Backup Solution for Unix/Linux Servers and Mainframes

DriveHQ Has a Better Backup Solution for Large Unix Servers and Mainframes

When you have expensive/proprietary Unix (AIX, HP-UX, Solaris, Linux, OpenVMS, BSD, etc.) server systems or mainframes, often you have very limited options in selecting a backup solution. Most backup solutions require expensive hardware and software. DriveHQ offers an easy and robust cloud backup solution at a fraction of the cost of other backup solutions.

DriveHQ has two different methods for backing up Unix/Linux servers and mainframes:

  • - The first method offers very easy-to-use GUI interface, making it suitable even for non tech-savvy users.
  • - The second method uses command-line FTP scripts or 3rd party FTP backup programs.

Backup Method 1: Use DriveHQ Online Backup to Back up a Network Folder

Instead of buying expensive/proprietary backup devices & software, you just need a Windows PC running DriveHQ Online Backup. On your Unix/Linux or Mainframe machine, you can share the backup source folder using Samba (or NFS). Samba is recommended as it is more seamlessly integrated with Microsoft's Windows file sharing.

Samba is the standard Windows interoperability suite of programs for Linux and Unix. It is open-source and free. It is often included in Unix operating systems. If not, you can download it for free. (Samba is available on most Unix platforms such as AIX, OpenVMS, HP-UX, Solaris, BSD, Linux, etc.) After you install Samba, please follow the documentation to share the backup source folder to the Windows PC. You can share it to a Windows Active Directory domain user, or a workgroup user. If you share it to a domain user, make sure the PC joins the domain; otherwise, you must configure Samba to share the folder to a user, and that the username and password matches with a local account on the PC.

You can then use DriveHQ Online Backup's network backup feature to backup the Unix/Linux server/Mainframe. First, map a network drive on your PC to the shared folder; then create a backup task to back up the network drive (or subfolders of the network drive). DriveHQ Online Backup will automatically convert the backup source paths to UNC paths. Please note DriveHQ Online Backup has two different components: one is the GUI-based program, which is used for creating, managing and monitoring backup tasks; the other is the backup service process, which actually runs the backup tasks. The GUI program runs under the current user account; the service process runs as "LocalSystem", which cannot access the network drive by default. You need to change the service's logon account to an account that can access the shared folder. For more info, please visit the Network Backup support page.

You can create multiple backup tasks to back up different source folders; thus you can use DriveHQ Online Backup to back up multiple Unix/Linux servers and mainframes. You can centrally manage multiple backup tasks from one PC, and you can remotely manage backup tasks by logging on to DriveHQ.com website.


Backup Method 2: Use FTP/FTPS/SFTP Scripts or 3rd Party FTP Backup Programs

DriveHQ is one of the largest FTP Server Hosting service providers. FTP (FTPS and SFTP) is universally supported on all Unix/Linux server and mainframe operating systems (incl. AIX, Solaris, HP-UX, OpenVMS, BSD, etc.).

You can create command-line FTP scripts on your Unix server/mainframe and run it directly on the server to back up files to DriveHQ cloud. The FTP server hosting service is already included in DriveHQ cloud IT service. Free service users can only use the FTP site (server): ftp.drivehq.com. In general, our free FTP service is designed for personal and casual use only. To back up a Unix/linux server or mainframe, you need to order a subscription. Paid members can use another FTP site (server): proftp.drivehq.com. Your FTP username/password is the same as your DriveHQ username/password. For more detailed info about DriveHQ's FTP service, please visit FTP Service FAQ.

To run scheduled FTP backup script, you can use cron or crontab. On IBM AIX, please read Scheduling batch jobs using cron (on UNIX). For Linux, please read How to Schedule Tasks on Linux: An Introduction to Crontab Files

On Windows, you can also create an FTP script file to automatically transfer or back up files. You can use the default Windows command-line FTP client to run the FTP script file. However, Windows FTP client has a lot of weaknesses. DriveHQ's Command FTP is a much more powerful command-line FTP client. It is designed to replace the Windows FTP client. It supports FTP, FTPS and SFTP. With its powerful FTP scripting feature, you can easily automate file transferring or backup.

Once the files are backed up to DriveHQ, you can access them using any DriveHQ client software.