Hewlett Packard - SureStore AutoBackup PC 25

Author's product rating:   

Memory / capacity	Satisfactory
Reliability	Good
Ease of Installation	Excellent - very quick and easy
Speed	Average
Value For Money	Satisfactory

Advantages:	Good points .  Easy to install and use .  Nice web browser interface .
Disadvantages:	Bad points .  Very expensive for what is essentially a pc with a lot of hard disk space .  No virus protection .  No room for upgrading .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Up until now most back up hardware has tended to concentrate on the server side. If a user wanted to back up their desktop PC or laptop, they could either get the IT support staff to create and run a back up job from the server room or have a back up device fitted to their PC.

The former requiring the time and patience of support staff to complete the task and the latter requiring expensive hardware to be installed on every PC, this being somewhat more tricky when a laptop is involved. HP claim they have solved this conundrum with their SureStore AutoBackup.

HP SureStore AutoBackup consists of a customised server (or appliance in their words) with an internal HP SureStore CD-Writer and customised backup and restore software. It is designed to attach to an existing LAN in small to medium size companies or workgroups, so that users on desktop PCs or remote PCs can automatically back up data from their local hard disks across the network to the HP SureStore AutoBackup appliance.

The box itself is very much in the style of most HP PCs. The front panel has a LCD display showing the status of the device but only seems to give minimal information about what it is doing or what is going wrong about it. The power button and CD writer are hidden behind a door, which easy to pull off completely when only trying to open it out.

The machine itself runs on an embedded version of Windows NT called Windows for Express Networks. We are told Linux versions of the appliance are in the pipeline. This software is mirrored, so if one version corrupts we are told that a back up version starts up in its place.

Total storage on our test machine comes in at about 66GB. This should roughly have enough space to back up around 30 to 35 PCs or laptops. It is connected to the network via a 10/100 base-T autosensing card on TCP/IP. Also on the back of the device is a Wide Ultra SCSI-3 interface for connecting to a tape back up device.

Once out of the box and connected to the network, we installed the software on the administrator machine. This was to provide the AutoBackup with an IP address and set up the administrator name and password. This took no time at all. Once done we were able to configure the rest of the device via the intuitive web browser interface (Internet Explorer is provided on disk as this is required to administer the appliance).

Again, this was well thought out and gave a deal of flexibility to manage the appliance. This interface provides details on the status of the device and well as tasks to be carried out on individual PCs, creating disaster recovery disks with the CD writer as well as making tape back ups of the device itself.

Also, a setting page allows administrators to change network settings and install software updates as well as change administrator privileges.

On the client side, we found installation easy and well thought out. Again, this was as easy as pointing the clients web browser at the appliance and following the on-screen guide and Agent setup wizard. After rebooting our PC we were instructed to make a full back up of our hard disk. This took about 20 minutes to complete 1.5GB’s worth of data. From the administrator side we were able then to make a disaster recovery image of the test PC on a bootable CD-R. In total this procedure took about an hour to finish.

HP do mention in their quick installation guide that the first full back up should be made though a direct network connection as it would take forever over a normal modem. Incremental back ups can be made on the road but be careful if you have made major changes before backing up data, you could be waiting forever.

The installed agent does give users options over when back ups take place; however administrators can limit these powers if necessary. Details of incremental back ups are held on the appliance using a version of SQL server. This can be useful when looking to rollback a PC to a previous state i.e. should a virus infe
ct a hard disk.

We felt that there was a definite need to some form of virus protection on the appliance to scan and disinfect suspect files, as it would be easy for a user to a full back up and accidentally include contaminated data.

On the whole the AutoBackup is an easy to use and maintain piece of kit. However you would have to look at the price very closely before deciding whether you feel this solves a backup problem in your organisation.