Migrate your backup data from your existing server to a new server


Data migration challenges arise every time an organization moves to a new data system either internally or as a result of a merger. Data migration is complex activity because if the migration fails to meet the expectations it will obstruct a business’s ability to function effectively.


If you plan to migrate your data, that was backed-up using SyncBackPro/SE to a new server, then this article provides general guidelines for your data migration.


Migrate your backup data from a standard resource (local drive or remote drive) to a non-standard resource (Cloud, FTP etc.) or vice versa using SyncBackPro/SE:

The basic steps are that you first create a backup profile that you use to restore the data from your existing backup location. Using a restore you can have SyncBack automatically uncompress the backup if it was compressed. Also, you can transfer and keep your existing versions by switching off Versioning when doing a restore.


As you are restoring from a standard resource you can restore it directly to your new backup location. Once the data is transferred to your new system you create a new backup profile that you now use to do your backups to your new system.


STEP 1: Transfer backup data from your existing system to new system

Create a New Backup profile in SyncBackPro/SE via the Profile creation wizard. Configure the Profile’s Destination path to the backup data on your existing system and Source to your new system.


If you have Versioning enabled on your existing backup and intend to migrate those versioned data to your new server, then you must not enable versioning for this profile, to allow SyncBack to copy your data and versioned data to the same directory structure on your new system (note that if you enable Versioning then SyncBack will not copy versioned files to your new system).


If you used Compression with your existing backup and intend to migrate the compressed data as uncompressed to your new system, then enable Compression for this profile. This is so SyncBack can automatically decompress your existing backup and transfer it as uncompressed to your new backup location.


Then, run the profile in Restore mode to copy the data on your existing system to the same directory structure to your new system. The data is now migrated from your existing system to your new system.


For example: You are migrating your data from an external drive to a Cloud server. At this step, create a Backup Profile and configure the Source path to your cloud drive and Destination to your external drive. Then, run the Profile in Restore mode to transfer the data from your external drive to cloud server.


STEP 2: Create your new backup profile

Create a new profile in SyncBack and configure the Source according to your requirement and Destination path to your new system. You can configure other settings as before (i.e. enable Compression, Versioning, Fast Backup etc.) and use this new backup profile to do backups to your new system.


Migrate your backup data from a non-standard resource (Cloud, FTP) to a non-standard resource (Cloud, FTP etc.) using SyncBackPro/SE:

The basic steps are that you first create a backup profile that you use to restore the data from your existing backup location to a temporary location. Using a restore you can have SyncBack automatically uncompress the backup if it was compressed.


Next you create another backup profile to upload it to your new system. You can transfer and keep your versions by switching off Versioning while restoring to a temporary location and uploading to your new server. Lastly, you create a new backup profile that you now use to do your backups to your new system.


STEP 1: Copy your Backup data to a temporary location (local drive or external drive)

Create a New Backup profile in SyncBackPro/SE via the Profile creation wizard. Configure the Profile’s Source path to a local drive (or to a temporary location) and Destination to the backed-up data on your existing server. You may need this additional step as SyncBack does not support data transfer from a non-standard resource to another non-standard resource.


If you have Versioning enabled on your existing profile and intend to migrate those versioned data to your new server, then you must not enable versioning for this profile, to allow SyncBack to copy data and versioned data to your local drive (note that if you enable Versioning then SyncBack will not copy versioned files to local drive).


If you used Compression with your existing backup and intend to migrate the compressed data as uncompressed to your new system, then enable Compression for this profile. This is so SyncBack can automatically decompress your existing backup and transfer it as uncompressed to your new backup.


Then, run the profile in Restore mode to copy the data on your existing server to the same directory structure to a temporary location.


For example: You are migrating your data from an FTP server to a Cloud server.  At this step, create a Backup profile and configure the Profile’s Destination to your FTP server and Source to temporary location such as C:\MyBackup\. Run the profile in Restore mode to copy data from the FTP server to a temporary location “C:\MyBackup\”


STEP 2: Transfer the data from the temporary location to your new server

Create a New Backup profile in SyncBackPro/SE via the Profile creation wizard. Configure the profile’s Source to the local data (data backed-up to a temporary location in STEP 1) and Destination to your new server.


Note that if you are migrating your versioned data also to your new server then you must not enable Versioning for this profile.


Then, Run the profile to transfer the data from your local drive to your new server. The data is now migrated from your existing server to your new server.


For example: considering the above example, at this step create a new Backup profile and configure the Source to local data such as C:\MyBackup\ and Destination to your cloud server. Run the profile to transfer the data from the temporary location “C:\MyBackup\” to your cloud server.


STEP 3: Create your new backup profile

Create a new profile in SyncBack and configure the Source according to your requirement and Destination path to your new server. You can configure other settings as before (i.e. enable Compression, Versioning, Fast Backup etc.) and use this new backup profile to do backups to your new system.


You may consider deleting the temporary data that you download in step 1, which is subsequently uploaded to your new system in step 2.