New backup solution needed.

bass_junkie83

bass_junkie83

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Currently, I have two drives in my PC in RAID and use an external hard drive to manually copy over important folder I want to back up.

I want to go for something a bit slicker, automated and in a different location to the pc in case of theft. So either in the loft or garrage.

I can't run any network cables to these locations, so I need to go over wireless. And with the wiring in my house, I have trouble with homeplugs.

I saw this which should do everything I want in one box, but reviews seems to suggest it's a bit slow and painfull for big backups.
http://www.shop.bt.com/products/lacie-2tb-wireless-space-nas-ethernet---usb-2-0-752L.html

So looking to do the same thing. I assume I need a wireless access point.
This reems to be well reviewed for little money. But is it fast enough? I will probably me limited by my pc's connection to the router anyway so I guess it will be a non issue?
http://www.ebuyer.com/201376-buffalo-wireless-n300-cable-router-access-point-whr-g300nv2-eu

I will then need to connect some storage to it. I do have one of these, which I could attach any usb hard drive to, but I have no idea how to use it!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSLU2

Or I could just get one of these.
http://www.ebuyer.com/245542-wd-my-book-live-2tb-1x-2tb-nas-drive-wdbacg0020hch-eesn

Does that sound about right? Does the kit I listed look reasonable, or would you change anyhting?

Also, what do I need software wise? Ideally something that I can use to select some key folders on my pc I want to back up, and schedule say a weekly backup and also back up as and when ie straight after a wedding.
 
Why not look at an online solution like drop box.

Safer than q disk in the garage or loft
Not for ever out growing your backup disk
Available anywhere and could give clients access
Above all its a reall backup off site and secure, speed won't be an issue just leave the machine to sync overnight
 
And what happens if dropbox goes down the tubes?
 
You move your backup immediately to another online service just like if the server in the garage dies or gets nicked and Beter still if the gas main goes.up your business is still operating to help u rebuild
 
The question then has to be what's your data worth. I aren't on commission just get the calls when people find.there backup isn't. I use a mixture being honest archiving to DVD after 6 months 2 copies one at home one in mothers loft. And there are cheaper options google docs for one but dropbox is a very nice solution
 
Dropbox or other cloud services would be another alternative. But to be honest, I would use them as another level on top of what I am proposing. I will look into it, but I would like an on-site backup sorted first. :)
 
Depending on your confidence with a computer, I'd be looking at a box that can handle rsync. The protocol is designed specifically for backing up large datasets over slower links and ports exist for all current mainstream platforms. It may be a tad (your perception of "a tad" may be different to mine though...) more difficult to setup, but can be run in the background automatically.
 
jd.smith said:
The question then has to be what's your data worth. I aren't on commission just get the calls when people find.there backup isn't. I use a mixture being honest archiving to DVD after 6 months 2 copies one at home one in mothers loft. And there are cheaper options google docs for one but dropbox is a very nice solution
Click to expand...

if a 1tb hard drive costs £80 and lasts 3 years its a no brainer, get 2 and rotate 1 off site etc.
 
I didn't look at anything in your list other than the LaCie wireless solution and can make two points.

Firstly the back-up software you use should be able to do Incremental Daily back-ups so, once you have done the first full back-up (which could be painfully slow), the rest will be fast enough and the reportedly slow speed of the LaCie should not be an issue.

Secondly, will you have enough back-up space with 1TB or even 2TB? Unless you dedicate yourself to deleting everything you do not want or can't make use of then your catalogue of images will grow extremely fast! The LaCie probably won't be able to grow with you unless you can swap out the HDDs.

Hope this helps.
 
I'll look into rsync, but my knowledge/ability is pretty limited.

Wilko58 said:
I didn't look at anything in your list other than the LaCie wireless solution and can make two points.

Firstly the back-up software you use should be able to do Incremental Daily back-ups so, once you have done the first full back-up (which could be painfully slow), the rest will be fast enough and the reportedly slow speed of the LaCie should not be an issue.

Secondly, will you have enough back-up space with 1TB or even 2TB? Unless you dedicate yourself to deleting everything you do not want or can't make use of then your catalogue of images will grow extremely fast! The LaCie probably won't be able to grow with you unless you can swap out the HDDs.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

That sounds about right for what I am thinking. One big initial backup, I expect I can plug the drive in straight to the router rather than going over the wireless to help speed this up.

Then whatever software I use should be able to recognize any new data on the pc and add that to the backup. But if for any reason something gets deleted off the pc, it should not take it off the backup. I assume that must be pretty standard for any backup software?

I am edging to wards the access point and separate nas drive to allow for easier future upgrading if required.
 
I used to use a LaCie network space plugged into my wireless router, but it was quite slow, not quite as slow as a cloud service, but still slow.

So I've now switched to a pair of external hard drives which I swap every week or so and keep one off site.

The LaCie drives come with software which will do incremental backups.
 
I have seen there is a 3TB version of the WD nas drive, so think I will go for that and the access point.

Just not sure whether to go for the buffalo or one of the TP-Link offerings.
 
Have you considered a time capsule - you can use it with windows as a network storage and it has wireless built in?

I use a combination of stuff - I have 3 hard disks in the pc, an external USB, netgrear readynas and dropbox - with the exception of the Dropbox bit, all the rest is sync'd using synctoy and runs every hour in a scheduled batch file
 
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