Abstract

The importance of backups goes beyond saying that they can help us easily recover our precious data.

Windows 10 does have a backup capability, but it requires either opening up a new partition or using a removable hard drive or a flash drive dedicated to backup. As long as this flash drive is plugged in regularly every day, data can be backed up easily.

However, all too often, we forget to insert the flash drive or are unable to insert it (and lose it). At this point, we need a different backup scheme.

This article discusses a backup method that does not require frequent use of flash drives and does not require a disk partition. As long as you’re on a home LAN, backups are so easy that you don’t even have to pay attention to them.

Preliminary knowledge

To read this article, you should have the following knowledge.

  • The installation and basic use of Windows Server within the workgroup
  • Some experience with RSAT (Remote Server Administration Tools)
  • Windows 10’s “Network Drive” feature

A prerequisite for

To use this method, you need:

  • A decent PC or home server
  • Optional: A portable hard drive
  • Windows Server 2019 Installation Media (Recommends downloading from the Microsoft Evaluation Center)

Specific steps

Install Windows Server 2019

Install Windows Server 2019 with no Desktop Experience in English, select China for time zone, and install all partitions.

Note that you do not need to enter the activation code now. Copies downloaded from the Evaluation Center have a 180-day trial period.

After installation, add Windows Server to your workgroup, and then run a series of operations commands such as sconfig. This article requires you to turn on Remote Control, the fourth option in the sconfig script. Since this article assumes that you have a basic knowledge of this area, it will not be repeated here.

Mount the backup disk

First, prepare a removable hard drive for backup, or a disk partition. Format it in NTFS format.

Then, after inserting the disk again, run the Diskpart tool and mount the disk to the MountPoint\Backup directory under the server system disk root (create it if there is none).

Disk mount on NTFS

Many people believe that the Windows operating system can only access the disk by the drive character, which is incorrect.

In the Diskpart tool, you can mount a disk to a disk character or a mount point, as in *nix. If you look closely at a mount point, you will see that its class is not


but

(JUNCTION means JUNCTION). As shown in the figure below.

Add Backup as a shared folder

In Server Manager, open Computer Management and expand to System Tools -> Shared Folders -> Shares.

Open the Create New Share command in the right-click menu. Select the Backup Folder as the Folder Path.

Then, set Everyone to have Full Control permissions.

Mapped network driver

Now, open Network-> Felix Server in Windows 10. You will see a Backup folder. Right-click it and select Map Network Drive.

Setting Backup Options

In the Update and Security -> Backup TAB of Windows 10 Settings, deactivate the existing backup disk.

Then, using the new backup disk, select the mapped network disk as follows:

Then you can back it up.