Overview

This knowledgebase article provides instructions for setting up and configuring a Local Backup Server using Axcient Backup. The Local Backup Server feature enables you to perform backups on the computers in your network and store the resulting data on a designated central storage server. 

To backup data directly to a local file system (such as a hard drive or USB-attached storage), refer to the Instructions for Configuring Local Disk Backups in the Axcient Backup Software Guide.

Installing Axcient Backup

To set up local server backups, you must download and install Axcient Backup Manager on the computer that you want to use for the central storage server.

1. Log in to the Axcient Portal: https://backup.securewebportal.net
2. Select Support and then Download Software.
3. Follow the instructions listed in the First Time Instructions section.

NOTE: You do not need to configure remote backups on this computer, even though you have installed the software and are operating a storage service on it.

Configuring the Local Backup Server

To configure the local backup server, perform the following steps.

1. Launch the Axcient Backup Manager using the Online Backup icon on the desktop.
2. Select Tools from the top menu and then select Local Backup Server.
3. On the Configure page, enter the credentials for the backup account. 

NOTE: This account needs to be the parent of all the accounts for the computers in this network that will be storing data on the local backup server. The local backup server will not store data for accounts that are not related to the backup account configured on this page.

4. In the Store Pathfield, select the location where the data received from the local backups will be stored. This can either be the path of a local drive, RAID volume, or SAN, or you can configure a UNC path.

   NOTE: Do not configure the storage path to be a network mapped drive. Instead, use the UNC path to the network share (for example, \\server\sharename\folder). 

   NOTE: You should specify a subdirectory on the drive and not the root of the drive. For example, use F:\LocalBackups and not just F:\ (or \\server\sharename\folder instead of \\server\sharename).
5. When you select Save, the local backup server will automatically start. You can monitor the status on the Server Status page.
6. If there are any Firewalls on this machine, such as the Windows Firewall, configure the firewall so that the computer can receive TCP connections on port 5470. You may want to restrict incoming connections so that they can only come from within the local network.

• To change the TCP port, select Tools, Local Backup Server, and then select the Options page.
• In the TCP Listen Port field, enter 5470.
• Select Save.

     7. If you are backing up to a network location, change the credentials of the service to use a Windows account that has permission to store data on the network share.

• Select the Windows Start button.
• In the Run field, type services.msc, and press Enter.
• Right-click on the Online Backup Server service and select Properties.
• Select the Log On tab and enter the credentials for the Windows account.
• Select OK.
• Right-click on the Online Backup Server service and select Restart.

Configure machines on the network to store data on local backup server

For each machine in the network that has Axcient Backup Manager installed, perform the following steps to configure it to store data on the local backup server.

1. Launch the Axcient Backup Manager using the Online Backup icon on the desktop.
2. Select the My Account page.
3. In the Local Server field, enter the network hostname or IP address of the computer on your network that is running the local backup server. If you need to specify a custom TCP port, use the syntax "hostname:port" (without the quotation marks).

NOTE: This is not a file system path such as F:\ or \\server\sharename.

4. [Optional] To customize any backup policies for the local backups, select the Folders page.
5. Select the Schedule page and then select the Local Network Backup tab. 
6. Select a time and day(s) to schedule the backup to the local network server and select Save.

NOTE: On Server 2003 (or better) or Windows Vista (or better) remote backups and local backups can run concurrently. On older operating systems the backups must run at separate times. We recommend starting the local backup first because it will complete faster. If the local backup does not finish on time, the remote backup will wait until the local backup finishes before starting.

    7. If you are backing up Microsoft Exchange, perform the following steps:

• Select the Options page and then select the Backup tab.
• In the Open File Backup section, enable the Restrict Concurrent Backups option.

IMPORTANT: Microsoft Exchange only supports one active backup at a time. If this option is not checked and one backup starts while another is running, then open file backup will fail.

After you configure the local server backups a new tab will appear on the System Status page that will allow you to monitor the status of local server backups.