Back up Solutions?

Discussion in 'The Techie Table' started by Mike Seddon, Sep 29, 2009.

  1. Boswell New Member

    Not really.

    Surely one major feature of the Internet is that traditional barriers to trade have been lifted?

    That N. American market is 'ours', just as much the European market is 'theirs'.

    Why should I pay 50% - 100% more for downloading software just because my IP address shows I'm in the UK? No problem with getting around that, of course, with a decent VPN service (and why should VPN costs have a 3x differential?) - maybe that ought to be the subject of another thread.

    I'd do anything within reason to support UK companies, but I really can't understand why they close the market on themselves.

    We sell US physical software back to the States, without drop-shipping. The cost hurts, but the market is there. Surely with an online service it's a wide open market? Get the price right and you'll get the customers, and that's not aimed at you specifically.

    What don't I see?
  2. HuggyBear New Member

    Paintball is exactly the same...

    It's cheaper to buy a (paintball) gun from the US than the UK, however, the (paintball) guns are actually manufactured in Bolton?

    Just the way the world turns....
  3. walsharoo New Member

    Physically, I use a RAID1 set-up, I'd recommend that to anyone who is using their computer for work. I've had restore data before and although having a copy of yesterdays data is a good fall-back, losing all the work you did today can be a big headache too. I also use a redundant drive which I do daily back-up's using Norton Ghost. The only reason I don't use Windows Back-Up is that it regards aspx files as system files (no idea why) and doesn't save them, other than that I'd have no issue using the built-in Windows solution.

    For my server data, I use Amazon S3, its very cheap to save / transfer data and if you're not able to write custom code for it, there is a piece of back-up software for it called Cloudberry Back-Up, which seems to work well. Amazon S3 have buckets in the US and EU, so you can choose the closest / suitable servers for you.
  4. HuggyBear New Member

    A RAID backup only protects against hardware failure - what about acts of god?
  5. walsharoo New Member

    I don't believe in god.
  6. HuggyBear New Member

    Apologies.

    What I meant was flooding/earth quakes/fire

    You know, things that are legally known as Acts of God.
  7. walsharoo New Member

    Ah! I thought you were being comedic...

    All my important files (work stuff) is saved to my server every night, which in-turn is backed-up to Amazon S3.

    ...and, in case of theft, my redundant HDD is bolted to the underneath of my desk, which in turn is screwed to the wall, which is connected to the house...which...well, you get my drift ;)
  8. dannels New Member

    Hi - I'm on a Mac and it has time machine built in - no need for added software it just works....

    D
  9. HuggyBear New Member

    Having a Time Machine built in is no good - what if you drop the laptop? and I presume the hard drive is partitioned into 2 logical volumes so when the hard drive physically breaks where is your data then?
  10. Boswell New Member

    Slight thread creep, but I'm trying out a couple of new online backup services, and uploading around 20Gb/day, which has got BT (our ISP) upset with our usage.

    Do most ISPs combine upload and download usage together when setting their limits? I thought it was just to downloading that a cap can apply.
  11. Boswell New Member

    HuggyBear

    In addition to the online backups I'm trying, I'm also interested in a Raid 1 solution with external hard-drive.

    That Buffalo set-up you are using - does it come with some reasonable software or is that a totally independent item?

    There appears to be a lot of hardware out there, but the software doesn't do very well in the reviews (Iomega, Western Digital etc.).
  12. HuggyBear New Member

    ISPs have proportionate download & upload limited in place... the main thing that is against Remote backup - think ISPs need to get a grip really on traffic management etc.

    I dont actually have an external hdd (or any backup solution come to think of it) so I cant comment, Norton Ghost comes out as good enough backup solution though.
  13. Boswell New Member

    Oh, apologies. I assumed you were using the setup you mentioned on the first page of this thread.

    There's a wide selection of Raid 1 solutions - it's the software I'm finding difficult to pin down.

