for levels of cover, redundant storage, offsite backup etc. Recover IT is customisable to anyones needs and budgets.

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Q. Are there any additional costs for the service that I should know about?

A. There are no additional costs at all. Once you select the level of cover you require, the cost associated is the only cost for the entire Recover IT service. The only additional cost may be that, in the event of the destruction of a server, you will need to repair/replace the server. In the meantime, Motherboard can loan you equipment to ensure the continuity of your business.

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