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Hi All,
After an incident yesterday with my 1TB Iomega Network Drive which reduced me to cold sweats, a sleepless night and several trouser changes, I have decided I can no longer stand the strain of potentially losing all my data.
Luckily this time I got away with it (I suspect the issue was with my router no hadling the dhcp requests properly) but it's a lesson learned and I'm now prepared to actually pay for either an on-line backup service or a more robust RAIDed network drive arrangement.
I've been using Mozy's free 2GB online service for a while and it seems OK (if a little basic - no incremental or differential backups for example) but before I take the plunge and sign up for the unlimited version I'd like to canvass the opinion of the esteemed members on this forum.
Does anyone use online backup services or have any other backup arrangement they can recommend?
Any tales of woe relating to lost data would also be welcome.
Cheers
JTD
After an incident yesterday with my 1TB Iomega Network Drive which reduced me to cold sweats, a sleepless night and several trouser changes, I have decided I can no longer stand the strain of potentially losing all my data.
Luckily this time I got away with it (I suspect the issue was with my router no hadling the dhcp requests properly) but it's a lesson learned and I'm now prepared to actually pay for either an on-line backup service or a more robust RAIDed network drive arrangement.
I've been using Mozy's free 2GB online service for a while and it seems OK (if a little basic - no incremental or differential backups for example) but before I take the plunge and sign up for the unlimited version I'd like to canvass the opinion of the esteemed members on this forum.
Does anyone use online backup services or have any other backup arrangement they can recommend?
Any tales of woe relating to lost data would also be welcome.
Cheers
JTD
Hi Hmmm...
Hmmm... wrote:
> I think everything's been covered now but just to add my
> 2c...
>
> I've
> previously
> written about the excellent SyncBack (free and pro)
> software.
>
You don't have to extol the virtues of SyncBack to me - I read your original article on Syncback when you wrote it - I've used it all over since (and right on queue it's running on my laptop as I write this) for syncing directories across networks - usually in readiness for imports into databases or for backups. It was a top recommendation.
JTD
Hmmm... wrote:
> I think everything's been covered now but just to add my
> 2c...
>
> I've
> previously
> written about the excellent SyncBack (free and pro)
> software.
>
You don't have to extol the virtues of SyncBack to me - I read your original article on Syncback when you wrote it - I've used it all over since (and right on queue it's running on my laptop as I write this) for syncing directories across networks - usually in readiness for imports into databases or for backups. It was a top recommendation.
JTD
I think everything's been covered now but just to add my 2c...
I've previously written about the excellent SyncBack (free and pro) software.
I use this myself and for a number of my clients. I can't recommend it enough! The free version does everything most people will every want.
I 'squirt' my data across numerous PC's on my network in different parts of the house as well as to an external drive - so I use this to spread the risk of failure rather than a RAID device.
I also 'sync' with a laptop so when I travel I can have an up to date version of everything with me.
It copes with incremental and full (dated cycles) and leaves the data in the same format so you can access it.
There have been some big companies in the past that were backing up religiously and got caught out when they actually tried to read the data!
For off site backups having a duplicate external drive that you can swap and store elsewhere works well for monthly backups etc.
Apart for the transfer issues I'm not sure I want to trust my data with an online backup provider.
I've previously written about the excellent SyncBack (free and pro) software.
I use this myself and for a number of my clients. I can't recommend it enough! The free version does everything most people will every want.
I 'squirt' my data across numerous PC's on my network in different parts of the house as well as to an external drive - so I use this to spread the risk of failure rather than a RAID device.
I also 'sync' with a laptop so when I travel I can have an up to date version of everything with me.
It copes with incremental and full (dated cycles) and leaves the data in the same format so you can access it.
There have been some big companies in the past that were backing up religiously and got caught out when they actually tried to read the data!
For off site backups having a duplicate external drive that you can swap and store elsewhere works well for monthly backups etc.
