Server Backups

What Is It?

Departmental servers contain a vast amount of valuable data critical to the university’s missions of instruction and research. The university has an interest in making sure this data is not inadvertently lost, whether by human error, equipment failure, or malware attack. The owners and administrators of these systems can request backup services.

The Server Backup service, powered by Commvault software, allows you to back up servers over the UIC campus network unattended and automatically. In the event of inadvertent deletion of one or more files, hard disk failure, or malware infection, backups can be used to restore your files.

Access to Commvault is granted through tenants, which will typically be associated with a department or college at UIC. Once a tenant has been created for a department, the tenant's administrators (typically the department's IT staff) will be able to log in to Commvault, install backup clients on servers, and manage their backups and restores. To get started, use the Request Server Backup Tenant link on this page.

Features

• The Server Backup service leverages Commvault software, where a client program on your computer communicates with Technology Solutions servers to run backups.
• Backups are configured to run once a night by default.
• Commvault runs in the background and should not affect the operation of your server if you happen to be using it while it is being backed up.
• After an initial one-time full backup, only new and changed files are backed up thereafter, through incremental backups (by default). The Commvault server keeps track of these backups in its database and periodically creates "Synthetic Full" backups by consolidating incremental backup data.
• Backups are "deduplicated" through Commvault's deduplication technology, which saves space by only storing unique blocks of data on backup storage.
• Most backups are run at night when they will not impact the performance of your server, though other backup schedules are available for special circumstances.
• Backups can be stored on Technology Solutions storage on-campus or on cloud storage through Microsoft Azure or Amazon Web Services. Your department must have an Azure or AWS subscription with the target cloud storage provisioned.

Requirements

Recent version of Microsoft Windows and most editions of Linux can be backed up. A comprehensive list of available backup agents and their system requirements can be found in Commvault's documentation. You must be authorized to install and run programs on servers that will be backed up, which is not possible with some self-contained file servers. You must have a high-bandwidth connection to the campus network.

Note: This service is intended for IT support professionals. End users should contact local IT for support.

Compliance

Data being backed up is sent only over the campus network and is stored either in Technology Solutions' locked, secured, and monitored facilities or in Microsoft's or Amazon's cloud services. All data is encrypted in transit and at rest.

Technology Solutions treats all backed-up data as highly sensitive since the security level of the original data is often unknown. All worn-out media is disposed of securely by degaussing and physical destruction, regardless of what might have been stored on it.

Applicability

The Technology Solutions Server Backup service is offered only for UIC Chicago campus servers that are directly connected to the Chicago campus network. A fixed IP address is not necessary, it is compatible with DHCP.

Given the high volume of data that is transferred when using this service, backups cannot be used from off-campus or from any type of outside connection. It cannot be used over any type of modem, DSL or cable connection, even if physically located on campus. This can be a problem for campus buildings located north of the Eisenhower Expressway.

Who Is Eligible To Use It?

• IT Staff

Where Can I Get It?

Select the Request Server Backup Tenant button on this page.

How Do I Use It?

View our help articles for introductory information, and Commvault's documentation for additional technical details.

How Much Does It Cost?

There are monthly storage charges (if your backups are configured to be stored on TS servers) and monthly license charges. If your backups are configured to be stored in the cloud, the cloud provider will charge you for that storage.

• Storage
  • $0.02 per GB per month (data stored in one TS datacenter, either BGRC or SELE)
  • $0.04 per GB per month (data stored in both TS datacenters)
• Licenses
  • $17.50/month per physical server
  • $1.54/month per virtual machine

Note that storage billing is based on the total amount of storage used on the backup servers, after the backup servers deduplicate the data. Therefore, the amount of space used will vary depending on the type of data and the rate at which it changes over time. Data that deduplicates well (like operating system images) and does not change frequently will use significantly less storage on Commvault than data that does not deduplicate well (like images or videos) and changes frequently.

How Can I Get Support?

If you are experiencing a problem with this service, please report it. If you just have a question, feel free to ask us.

Service Levels