Setup - Backup Storage Location

Backup for Workgroups is designed to store your backup data to disk-based media, such as an internal hard drive, an external hard drive, and/or network attached storage. We have found that not all disk-based media is alike and a little planning now saves you time and money as you maintain your backup system.

What Type of Storage Should I Use?

• The optimal backup storage is an internal hard drive.
  An internal hard drive provides you with the fastest data read/write speeds while providing the most reliable storage. When you use an internal hard drive, the drive is always accessible. Backup for Workgroups needs to have constant access to your backup storage in order to perform a backup. If the drive is offline, your backups will be skipped. So this is why we recommend using internal hard drives for your primary backup storage - you get fast data access and it's always available.
   
• The second-best primary storage solution is an external hard drive, such as a USB drive.
  USB drives are slower than internal drives because of the protocol translation that must occur; however USB drives are handy because you can add new drives when needed and you can unplug them and take them offsite. But before you consider using a USB drive as your primary storage, we want you to consider using internal drives as the primary storage and the USB drives as your mirror. Backup for Workgroups has a built-in mirroring capability designed to automatically backup your primary storage data to a second drive or set of drives.
   
• Lockstep Systems recommends using a fixed internal hard drive as your primary storage and
  a USB-based drive as a mirror copy.
  This backup storage solution provides you with the best of both worlds. You enjoy the benefit of a reliable, always available, internal hard drive and have the option to remove the USB drive to facilitate offsite storage to comply with disaster recovery best-practices.
   

What Drive Should I Select?

• Backup for Workgroups automatically suggests that you store your backup data on the largest local hard drive.
  After scanning your computer, Backup for Workgroups locates the local drive with the most free disk space, in a folder named BFW Backup Data. We recommend that you accept this storage default and press Next or Finish.
   
• Use the Advanced button to specify an alternate location.
  If the drive that you want to use to store the backup data does not appear in the drive list, use the Advanced button to enter a different drive and folder path. Please note that you cannot use a mapped network drive. You should also not select a CD / DVD drive as your storage drive.
   
• Use the Network Share button to specify a storage location accessible through network sharing.
  If the drive that you want to use to store the backup data is located on a NAS device or another computer that is accessible through standard Windows network sharing, press the Network Share button. You will need to enter the login credentials that you use to access the network share. Please note that using network shares as your primary storage will slow down your backups because of network latency overhead. And network shares will introduce additional failure points into your backup system because network shares are more prone to going offline and being inaccessible due to changes in access credentials.
   
• Use the Refresh button to initiate a rescan of your local drives.
  If the drive that you want to use to store the backup data is not attached and accessible at this time, you can connect the drive to this computer and then press Refresh to add this new location to the suggested drive list.