Yes, local and Networked, including Active directory, System State .

Does Stratesave backup SQL 6.5, SQL 7.0, SQL 2000 ?

Yes, local and over network

Does Stratesave backup Exchange 5.5, Exchange 2000, Exchange 2003 ?

Yes, local and over network

Does Stratesave backup Open files ?

Yes, local and remote for Windows 2003/XP.

Does it restore individual files ?

Yes

Will it perform disaster recovery onto different hardware servers ?

Disaster recovery (based on ASR Automated System Recovery) is supported for Windows 2003 and XP, without installing Windows. For Windows 200/NT 4.0, it is necessary to install the operating system first. It is not necessary to reinstall Stratesave, an emergency floppy disk can be prepared for this. A full restore can then be run to replace the new operating system by the backed up one. Details are explained in the Stratesave Restore Help section.

As for hardware changes: Windows 2003/XP/2000 has the builtin concept of FilesNotToBackup/KeysNotToRestore, to support disaster recovery and full restore and hardware changes, as described in Microsoft knowledge base article Q249694. Stratesave supports this concept and follows its rules.

Will it restore individual mailboxes ?

You can restore the backed up Exchange database(s) (stores) to file(s), for manual processing if desired. Exchange Server 2003 allows extracting single mailboxes from Exchange databases which have been restored to disk. The restored database files can be linked to Exchange recovery storage group, from where the mailboxes can be restored with ExMerge. See Exchange Server documentation for details.

Will it work with DAT tapes, and DLT tapes ?

Yes

Will it work with NAS devices ?

It should, because there is really no difference from backup Software point of view if a drive is local or NAS. We have some customers backing up to NAS disk storage. Anyway if you are planning backup with Stratesave and NAS storage, it should be tested first the particular NAS storage and Stratesave.

Can you schedule jobs ?

Yes, scheduling with time Window, Weekdays etc. can be specified in backup plan. Backups can also be run from a Windows Service, automatically without user intervention. Stratesave can send you email if backup fails or tape/removable disk is to be mounted.

Can you perform full backups ?

Yes

Can you perform incremental backups ?

File backups are supported full and differential. Exchange Server and SQL server backups can be full, differential and incremental. At restore, the files/databases are restored correctly from their corresponding backups automatically.

Are all jobs logged in a history area ?

Yes, there is a relatively small file containg list of backed up jobs. If this file gets lost, it can also be reloaded from the latest backup.

Does Stratesave allow us to choose which directories and subdirectories that we want to backup- including network drives?

Yes.

Is Stratesave easy to use?

Yes. Stratesave works with a backup plan (macro), which you define only once. The backup plan defines your backup organization with daily/weekly/monthly etc. backups. Everyday backups can then be started with a mouse click, or automatically at specified time of day.

How do you "Start" the macro? Do you use scheduler to activate?

Start manually with "Start backup"-button. The backups are also controllable through commandline parameters, if you want to start from Windows AT-command. There is a builtin scheduler for automatic starting of regulars backup. Scheduled backups are listed in display-window "Next scheduled backups". You can also have the backups run as a Windows service.

Please explain how I am to use the Key to obtain the Network Agent.

The Network Agent is add-on functionality, which is already built within Stratesave Software. This also applies to the other agents. The key can be entered into Register-Dialog to enable the add-on functionality.

When the software is purchased do I simply download the latest demo version and enter a key that you send me ?

Yes. The demo and full versions are the same Software. The Stratesave-Standard key enables backups of unlimited size. An Agent-key enables the functionality for that agent.

Is there any way to disable the 2nd tape, because I want only one copy?

The backup rotation scheme needs at least 2 tapes, which are filled alternately. So if 1 tape goes defective, you have still the other tape. Also, when PC crashes, while backup is written to tape, you still have the previous backup available. If backup would be written always to the same tape, and PC crashes exactly during backup, there would be nothing to restore from.

If you absolutely must keep the same tape in drive, define "tolerant" mount policy. This accepts the tape in drive even if it is not the planned rotation. But again it is better data security to switch backup tapes. Does Stratesave backup Internet Information Server (IIS) ?

Yes, Stratesave has been tested to fully backup/restore IIS.

Do you support Travan and DLT?

Supported tape drives: SCSI DAT, DLT, and 8mm (including VXA,Mammoth)
Currently not supported: Travan, OnStream.

When you say you backup NT specialties do you mean NT groups and access list and extended NT permisions?

Yes, NTFS security (owner, group, permissions, auditing), and registry. For Windows 2000/XP, Stratesave also backs up links, streams, sparse files, reparse points, compressed files, encrypted files, System state, Active directory.

Can you backup to a file or directory located on network.

Yes, the directory where backup is stored can also be on a network drive (mapped drive or UNC path).

Does your products have the ability for automated backups?

Automated backups? - Yes

Do you have a service started that will start a backup automatically?

The Stratesave setup as a Windows service for automated, unattended backups is described in Menu Help->Contents->How to start backup program as a Windows service
Alternate\ively, you can put the Stratesave backup command into the startup group. The commandline parameters allow you to setup backup start at specified time, with automatic daily reexecution of backup. This is described in Menu
Help->Contents->Parameters in commandline

What is Stratesave's backup size?

Stratesave supports unlimited backup size. Backups can also extend over several tapes. For backups to fixed disks, backup will be stored in 1 single file, so the file size limit of file system where backup is stored applies, namely 4GB for FAT32, 2GB for FAT, unlimited for NTFS.

How do I enable scheduling ?

Scheduled backups are now the default, if period selection is set to "Backups after time plan". Settings for scheduling (time window, weekdays, etc, can be defined in backup plan).

Does Stratesave's scheduler support backing up from network?

