List of Storage Devices

Backup for Workgroups stores all of the backup data in one centralized location, called the "Data Repository", and the Data Repository can be stored on any hard drive device. 

Backup for Workgroups also has a Mirroring feature, which will automatically mirror the entire Data Repository to a second hard drive storage unit, which can be rotated and/or taken off-site or located off-site.

Supported storage devices include:

• internal IDE drives
• internal SATA drives
• external USB drives (USB 2.0)
• external Firewire drives
• NAS devices
• RAID storage units

Drive Spanning = Increased Storage Capacity

Flexible storage options allow Backup for Workgroups to grow along with you, even when you have more backup data than the capacity of a single hard drive. When you are getting close to filling up your first storage device, you can use the drive spanning features to simply add additional hard drive to your Data Repository to increase your overall storage space.

RAID Storage Device Notes

The Data Repository needs to be stored on a single disk-based device from Windows' point-of-view. This makes a RAID device an attractive solution because RAID allows for multiple drives to appear as a single logical device when Windows looks at it. As a result, Backup for Workgroups will see the RAID device as a single disk-based storage device.

Rotating Data Repository Hard Drives

Although you can store the Data Repository on any removable or external hard drive, because Backup for Workgroups uses incremental backups, we recommend using a hard drive that is not rotated or disconnected for the primary Data Repository.  This ensures that all of the backup data is in one place and available for any of the (4) different restoration options.  Also, if Backup for Workgroups detects that the Data Repository storage device is unavailable for any reason, Clients cannot perform backups.

We recommend using the Backup for Workgroups Mirror feature to copy the entire Data Repository as a whole to the second storage unit, which allows you to have a second copy of the backup data.  The Mirror storage device can be removed, disconnected or rotated at any time, and Clients will still be able to send backup data to the primary Data Repository.  If Backup for Workgroups detects that the Mirror storage device is not available, it will simply stay in a holding pattern until it is detected again.  When it is available, the Mirror will start copying the Data Repository again.

However, the Data Repository drive can be rotated (on a daily/weekly/monthly basis for example) if you so desire.  Click here to read a discussion of the pros and cons of rotating the Data Repository hard drives (versus rotating the Mirror drives).

Iomega REV Drive Note:

Although the Iomega REV drive is recognized by the Windows operating system as a hard drive device, the REV drive may not be a good storage choice for some users because of the smaller storage limitation.  Because a Client's data can quickly outgrow the capacity of a REV cartridge, it may not be the optimal device to store data on.