Tech Planning

Re: RE: Offsite Data Back-up

Jesse — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 18:22:14 GMT

Here is a rather thorough list of online backup services

Re: RE: Offsite Data Back-up

mfitzgerald — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 01:45:47 GMT

Another option: I'm running online backup for 5 computers through Data Deposit Box. They charge by storage rather than through computer licenses. The rates are $2/GB. I like it because I can access and share (with a password protection option) files through their website, all the data is encrypted, you can configure multiple version backup if you like, and it can do real-time backup as you work. The last feature is particularly important for getting other people in the office to use it. Basically, they don't even know it's there and that's the way they like it.

RE: Offsite Data Back-up

mjtoombs — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 23:21:00 GMT

I'm using a different alternative than the ones mentioned here, so I figured it might be useful for people to know there are options.

We have more than 30 locations and so offsite backup for 29 of them can be to the 30th site and that's what we do. We bought a software package and installed it on a computer with an extra hard drive. We are now running daily backups which we keep for 65 days from more than 40 computers and servers. We've been using it for a couple years now and it's been great.

It won't do bare metal but it does what we need. I like the fact that we possess the backups, but also that we can see on a continuing basis exactly what is happening. The new version of the software (I haven't tried it yet) allows Continuous backups.

It also has a laptop setting. If a laptop is turned on but the Internet is not available, it runs the backup, spooling the compressed and encrypted files to a cache, and then the next time the laptop sees the Internet the backup is sent to the server.

There are other packages out there you can buy that do the same thing, but I don't think any are less expensive. See ahsay.com for more.

RE: Offsite Data Back-up

shipley.c — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:31:00 GMT

I've done zero-byting with Windows before. There are pay for products, and shareware, and maybe even open source.... but I like using the Sysinternals method.

When I used g4u in the past, it was on much smaller partitions and drives than you mention. I was backing up to an FTP server. According to the g4u website, he says if your network connection is slow its your fault, not his (hehe) and that you probably are not using full duplex, full speed enabled drivers in your g4u distribution. But I didn't know how to go about finding my own drivers for the cheap network cards my clients use.

RE: Offsite Data Back-up

kevinpclo — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:48:00 GMT

As Chris noted you set the compression level and G4u does the rest. I should clarify by saying that my drive is quite clean when I do the backup, and was done pretty much right after I got my server setup with the settings I needed. Of the 80 GB i probably didn't have more than 20 GB of data, and the rest of the space is also completely empty. The documentation on the site suggests zero-byting the empty space to achieve better compression.

-Kevin

RE: Offsite Data Back-up

shipley.c — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:48:00 GMT

In the command-line options for g4u, you can tell it which level of gzip compression to use. Personally, I don't like g4u because I've never been able to make it fast. CloneZilla is fast, though. And also compresses on the fly to a level you set.

RE: Offsite Data Back-up

dwelp — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 19:15:00 GMT

Kevin,

Did the G4u perform the gzip on the image or did you have to manually zip the image to reduce the size?

Would you obtain that dramatic amount of image compression if there was allot of deleted files and other garbage in the unallocated and slack space on the drive?

One of the reasons I've passed on G4u was the full drive size image file created.

Dave

RE: Offsite Data Back-up

kevinpclo — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:01:00 GMT

I do bare-metal backup using G4u, which can be uploaded to any FTP server, which I guess can be offsite. It is quite fast and easy to use. In fact I recently had to restore a 80 GB hard-drive's image of a server (gzipped to 6 GB) to a new 250 GB HD. It appeared as a partition in the new drive, and everything worked as expected. In my case the FTP was internal so YMMV.

-Kevin

RE: Offsite Data Back-up

shipley.c — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:05:00 GMT

I don't have any suggestions for a bare-metal backup offsite - except for making your own bare metal backup file that you can then upload, but that is only updated when you manually update. Anyone else research this? I rarely do bare metal backups myself. I find that when I have to restore, its on different hardware usually and I have to reinstall the OS anyway.

RE: Offsite Data Back-up

jwelcker — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:04:00 GMT

We have three servers to back-up (file, exchange & art collection). But I want an off-site back-up that will also do a bare-metal back-up. Any suggestions?

RE: Offsite Data Back-up

shipley.c — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:52:00 GMT

I've evaluated Carbonite, JungleDisk and Mozy. I've settled on Mozy for my needs. The Pro version allows you to backup MS Exchange, MS SQL, System State and regular files. I like the configuration options. I like the encryption options. And I prefer it over JungleDisk because it doesn't have a single file-size limitation of 5GB - my Exchange database is larger. Also JungleDisk doesn't use VSS to backup the Exchange or SQL files, so they have to backup the full file each time you schedule a backup, and if they are large in size (over GB), that takes too long.

So I've decided that JungleDisk, Mozy or Carbonite are all great for smaller offices and homes. Carbonite and Mozy are probably easier to setup for a regular user. Mozy is best for businesses that have a little more need.

califpoppy: as for whether or not any product mentioned here works well on computers that are off for days at a time... I think you'd need to explain your question a bit more. IF a computer is off, and it was recently backed up off site, there would be no change to its backup set when it was first turned on. I'm going to hazard a guess to answer your question as yes - they work fine, so long as the computers in question were fully backed up before being turned off for whatever period of time they are off for.

RE: Offsite Data Back-up

califpoppy — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 20:29:00 GMT

Dmitry,

Thanks for the helpful recommendations. Both look very interesting. Do you know if their solutions work on computers that are often turned off for several days at a time?

Margaret

RE: Offsite Data Back-up

ChiefApricot — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:09:00 GMT

I have used and recommend these options:
Mozy
JungleDisk

RE: Offsite Data Back-up

kevinpclo — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 22:08:00 GMT

Symantec has a fairly affordable solution, Symantec Protection Network, that is highly scaleable and targeted for small-medium businesses mostly. . There are both onsite/off-site components to suit your needs, so that it's customizable for different environments. Check it out here

-Kevin

RE: Offsite Data Back-up

scubagoil21 — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:55:00 GMT

We have recently been testing an off-site backup company called "Off Site Backup Solutions" and have been very happy with the service - so happy that we have just signed a contract with them.

I found their prices to be very reasonable. They charge for the amount of data you are backing up, but they also compress your data which saves money each month! They are compatible with Microsoft and you can also backup your Exchange server.

http://offsitebackupsolutions.com

Karen Robinson
The Carolinas Center for Hospice and End of Life Care