Server 2003 Backup Solutions?

[Denney]

I'm looking for suggestions on backing up our Windows 2003 servers.

They run Enterprise Edition. I've tried the ntbackup program but that doesn't give me enough control.

I've looked into Ghost 9 but that won't run on 2k3, I've looked at Symantec LiveState Recovery and it does EXACTALLY what I want but is very expensive.

Are there any other corporate based backup tools for Windows 2003 server?

Basically, I need to be able to create a backup image (split onto multiple CD's) of the ENTIRE C: (including current state). I would then like to either create incremental backups or even a full backup.

And no, ASR isn't a good solution (doesn't backup programs properly and restores system files based on the version on your installation media... meaning you'd have to reinstall a SP every time you restore).

[prathapml]

1. I haven't yet checked out Ghost9.

2. If I were you, I'd install ghost 8 on an XP machine, and then copy away the DOS-based executable to a CD with win98 boot-floppy as the boot-sector.

You can then boot into the CD, and run ghost, with access to most features, including ghost-casting.

Looks like this topic has something which you might be looking for:

Bootable Ghost Multi-CD to deploy images - guide

[Spaceboy]

Acronis do a server version of their backup product True Image, but I don't think it's on the cheap side.

[Denney]

Thanks for the replies. I've got a copy of Acronis True Image Server for Windows and it seems to work OK.

Seems Arcronis True Image Server works fine for what I want to do.