You don’t think of it, you don’t want to. I have hundreds of gigs of data on my network at home. I am double and triple backed up with most things, but only among computers that are here. I would rather not even jinx myself by saying “What if I had a house fire?” So let’s go much more realistic and common, “What if a meteor hit my house? Well, I would be screwed. Insurance would replace my computers and music gear, but I have 70GB+ of photos I would never get back.
Currently all of the PCs in the house backup nightly to our Windows Home Server. A company had recently been asking me to try their product and I finally got around to it for this exact purpose. The tool is called Cloudberry and it’s a backup solution for Windows Home Server. Used in conjunction with Amazon’s S3 service, it makes for a pretty simple, worry free, offsite backup solution.
Cloudberry makes a variety of backup tools, but the one I focused on is Cloudberry Backup for Windows Home Server. Once this Windows Home Server add-in is installed, you click the file shares you want to include in your backup, give it your Amazon credentials, and define when you want the backup to go and how much of your bandwidth it can use.
Bandwidth restriction is pretty important if you don’t want the tool to crush your internet connection when it does larger backups. Cloudberry advertises it’s features as:
I can vouch for the ease of installation and setup, as well as the integration with WHS. Most apps get a settings panel where CloudBerry shows up as a top tier panel item.
So far I am very pleased with the service. It’s one I sincerely hope to never need to use, but for a $30 program and a few bucks a month, it’s nice to know that all of my photographic memories are safe and sound with Amazon.
There is a 30 day trial if you want to give it a shot and Amazon is offering free initial uploads until July. If you have a Windows Home Server and some files you just cannot afford to lose, it’s some pretty inexpensive peace of mind.
Tweet
So I know everyone doesn’t have the option, but knowing yours and my history, I figured you’d have a nice ftp set up somewhere for this. There are numerous free programs that would do an incremental FTP backup. Granted, in my business, I search vehemently for cost savings and maybe a few $/month isn’t a big deal, but I could easily backup to the FTP for free. Am I just taking for granted thef FTP storage space I have access to? They may not be the best for imaging, but backing up photos and music works great.
I think SOS Online Backup is pretty good for Home users or Small Businesses:
# Unlimited versions of one file,
# Unlimited number of computers on one account,
# No archive deleted, ever.
# Local and online backup,
# Heavy duty encryption,
Also:
# Data is also accessible worldwide via a web browser,
# Continuous data protection with “Live Protect”,
# Backup files even while they are in use,
# Share files simply,
Plus:
Great support when you have questions.
It is not free. But how much is a business’s data worth?
i’ve used remote data backups (http://www.remotedatabackups.com) for years, and recovered my entire drive a couple times no problem. Free trial, free 24/7 phone support, mirrored underground data centers. Solid protection for business data.
I’ve had a major problem in the past where I’ve had to format my hard drive. Luckily it wasn’t so bad that I couldn’t back up my data first. I wouldn’t say I have a huge amount of data but the though of losing my photos does bother me.
I usually back up the important stuff on a USB drive. I also put some of the most important stuff on dropbox, which is free up to 2 gigs I think.
I am a telecommuter and write articles on the weekends for extra cash. We have 4 computers in the house and each is responsible for it’s own backup. Backing up to a server in the home makes great sense, but I never felt I could justify the exense of a server for home.
I now see I may not have a choice and should consider installing a server if for no other reason than for backups. I was not aware of the Cloudberry product – will watch your site for more news on the subject.
Thanks. Josh Tanner
Sophie , thanks for your tipp
There not such thing as install it and forget it when it comes to remote backup. Thats why you have to monitor the backup from the server and storage side to make sure all is well.