    Going back to the online backup, I think the bandwidth problem is only relevant during the first month - 250Gb with our PCs - and after that it's only incremental backup which is well below our monthly limit. It's worth watching though, as BT were threatening to charge us £4/Gb for going over our limit and £800 stuck on our bill would have been painful. They now say they cap the extra charge at £25, but I wouldn't mind seeing it in writing.
  14. Boswell New Member

    I've spent the last 6 weeks running various online backup solutions, and several drive image-type backups. Only a couple of online backup outfits have impressed so far (details to follow).

    But Rebit is interesting for anyone not wanting to add backup routines to their hobby list. The basic idea is that the Rebit software backs up your entire PC (Mac? Don't know) to an external drive - something simple like an USB drive is fine - not just data, but everything. It backs up continuously, including open files, and to restore a complete drive is very straightforward. That's a full restore with all programs and system settings; in theory you could be up and running in an hour; in practice I can see potential problems, so I'll give it a go.

    There's no messing around with volumes/partitions/formatting - you load the software, plug in your USB drive and a couple of hours later you're covered - there are no ongoing schedules or routines to set up.

    Downsides so far discovered are total lack of security (anyone can pinch your portable drive and restore your complete PC remotely); updates to the software involve wiping your current backup(s); the obvious (fire? theft?) risk with having the backup drive on the same premises; you have to use a dedicated USB drive - it can't be used to store additional data (but at £60 or so for a 320Gb drive that's not much of a problem); it can't backup across a network - serious omission.

    The multi-PC version is a bit barking - you physically have to connect the USB drive to each PC in turn - who's going to do that?

    It's dead simple to use, it's around £30 (only from Amazon in the UK, but they're looking for distributors - go for it) for a single PC and another version can backup 6 PCs. Using it in addition to an online solution (belt and braces) seems a good idea, especially as online outfits can take a week or so to backup your data and, in general, don't offer you the option to restore complete programs and system settings. Tech support is fast by email and/or 'phone and there's a forum, but looks very new.

    No affiliation, BTW - they're getting around to that.
  15. Home Server Heaven New Member

    Hi,

    If you are looking for a fully automated backup solution for up to 10 PC's with the option to fully recover the PC of just recover individual files then i would reccomend a Windows Home Server.

    Windows Home Server provides automatic backup for up to 10 pc’s on a daily basis so all of your important files are safe, and should any of your pc’s fail you can restore them entirely or you can quickly retrieve individual files or folders from previous backups, in case you accidently deleted or lost them.
    With Windows Home Server you can centralise all of your data and share it with ease, In the office, simply click on Share Folders to access all your materials. Or, if you’re on the road, browse to your free custom URL to quickly search and find your files.
    Adding more storage space as your business grows is also easy, Simply add an internal or external hard drive and Windows Home Server will take care of the rest—to your business it will appear as a single repository for all your important files. When you connect multiple hard drives, a duplicate copy of your important files will be saved for added protection. If one hard drive fails, you can simply restore the data mirrored on another hard drive—**it’s RAID made simple.

    **SNIP**
  16. HuggyBear New Member

    Then it's not backed up is it?

    Adding an additional hard drive to your PC is also easy

    RAID is simple

    Wasting money by adding a server to your home network doesn't back up your data though does it - just takes a copy of it and stores it on its own hard drive which is just as prone to failure.
  17. openmind New Member

    To be fair it does give you a centralised location for multiple PCs in the home/office though. I run Windows SBS 2003 here in my office and then replicate the backups via a VPN to one of my servers.

    I agree though you still have a point of failure if you are just backing up to one location...
  18. alexamarky New Member

    For the store our important data backup is needed.There are two types of get the backup first one is off line backup is getting by the in hard disk or DVD.Second one is online backup for store the all computer data in online space.Online backup is the very secure for the data storage.
  19. Adley New Member

    Well this is very useful for me and i am here just want to say thanks to you if you have some more please share with me.
  20. fashion master New Member

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