Creating a Network Share Repository

- Overview

- Creating a Network Share Repository

- Repository Type

- Authentication

- Configuration

Overview

Repositories are predefined storage areas that act as the destination for backups created by the SiteBackup Agent and are required to schedule backups using Macrium SiteBackup.

A repository is a storage location with a standardized folder layout and some tracking information. Each repository contains backup information such as the storage location, network access information, credentials required to access the resource, and other basic storage management.

Creating a Network Share Repository

Repositories are created and managed on the 'Repositories' page of SiteBackup. If there are no existing repositories, a quick help page is shown instead:

Clicking on 'New Repository' will open the 'Add Repository' wizard.

Repository Type

The first page of the 'Add Repository' wizard is used to select the type of repository that will be created. Which repository type is most relevant, will likely depend on the storage infrastructure that is available. There are four types of repository that can be created:

Network Share - Any Windows or SMB share may be used as repository storage.

Amazon AWS Storage Gateway - If an AWS Storage Gateway is available, it can be used as a repository backend. Read more about creating an Amazon AWS Storage Gateway repository here.

Azure Storage Account - If Azure storage has been configured to be exposed as an SMB share in Azure, it can be directly used as a repository. Read more about creating an Azure Storage Account repository here.

Local Repository - Storage that is directly managed by the SiteBackup Agent computer can be used as a repository. Each system that is configured to back up to one of these repositories will back up to the local path specified. Read more about creating a local repository here.

Authentication

Information required to access the network share is specified on the second page of the wizard, including the UNC path to where the share is located, and credentials that will be used by the SiteBackup Agents to access the repository.

Option	Description
Path	This option will let you select the path to the network share in Windows UNC format. Example: \\SERVERNAME\Share
Authentication	Here you will input the authentication credentials that are needed to access the repository. The user is required to have read and write access to the repository so that the backup may be created and retention rules can be applied. If the field is left blank anonymous access will be used. When performing a backup, this authentication information is transmitted to agent computers so that they can directly access the share. To avoid problems at the client end, it is recommended that the domain part of the authentication is always filled in. If the share is on a computer or NAS that is not joined to a domain, the hostname of the computer or NAS should be used instead. The SiteBackup server will resolve IP addresses for the share and send these IP addresses to the agent when backing up. This allows computers that cannot resolve the SMB server name to an IP address to connect and perform backups.

Option

Description

Path

This option will let you select the path to the network share in Windows UNC format.

Example: \\SERVERNAME\Share

Authentication

Here you will input the authentication credentials that are needed to access the repository.

The user is required to have read and write access to the repository so that the backup may be created and retention rules can be applied. If the field is left blank anonymous access will be used.

When performing a backup, this authentication information is transmitted to agent computers so that they can directly access the share. To avoid problems at the client end, it is recommended that the domain part of the authentication is always filled in. If the share is on a computer or NAS that is not joined to a domain, the hostname of the computer or NAS should be used instead.

The SiteBackup server will resolve IP addresses for the share and send these IP addresses to the agent when backing up. This allows computers that cannot resolve the SMB server name to an IP address to connect and perform backups.

Configuration

Additional options for the repository can be specified on the final page of the wizard:

The available options are:

Option	Description
Custom Name	A name that will be displayed in the SiteBackup interface for this repository. If left blank, it will default to the network path of the repository.
Purge oldest backup set(s)	An optional value that will delete your oldest backup set(s) once the free space has reached a defined threshold. This setting is independent of any retention rules configured in backup definitions and applies to all activity to this repository.
Low disk space notification	An optional value that will send a notification once the free space falls below a defined threshold. The destination of notifications can be configured in the 'Notifications' menu in the SiteManager Platform 'Settings'.
Retry connection on credential failure	This option will cause SiteBackup to treat credential failures like normal network errors and retry the repository connection on credential failures. This can be useful as Windows can incorrectly report network issues as credential failures. By default, SiteBackup will not retry credential failures automatically to prevent the possibility of locking accounts due to an incorrect password.
Simultaneous Scheduled Backups	This value sets the number of backups that can be performed to the repository simultaneously. The default value is 1, but it can be increased to a maximum of 60.

Select 'Finish' to complete the repository configuration. If there are any errors or issues when creating the repository, the wizard will not close and an error message will be displayed. If appropriate any affected fields will be highlighted in red.

Once the repository has been created, it will be displayed in the list of existing repositories:

To read more about managing existing repositories, please see this article.