Apart for the transfer issues I'm not sure I want to trust my data with an online backup provider.
[s]Hmmm...[/s]
# Eccles: I like the look of the Synology DS209 . What drives do you have in yours? I'm presuming the NAS doesn't come with the drives - still not a bad price though.
# Garin: Just because I'm paraniod it doesn't mean people aren't talking about me ;o). I'm not usually THAT over cautious - but if I'm looking into a long term backup routine then I'd rather consider all the options.
I think I've already taken the inital upload hit on getting my critical files onto Mozy - so I think I'll stick with the free 2GB for that and buy a NAS for my not-so-critical stuff.
Again, thanks all for your comments.
JTD
# Garin: Just because I'm paraniod it doesn't mean people aren't talking about me ;o). I'm not usually THAT over cautious - but if I'm looking into a long term backup routine then I'd rather consider all the options.
I think I've already taken the inital upload hit on getting my critical files onto Mozy - so I think I'll stick with the free 2GB for that and buy a NAS for my not-so-critical stuff.
Again, thanks all for your comments.
JTD
Yeah, I meant D-Link, no idea why I wrote Linksys. :) I even looked at the manual to check I'd got the model number right!
If you want to be that paranoid, you could always buy a fireproof NAS. Or even a fireproof safe that has power inside (naturally heat is an issue with a safe though). That way you can come home to find your working NAS surrounded by the pile of ash that was once your house then.
The online solution is fine too in my opinion as long as you have no concerns about bandwidth usage. All I know about Mozy is that my partner works for the company that owns them (ie not alot).
If you want to be that paranoid, you could always buy a fireproof NAS. Or even a fireproof safe that has power inside (naturally heat is an issue with a safe though). That way you can come home to find your working NAS surrounded by the pile of ash that was once your house then.
The online solution is fine too in my opinion as long as you have no concerns about bandwidth usage. All I know about Mozy is that my partner works for the company that owns them (ie not alot).
I use a similar approach to Garin regarding backing stuff up at home. I have a Synology DS209 using RAID1 and holding all my media and stuff. PC's on the network put important stuff into a special share on the NAS, which then gets backed up to another Synology NAS at my father in-law's every night.
When he gets his broadband sorted out so he has a better allowance his NAS will will then also backup to mine. That way both our NAS's would have to be destroyed to loose the data. Backups over the net are encrypted, compressed and done using rsync so are incremmental, means only a small amount of data is sent every night. Apart form the initial expense this works quite well.
It's pretty easy to setup as the Synology NAS's have an excellent browser based interface. They even support network cameras to monitor your home (or your NAS just before it gets stolen!).
When he gets his broadband sorted out so he has a better allowance his NAS will will then also backup to mine. That way both our NAS's would have to be destroyed to loose the data. Backups over the net are encrypted, compressed and done using rsync so are incremmental, means only a small amount of data is sent every night. Apart form the initial expense this works quite well.
It's pretty easy to setup as the Synology NAS's have an excellent browser based interface. They even support network cameras to monitor your home (or your NAS just before it gets stolen!).
Garin wrote:
> I think it depends how much data you're backing up and how often.
I have about 34Gb - but I'm sure I could get that down to a couple hundred TB's of really important stuff.
[Edit: sorry meant Mb's)
> A typical UK broadband connection has pitiful upload speeds, so not the sort of thing you'd want to use for regular backups of
> large data in my opinion.
I was coming to that conclusion as well. I backed up 530Mb of websites and databases to Mozy (which was only 82Mb after Mozy's encoding) and that took a little over an hour.
> We've got a NAS (Linksys DNS343) setup with raid. It also
> doubles as a media & ftp server so been quite a good purchase
> for us.
My only issue with on-site backups is the potential for me to return home one day to find the local fire brigade hosing down the ashes of what was once my house and NAS - a bit pessamistic/fatalistic I know but I recon it must have happened before.
Also - did you mean a D-link DNS343? I can't find a Linksys with that model no.
