Problem: Network Backup Drive Doesn't Appear

OK, this has got me baffled.

I know very little about networking but I know that there have been problems like this before on this system. This is a wireless network for a small law office (4 computers total) and when attempting to use the Windows Backup Tool, it informs me that "Please make backup media available for 'Z:/' and click OK to continue"

Z is the network drive (I am guessing because that is what it has been in the past and that is the drive indicated in the backup program) that the remote computers connect to for backup. The problem is, I cannot find this drive and I am logged on as an administrator. The other computers indicate that they are disconnected from drive Z and on one computer drive Z doesn't even show up.

I am not sure this is related, but I have had to reset the router at least once a week for the past several months and this has always corrected any backup issues or Internet connection issues.

I am not certain what information for the network that I should post here, so if you all would be kind enough to a newbie and walk me through the information you need I would be most grateful.

I will likely read this post from home and come in tomorrow and attempt to fix this.

In the interim, is there a way that I can get these files backed up because as a law office the files are critical?

I thank you all for understanding my ignorance of networks.

 

Oh... one step I took was to follow from the Windows Backup program where the files were being sent on the server. I located the folder and it is shared on the network but it doesn't have a drive letter associated with it. It has a folder name, but not a drive letter.

I have no idea if this helps at all.

 

Well, I didn't map the drive, no... however, this network isn't new and the backups have been going to drive Z since this was created and I have no clue as to why it would change.

I can try to map the drive, but I am not sure how to do that on the server or for that matter to find out if the Z drive still exists.

What could possibly cause this drive to have just up and disappeared?

 

A "mapped drive" just basically means that the computer will have a way to easily find the folder that is on the server. See the drive pictures under "my computer" or "windows explorer" (Drive C:, Drive D:, etc)? A mapped drive is basically the same thing as a local drive, except it's not an actual physical drive in the computer.. it's on another computer. You don't need to configure anything on the server if it's already shared.

Right click on "My Network Places" and left click on "Map Network Drive". Since you found the folder already, left click on "Browse" and find it again. If you can't find it, you need to memorize/write down the entire path to the server using the UNC, and type that in manually instead. If it is an administrative share it will be technically shared on the network, just not visible when browsing remotely on the share. Make sure to check "reconnect at login" so it will automatically map the network drive every time they login. It's really that simple.

A note about making backups.. if the files are critical, then you need to be doing a lot more than making a backup to a data storage server. Have some redundancy, because hard drives fail and things happen. Look up on google about RAID 1 or RAID 5. Then do another search on "gfs backup rotation".

Basically, RAID will chain multiple hard drives together and will make your data more secure from any hardware failure. GFS backup rotation is a common way to backup your data daily, weekly and monthly (grandfather=monthly, father=weekly, son=daily) to a solid storage medium such as DVD's or tape disks.

Good luck.