OT: backing up PC data

I've been using Squirrelsave for several years, but have just had an email sayng that they are stopping the service. Has anyone any recommendations for backup services?

Reply to
nomail
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I just use Time Machine.

Reply to
Tim Streater

Dropbox. Just back up the bits you need to.

Bill

Reply to
Bill Wright

I use Dropbox for some things but would prefer a way to automatically backup files when they are created or edited

Reply to
nomail

AFAIK there isn't a version for Windows ... ?

Reply to
nomail

Well - there it is.

Reply to
Tim Streater

Windows 8 and 10 have 'File History' which is apparently similar.

Theo

Reply to
Theo

tarsnap is good - really meant for UNIX but OK if you insztall cygwin on Windows.

It backs up everything every time - but it deduplicates and compresses so in effect all you back up is compressed new stuff. And your backups are encrypted.

Reply to
Bob Eager

So, what then is the interface available to restore a file named X from a backup taken say middle of last january?

Reply to
Tim Streater

I've had many recommendations for Crashplan so have downloaded it for a

30 day trial before paying. The interface looks quite good but it's going to take a long time to do the initial backup over my slow rural broadband.
Reply to
nomail

I use surplus hard drives. Plug in, boot into CD Linux, drag from /mount/ide0 to /mount/ide1 (or summut). Shut down, place hard drive in bookcase.

Reply to
jgh

For kid's Windows PC, it gets liveCD booted into Solaris every couple of weeks, and the disk copied across network to a ZFS zvol, and snapshot. That way, I have a snapshot of it every couple of weeks.

I have exported this back to the system over iSCSI just to make sure it can mount and read the filesystem OK, and that works for getting single files back. To restore the whole system, I would copy the whole disk back from latest snapshot, but that hasn't been required as yet.

Did have to put a real Intel NIC in the Windows machine to get full gigabit performance - the embedded Realtek Gigabit chipset couldn't achieve a gigabit over the LAN.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

We have that solution, automatically and on every PC in the house and I have used it in earnest at least two times (hard drive failure) and

40 or so minutes after replacing the drive the PC was back up exactly as it was around lunchtime the day before. It's been running 2323 days and apparently, it going to sleep when not needed has saved 451 kg of C02 so far. ;-)

Here it's via Windows Home Server V1 but a few other places I've helped are using WHS V 2011 (or V2 and the last unfortunately).

Mine runs on a near silent quad core Atom / 40W (full load) PC I built for the purpose and it goes to sleep (4W) as the last PC shuts down and wakes as the first PC is turned on.

If this (or something like it) could be made available today, with a generic client machine network boot / recovery CD (as with WHS) then I really believe it would be the very thing 'most people' would consider (Once they were aware of it of course). It's the Windows version of Apples Time machine (I'm not sure there is such a turn-key solution on Linux)?

And it's not just for that ... you can use it as a real server (they sit on Windows Server 2003 and 2008 respectively) and you can recover a complete PC from bare iron or a single file (over whatever period you select in the backup schedule) if that's all you want. The whole server (including the client backups) can also automatically back itself up (onto an internal or external device, and again with a simple boot disk recovery solution).

Maybe there are some NAS's that do offer the same sort of flexible but user friendly solution?

Cheers, T i m

Reply to
T i m

I want off-site backup and don't trust myself to be disciplined enough to maintain a rotating physical backup system - a cloud service means it happens automagically and is also off site.

Reply to
nomail

What I do is maintain a server with twin disks and mirror one to the oether every night automaticakllkyl.

All imortant data is on that server, so the loss of a client desktop is not even more than an irritation.

Since I only add at best a couple of Gbytes of video in a day, and use rsync to back up, not much data gets transfrred. However even a couple of GB on my current upload (448kpbs) is too mnuch for offsite backup.

And I would not want my data held in someone elses cloud.

The deskltop and laptop clients are also backed up to the server, but manually and occasionally.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

A solution to that that has worked very well for my niece is a 'Clickfree' USB drive (I don't think they are available any more but I'm sure there are alternatives).

When she visits her parents (with her laptop) she just plugs the drive in, the software runs and backs up any new / changed files.

She unplugs the drive and puts it back in a draw. ;-)

Ok, it's not a daily backup as such but at least she does it!

Cheers, T i m

Reply to
T i m

Have you got the server in the same building as the clients? If so, what about fire or flood? This conversation has got me thinking (shock!) The house I've recently moved to has several outbuildings with power (currently overhead feeds, but that will change) so I could run a backup server in one of those sheds.

Reply to
nomail

And is it on a UPS?

On a UPS. ;-)

A UPS is a core part of the installations I have done for friends and family, if it was appropriate, also smaller UPS's on the workstations (all running APCUPSD, triggered by the server APCUPSD service).

The workstations shut down very quickly and the server when the UPS power is at 50%. The router / switches are also run off the UPS's of course. ;-)

Emails are often running IMAP so often in the cloud anyway, recent photographs will still be on your phone (anyway) or distributed amongst your friends and family and you can use the likes of Dropbox for any other important stuff.

A blueray disk will also store 50GB of stuff, if you want along with pen / external drives.

What do they say, 'if you don't have your data in at least 3 places, you don't have it at all'?

Cheers, T i m

Reply to
T i m

Flood no problem. Doesn't flood here and its upstairs.

Fire? It would be teh ONE thing I would grab.

Run some gigabit and yes.

In the absence of high speed backup off site, a boring box in a dusty corner that holds everything important TWICE, is as good as it gets.

I've replaced a disk twice now

With almost zero hassle.

Its on its third operating system and second motherboard.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

I use a raspberry pi, hard disk and rsync to backup the files on my home server. I've often thought of moving it to my parents' or sister's house

- backups are incremental, so not too much data to move, but I'd need to physically collect it if I needed to restore 'cos it'd take forever at the available upload speed from either house.

SteveW

Reply to
Steve Walker

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