Backup (DR) Overhaul: Outage during Rebuild

更新済み 2026年10月08日 12:20 AEDT

BMR jobs have successfully run 2 nights in a row, both times very quickly. This is working very nicely.

We’re now moving to finalise the NAS/DA backup side of this, which is an entirely separate system.
The DA backups will be more minimal - there as a self-service emergency option for clients.

更新済み 2026年10月05日 19:47 AEDT

BMR (Bare Metal Restore) backup jobs are configured & scheduled! Further updates in a day or two.
This includes fine-tuned ACL (access control list) config, so servers can back-up yet not delete back-ups.

Following the successful completion of all BMR jobs, we will move on with final NAS (DA backups) steps.

更新済み 2026年09月29日 22:10 AEST

Bare Metal Restore platform config is complete, and the first test backups have been completed.

This has verified the base vs differential, de-duplication and other key features of the platform.
We expect to have all critical & client machines backing up automatically from tomorrow.

更新済み 2026年09月23日 13:11 AEST

Both new Disaster Recovery machines are now fully built & stable (Operating System & Configuration).

Virtual Environment deployment now underway for Client Datasets, then they’ll enter Production usage.

更新済み 2026年09月19日 16:30 AEST

Please note that we’re making internal Routing/Switching amendments to progress the DR works.

We don’t expect interruptions to service, though are sending this update just in case of any blips.
7.30pm Edit: We’ve performed the necessary amendments, and have done a test reboot.

更新済み 2026年09月04日 06:00 AEST

The initial batch of high-speed drives for the DirectAdmin backup server have arrived.

We are now scheduling on-site works to install them, and finalise these DR upgrades.
Thank you for your patience as we work to overhaul our DR systems for you.

更新済み 2026年08月04日 17:00 AEST

Our new Bare Metal Restore (BMR) server is now hardware-complete and is mid-flight into production!

Please stand-by for further updates as we work to finalise its deployment, configuration & integration.

更新済み 2026年07月20日 15:03 AEST

The 2nd Backup Server arrived at the Data Centre last night. Final disk & assembly orders now underway.
As part of this process, we’ve secured a new vendor who will deliver to metro DCs in Sydney same-day.

We’re expecting to have the 1st Backup Server (Bare Metal Restore) live this week/weekend.

更新済み 2026年07月10日 09:00 AEST

We’ve received the Bare Metal Restore server, and are now waiting for the 2nd (final) server to arrive.

From there we will be finalising the system builds, initialising BMR so it can commence syncing, and then get DirectAdmin backups online through the 2nd server, re-enabling self-service backup restorations inside DA.

Thank you for your patience. We consulted with industry experts on these projects in the planning and design phases to ensure that we’re overhauling our DR systems to a standard that sits ahead of the pack.

更新済み 2026年06月22日 12:20 AEST

We’ve received the 7.68TB SAS SSDs for our Bare Metal Restore system, and the Server is en-route now.

Many thanks for your patience as we work through this DR overhaul.

更新済み 2026年06月17日 22:30 AEST

This has been delayed by a supplier delay with the new Dell server. Our supplier sends their apologies.

We’re continuing to work on final touch-up preparations in anticipation of receiving the new system to deploy.

メンテナンス 2026年06月11日 14:30 AEST

G’day,

We’re proceeding with a total overhaul of our Disaster Recovery (DR) systems, to introduce greater flexibility and speed around how we can restore servers for our clients, including the addition of proper Bare Metal Restores (BMR) to our arsenal. This will also allow us an opportunity to overhaul our DR platforms more generally, such as newer servers powering the backup systems (generational upgrades) and larger capacity SAS SSD storage.

This has taken a while to pull together, including a raft of research and testing around the systems and methods we want to use here, so that we’re certain it’s the right set of upgrades for our clients. Especially with the new AI era upon us, we feel it’s timely that we get this right and ensure even more DR options are available for clients.

The totality of the upgrades does mean that we will have a crossover period, starting now, whereby our DR systems are limited due to the rebuild and data transition. We do not want to lose integrity of data, hence why we’re ensuring safety across our ZFS datasets. The new systems will go-live in 2 stages, BMR then “Normal”.

Please ensure you retain backups of all accounts, especially during this transitional period. We will provide updates as this work progresses, including interim backup functionality so that there is some stopgap provision available too.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our helpdesk.

Cheers,
Merlot Digital

The Network Crew Pty Ltd (TNC)