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Thread ID: 98310	2009-03-19 18:44:00	BACKUP, Backup, Backup your PC	pctek (84)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
757905	2009-03-20 06:20:00	Good advice Pctek. Is online backup the best option, and does anyone have any suggestions? If its in the same building then both computers must be at risk from fire or theft. It doesn't matter too much which method you prefer, so long as you DO IT. I just use external drives, and occasionally I stick stuff on DVDs. But the DVDs I don't trust as much...... I have 3 drives for extra paranoia - can't see all 3 having a problem at the same time....... Wainuitechs method is very handy once its set up but I'm stuffed if I can be bothered having a server for backups - overkill for me. Yes there is the fire problem, same with backup tapes and servers though - just keep one or more copies off-site. Even if that means in the shed. However, in case of fire the first thing I'd grab is the pets, the second would be my portable drive. Stuff everything else........	pctek (84)
757906	2009-03-20 06:30:00	I have 2 idenitical HDD non-RAID . I use Syncback . I back up 1st HDD to the 2nd drive and vice versa, I have partitions split up so one is active OS and the other can be storage . I also have a external HDD . Held offsite .	Nomad (952)
757907	2009-03-20 06:32:00	Windows Home Server is built from Server 2003, with a lot of the guff removed - its made a lot simpler for home users . There is remote access to your PC's from any where in the world, as long as the PC supports it . You can log into the server from any web browser and get files that are there - sharing is childs play along with the permissions as to who is allowed what . With the backups, if your PC HDD dies, its a simple matter of chucking in another drive and from the bootable CD you get imaging it back over the LAN . Had to do it several times due to HDD failures, mine takes around 20-30 minutes, every thing is back as if nothing had happened . The only data you lose is from the last backup, in my case it's set to backup from 8 pm, but for some reason it always runs from 7pm, must be daylight saving time wrong . I have put in WHS software in several small places, usually with 6-8 staff (10 accounts max) and they dont even know that they are actually working from the server, as thats where the daily documents are . The good thing is I connect and Via the remote account do off site backups of all their data - simply copy it to my own servers . From Pcteks reply It doesn't matter too much which method you prefer, so long as you DO IT OHHHHH yeah - its amazing how many times you tell someone to do regular backups, they dont- then somwething happens and all hell breaks loose . Then its YOUR fault because their PC had problems and the poor Tech cant recover the data . Sometimes its only when the PC is suddenly gone - even a day or so for repairs that they think about it - but soon forget once its back - until next time . I have actually had a few people call me months later asking if I still had the copy of their original drive (I always copy the drive so I DONT lose anything) when fixing - because they deleted something and had not backed it up - longest time was just over a year - the guy got quite ****ty when I said I dont keep the data - he asked why - and I said its his data, and if you want me to store it then it will cost you the price of a replacement drive .	wainuitech (129)
757908	2009-03-20 07:15:00	FreeNAS does all of that too. Might try WHS, sounds good:thumbs: have you tried imaging through wireless? Wondering if mines a tab slow... Mine is connected through wireless(since my router's downstairs and repeaters in parents room), and it takes about an hr, with W/L g Might try Wireless N when I have a bit of spare money to see if it speeds up a bit more Blam	Blam (54)
757909	2009-03-20 07:18:00	FreeNAS does all of that too. Might try WHS, sounds good:thumbs: have you tried imaging through wireless? Wondering if mines a tab slow... Mine is connected through wireless(since my router's downstairs and repeaters in parents room), and it takes about an hr, with W/L g Might try Wireless N when I have a bit of spare money to see if it speeds up a bit more Blam FreeNAS doesn't let you do it transparently with the OS still running - that's one of the major selling points of the WHS backup tool. For online backup, I beta-tested this product/service (http://rightbyte.co.nz/) while it was still being developed. It's good - basic, but does the job.	somebody (208)
757910	2009-03-20 07:34:00	What do you mean by transparently?	Blam (54)
757911	2009-03-20 07:59:00	What do you mean by transparently? If I recall correctly, FreeNAS requires you to boot to a special environment to do an image backup of the OS drive. WHS lets you do this while the system is running, and just runs as a process in the background.	somebody (208)
757912	2009-03-20 08:27:00	Heres basically how WHS does its backups. The first / Original backup always takes the longest, it has to copy the whole PC, future backups are altered added/removed from the original- thats where its rearranging the data ( read on about that) Then at the times you set it to back up down in the Icon tray , when every thing is Normal / OK you will see a little green "house" As Shown Here (www.imagef1.net.nz) - 4 minutes before a backup starts- you get a small pop up saying "a backup will begin shortly" the "house turns Blue and for a second you get This message (www.imagef1.net.nz), if you open the window you can see Teh server checking as to whats been changed (www.imagef1.net.nz) it then rearranges the data on the server As shown (www.imagef1.net.nz) - then Sends the data (www.imagef1.net.nz) when finished the "house turns Green - all done. Normally you wont see all those messages, just the one saying a back up will begin soon - then when finished for a few seconds one saying its finished. AND as you can see it did it while I was typing this out - most of the time you dont even know its doing it - the PC may slow ever so slightly while the server checks but normally I dont even notice it. normal backup 1-2 minutes max.	wainuitech (129)
757913	2009-03-20 08:36:00	Looks good. Easier than Hot Imaging to a networked drive with DriveImageXML. Do you happen to have another WHS key?:p	Blam (54)
757914	2009-03-20 08:37:00	Looks good. Easier than Hot Imaging to a networked drive with DriveImageXML. Do you happen to have another WHS key?:p You could buy a copy from wainuitech - he's a reseller.... :p	somebody (208)
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