Staff Backup Facility (M Drive)

Staff Backup Facility (M Drive) Working Guideline

PURPOSE

The purpose of this document is to provide summary information on the staff backup facility (M Drive) recently introduced by ITD.

A new Home Drive (backup) service has been introduced by ITD. This service allows users to manage their data more efficiently; ensuring files are regularly backed up to a dedicated file store.

To use this service, log a call with the ITD Service Desk requesting a share on the M Drive. http://inside/itdservicedesk/. You will receive confirmation email once your drive has been created and a link to the Staff Backup Facility Working Guideline.

When you log on next you should see an M:\ drive in your windows Explorer (called "username" on DesktopMSA1\HD$). If you haven't logged off you may need to before this service is available.

Benefit of Backup Service

 You get a Home Directory (M: drive) with a disk quota of 1GB.

 You can copy your important files up to this location. These files will be backed up by ITD.

 The contents of the M: drive will be available offline, i.e. you can still access the files when the M: drive is unavailable either through a network failure or if you take a laptop off- campus. Changes are synchronised when network connectivity is restored.

 Shadow Copying on the shared drive (currently a daily 7:30a.m. snapshot) so you can restore previous versions of files yourself!

How to Activate the Service

This new service is a great means of always having a backup of your files. It is your responsibility to copy files to this M:\ drive, what ever you copy to the M:\ drive will be backed up.  Open Windows Explorer  You will see your share displayed in the folder list ("username" on DesktopMSA1\HD$)  Select the files/folders you wish to have backed up. Note: There is a size limit of 1GB so it may not be possible to back everything up  Copy the selected files to the M Drive share.

Each time you log off you will see a message saying “Synchronizing in Progress”. This is the sync between the local copy of the M:\ drive on your PC and the Network Share. The first time you copy data to your M:\ drive this sync will take a while but after that the Synchronizing only takes a few seconds.

You may decide to use the M:\ drive as your main working area, i.e. everything you save, save it to the M:\ drive instead of c:\My Documents.

If you would like to meet to discuss how this service may benefit you, contact the ITD Service desk to arrange a consultation. The electronic version of this document is the latest version. It is the responsibility of the individual to ensure that any paper material is the current version. Printed material is uncontrolled documentation. Page 1 of 2 Rev: 2

The attached video clip provides further information on the back-up service. http://screencast.com/t/ZEPXXoWsHsc

Revision No. Date Approved by: Details of Change 1 19 March KOM / AMG Initial Release 2 18 May ‘10 KOM / AMG Updated following a service review to include details of how to activate the service. Also noted that the link to working guideline would be sent to staff in the email closure notice.

The electronic version of this document is the latest version. It is the responsibility of the individual to ensure that any paper material is the current version. Printed material is uncontrolled documentation. Page 2 of 2 Rev: 2