I appreciate your comments.
JTD
> I think it depends how much data you're backing up and how often.
I have about 34Gb - but I'm sure I could get that down to a couple hundred TB's of really important stuff.
[Edit: sorry meant Mb's)
> A typical UK broadband connection has pitiful upload speeds, so not the sort of thing you'd want to use for regular backups of
> large data in my opinion.
I was coming to that conclusion as well. I backed up 530Mb of websites and databases to Mozy (which was only 82Mb after Mozy's encoding) and that took a little over an hour.
> We've got a NAS (Linksys DNS343) setup with raid. It also
> doubles as a media & ftp server so been quite a good purchase
> for us.
My only issue with on-site backups is the potential for me to return home one day to find the local fire brigade hosing down the ashes of what was once my house and NAS - a bit pessamistic/fatalistic I know but I recon it must have happened before.
Also - did you mean a D-link DNS343? I can't find a Linksys with that model no.
I appreciate your comments.
JTD
I use Carbonite.
Depending on the amount of data you need to backup, the initial upload takes *days*, but after that it just does changed files.
Once you log into windows it's running, in the background. You can completely forget about backing up. If you need to backup 'now', you can force a ASAP backup.
There are certain file formats it doesn't backup by default, but you can force it if needs be.
I believe you need to be active within any 30 day period or your account is deactivated.
I got a deal with windows magazine, but I think its about £35 or so a year for unlimited storage. You can also get free months with referrals.
Neil
Depending on the amount of data you need to backup, the initial upload takes *days*, but after that it just does changed files.
Once you log into windows it's running, in the background. You can completely forget about backing up. If you need to backup 'now', you can force a ASAP backup.
There are certain file formats it doesn't backup by default, but you can force it if needs be.
I believe you need to be active within any 30 day period or your account is deactivated.
I got a deal with windows magazine, but I think its about £35 or so a year for unlimited storage. You can also get free months with referrals.
Neil
I think it depends how much data you're backing up and how often. A typical UK broadband connection has pitiful upload speeds, so not the sort of thing you'd want to use for regular backups of large data in my opinion.
We've got a NAS (Linksys DNS343) setup with raid. It also doubles as a media & ftp server so been quite a good purchase for us.
We've got a NAS (Linksys DNS343) setup with raid. It also doubles as a media & ftp server so been quite a good purchase for us.
Hi All,
After an incident yesterday with my 1TB Iomega Network Drive which reduced me to cold sweats, a sleepless night and several trouser changes, I have decided I can no longer stand the strain of potentially losing all my data.
Luckily this time I got away with it (I suspect the issue was with my router no hadling the dhcp requests properly) but it's a lesson learned and I'm now prepared to actually pay for either an on-line backup service or a more robust RAIDed network drive arrangement.
I've been using Mozy's free 2GB online service for a while and it seems OK (if a little basic - no incremental or differential backups for example) but before I take the plunge and sign up for the unlimited version I'd like to canvass the opinion of the esteemed members on this forum.
Does anyone use online backup services or have any other backup arrangement they can recommend?
Any tales of woe relating to lost data would also be welcome.
Cheers
JTD
After an incident yesterday with my 1TB Iomega Network Drive which reduced me to cold sweats, a sleepless night and several trouser changes, I have decided I can no longer stand the strain of potentially losing all my data.
Luckily this time I got away with it (I suspect the issue was with my router no hadling the dhcp requests properly) but it's a lesson learned and I'm now prepared to actually pay for either an on-line backup service or a more robust RAIDed network drive arrangement.
I've been using Mozy's free 2GB online service for a while and it seems OK (if a little basic - no incremental or differential backups for example) but before I take the plunge and sign up for the unlimited version I'd like to canvass the opinion of the esteemed members on this forum.
Does anyone use online backup services or have any other backup arrangement they can recommend?
Any tales of woe relating to lost data would also be welcome.
Cheers
JTD