Yes, you can backup network files and directories, for scheduled or non-scheduled backups. The directories are selected through their UNC network path names. For backup of remote System State, or backup of password-protected remote directories, Stratesave Server and Network version is required.

We want to run a backup plan monday to thursday daily, Friday for each week of the month and a monthly backup on the last day of each month for each month of the year. Do you have any advise of how to do this. We have stratesave 2.0 standard. Is this the right product to do this job?

This backup plan can defined in Macro Editor. Under Daily backup's time plan, select Monday to Thursday. Under Weekly Backup's time plan, select Friday. Under Monthly backup's time plan, select Last day of the month.
A slightly different plan, which could also be defined, would be Daily backups Monday to Thursday, Weekly backups Friday, except last Friday of the Month, where a Monthly backup is done instead of the Weekly backup.
There is also a way for manual correction of the backup plan "on-the-fly". For example, if your backup plan has Weekly full backup Friday, and you plan to not turn on your computer one week's Friday, you can manually start that Weekly backup Thursday already.

How do I extend Backup over multiple volumes?

Stratesave allows backups to extend over multiple volumes (tapes,CDs / DVDs). You can enter a list of volume names into each field for volumes, separated by blank or comma. When first volume gets filled, and a second volume has been specified in list, Stratesave will continue backup on the second volume. Dito for 3rd, 4th volume etc. For example, under 1. enter VOL1A,VOL1B, under 2. enter VOL2A,VOL2B. This will start the 1. backup in rotation scheme on VOL1A. When VOL1A gets filled, Stratesave will prompt for VOL1B and continue backup there. 2nd backup will start on VOL2A, and extend to VOL2B etc.

Will I be limited to 4gb of backup data when I am using 2.6GB(1.3 per side) Re-Writable Media?

No, you shouldn't be limited. With multi-volume backup, you give each of your volumes a volume-name, and format the volume with that name. Then you choose backup to removable disk. In the Volume-field, you can type in list of volumes, separated by blank or comma, e.g VOL1,VOL2,VOL3 In this case backup will start on VOL1. When VOL1 gets filled, it will ask for VOL2 to be put into drive, then continue backup on VOL2 etc.

What backup devices prefer Stratesave?

As for backing up to tape drive: With Stratesave, use a SCSI DAT, DLT, or 8mm (including Mammoth) drive. Travan and OnStream drives are not recommended with Stratesave and are currently not supported. Non-SCSI tape drives are supported in principle, if a driver for the tape drive is installed. There is currently limited experience with Non-SCSI drives though.

How do I run two macros from Backup ? I have two macros, one is for daily backup and the other for monthly. Right now I am going to try running two sessions of the Stratesave program and loading a macro for each one.

Thanks for your question. Stratesave supports one macro to have both the monthly and daily backups included, and maybe weekly also. This allows you to make incremental daily backups, where only the changed files are backed up (changed since last weekly or monthly backup). It also keeps all the backups together in 1 Log, which makes the Restore easier, because it presents you with your files at time of last backup.

If I do an incremental backup to a hard drive, does Stratesave copy over the previous target file with an updated target file, or append a new target file? I need the system to do the former, otherwise my backup target becomes too full.

Stratesave allows differential backups, which base on a backup of higher period. For example, if daily backup is defined as differntial, daily backups contain changed or new files since the last weekly or monthly, or even higher backup. It is common, to store weekly or monthly full backups on tape (which are cheap), and daily differential backups on hard drive (which are fast and need no media handling). Now daily backups are rotated, with the rotation you define in backup plan. With rotation=2 (the default), 3.daily differential backup will overwrite the 1st etc. (The weekly or monthly nondifferential backups have their own rotation, which is independent from the daily backup rotation). For backups to disk, which you are planning for your differential backups, rotation can be set as low as 1, for maximum safe of disk space. Backup will not be written directly over the previous backup, because that would be too dangerous. If there's a disk crash exactly during backup, there would be no more backup available for restore (or only the old non-incremental backup). So for rotation=1, the new backup is fully written, then the old backup is deleted afterwards, to save disk space. So there is always the latest backup available for restore, even in the admitted unlikely case that your disk crashes exactly during backup.

How does the program decides which tape cartdridge it wants ? when does it ask for tape one or two, does it change each time a backup is done ? Or do we decide what to do?

It takes it from the macro, from dialog backup storage. For example, you define backup to tape, with rotation=4. Then it will simply rotate on the tapes you specify under "Tape(s) for 4 backups" For example, you want to use only 2 tapes, but want to be able to restore from the latest 4 backups: In field 1., enter VOL1 (Name of 1. tape volume) in field 2., enter VOL2 in field 3., enter VOL1 (the backup will append behind the backup from 1.) in field 4., enter VOL2
The 1. backup goes to VOL1, and will be stored at beginning of VOL1, erasing all backups already on VOL1. The 2. backup goes to VOL2, also erasing tape. 3. backup goes to VOL1, but will be stored behind backup already there. 4. backup will append to VOL2 5. backup -> same as 1. backup etc. For this to work, one tape must have enough capacity to store 2 backups.
Other themes are also possible, for example, you want weekly backups to tape, but change the tape only every 2 weeks: Field 1. : VOL1 (backup will erase all backups on VOL1) field 2.: VOL1 (backup will append) field 3.: VOL2 (backup will erase) field 4.: VOL2 (backup will append) In backup program, display window "Parameters for next backup" will show which tape is used for next backup to come.

If "tolerant" mount policy is set, it takes the tape in drive even if it is not the correct rotation.

Does Stratesave support autoloading tape drives?

Yes, Stratesave supports tape autoloaders. Autoloader requests are passed trhough RSM (Removable Storage Manager). Alternatively, Stratesave can access SCSI autoloaders directly.