I take care of a small business network consisting of 1 Windows 2000
Server and 30 Windows 2000/XP workstations. The server is at once the
domain controller, file and print server, and runs small database
applications through IIS on the intranet only.

I'd like to set up some sort of redundancy by adding a second server.
My budget is very small.

I figure I could get a new server to be the main server and domain
controller.  This way, active directory can be replicated with the
current server becoming a backup, but clustering is out of the
question. I'm not willing to upgrade the Windows 2000 Server, and I
can't afford Windows 2003 Enterprise.

My usual computer stuff supplier suggested that I set up some sort of
quasi-realtime replication using Symantec Livestate Recovery, with for
target storage my former main server. This makes some sense, with
recovery time hovering below a couple of hours critical limit. They
say it works well.

It would be easy and cheap to set up a dedicated link between the 2
machines through either ethernet or firewire so the LAN isn't flooded
with data replication.

However, I'm very keen on getting the 64 bit Windows 2003. It seems to
me that buying a 32 bit server OS now is not the best choice. We have
new CAD workstations set up with XP x64, and I'm thoroughly impressed
with the performance.

I'll still want to make backups for offsite storage. I currently use
BackupExec 9.1 with a VXA-2 tape drive, but I'm thinking of replacing
tapes with external hard disks.

Finally, I'm setting up a mail server on FreeBSD. What would be my
options for backing up this data as well?

Livestate doesn't support 64 bit. I researched things a little, and
came up with Legato Replistor

The problem is this:

Symantec Livestate doesn't support 64 bit.
Legato Replistor is a little too expensive.
I'm not sure Dantz Retrospect is much different than BackupExec in
what it does and can help me.
ARCServe Backup is complicated and documentation scarce: Windows Image
Option, and/or VSS Option? Can I use the VSS Option with Windows 2000
Server as a target OS?

I'd greatly appreciate any comment from anyone who knows these things
better than I do.

Regards,

Some guy who doesn't know much about backup

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