WD Anywhere Configuration

[fishOutOfWater]

We’re using WD Anywhere to backup 6 machines to a 4 TB ShareSpace unit.  Operating systems range from XP Home, XP Pro to Vista Business.  They run 24/7.  Maybe someone can help with a couple of questions.

Does WD anywhere not work in the background when a user has logged off for the day?  Would it be better if the user simply closed their programs and locked their workstation instead?  What I’d like to avoid is the software initiating a backup of .PST files and Simply Accounting databases when a user logs on at the start of the day. 

 I’m getting complaints about the overall performance hit and slow response with Outlook and Simply that occurs during the backup.  I’m supposing that WD Anywhere recognizes that Outlook and Simply are closed just as a user logs on and thus determines that it would be a good time to start backing up.

Is there any way to schedule a time for specific large files to be backed up?  Many thanks

[Ardvark]

Not really sure about the first one as I never shut my machines down or totally log out. I simply use the (windows Key) + L button to lock my machine.

It does slow the computers down a bit when you run any kind of automatic backup software. They need to monitor the computer for changes and this can be resource intensive. So long as your computer has a decent ammount of RAM (4 GB minimum imo) this shouldn’t be really noticable however. Another option might be to use Velociraptors as the internal hard drives as they are a lot quicker (and cheaper than the alternative of Solid State) and might further reduce any speed decreases.

If you want to do scheduled backups use Windows Backup (it’s in almost every version of windows) - this will do schedualed backups and FULL SYSTEM backups so if the OS gets corrupted you can restore. I would do this in addition to SmartWare.