After a scare last week, I have been looking into backing up all of my data. I currently have multiple pc's that actively (rarely simultaneously) access my data, both at home and remotely(eventually).

My current setup is:
---1 HTPC with 2x1.5 TB. Currently, all other computers access remotely or on the same network. The computer case doesn't allow for more than 2x hdd's and is on a wireless connection.
---1 Gaming PC in my bedroom that constantly streams data from PC #1 and is hard wired into the router. I would like to avoid other pc's accessing this.
---Other PCs that access the data wirelessly.

My data isn't time sensitive in that I would only need to have a backup every week or so.

My problem is two-fold: I need more space and I need to start backing up data. And this needs to be cheap.

My first thought was to move the data off of the HTPC and onto a NAS that would be hardwired into the router. From there, I would try to run the discs not in RAID 1, but copy the most valuable data on an attached, unshared drive.

The second, to piece together a cheap PC (with many SATA ports) and use it as a server.

I know very little about NAS and am open to all suggestions.

9/18/2009 12:11:40 AM

get a drobo!

9/18/2009 12:18:35 AM

OK

Here's what I do

I have a 1TB western digital NAS, and it's awesome. It runs linux and you can hax the shit out of it if you want. Anyway, that's not the point. The NAS is data-central at my house. All music, documents folders, etc, point at the NAS.

Then, I bought a 2 year subscription to Mozy (home). Mozy isn't supposed to let you back up from a network share unless you have the server account which is retardedly expensive if you are not a small business, but you can do it anyway if you fuck with the windows registry on the computer running mozy. I think the deal was like $5/month for 2 years paid up front, plus some deals I got - I don't know, it was like $90 total.

So that's that. Plus, because my router and NAS are basically running shitty embedded linux, I have an ssh tunnel from work to home that lets me encrypt and send my browser traffic through my network, mount my NAS as a drive or access it as a windows share, and rsync work to and from my home network. It's pretty great.

Anyway, first step? Get a western digital NAS. Get the best deal you can. Some come with 2 HDDs that run RAID 1 or something. That would be better if you don't have an online backup solution.

9/18/2009 12:24:30 AM

I have a linux box I use as a file server. It has a normally unmounted drive as a backup drive. I wrote a script that mounts the drive, runs copydir, and unmounts the drive every day at 2 am.

I also use the same linux box as a lamp server, so that's a plus for me (over a dedicated NAS, though I think there are some out that include web servers and whatnot). Similar to dakota_man, I frequently connect to my home network using ssh tunnels to the linux box.

A disadvantage over a remote solution like Moxy is that if anything happens to the box as a whole or to my home, I still lose everything. I'm still not 100% comfortable with the online backup services. Every month or two I back things up to an external drive that normally sits in my desk at work.

9/18/2009 9:33:21 AM

I can't say enough good things about my new router. If you want something super simple get one of these at target (cheapest I found)
http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=459640

9/18/2009 10:57:01 AM

if you wanna get REAL slick, plug one of these into the N+
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=103&cp_id=10315&cs_id=1031502&p_id=5331&seq=1&format=2

9/18/2009 10:57:48 AM

Exactly how does Mozy let you back up a 2TB NAS?

Or are we just talking about only backing up important information? How do you define important information?

9/18/2009 11:43:38 AM

Quote :

"I can't say enough good things about my new router. If you want something super simple get one of these at target (cheapest I found) http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=459640"

Every Belkin product I've ever used has died after 6-7 months of use.

So have fun with that one.

9/18/2009 12:06:39 PM

i

9/18/2009 12:10:44 PM

Quote :

"Exactly how does Mozy let you back up a 2TB NAS?"

It takes a while, don't get me wrong, and my drive isn't even close to full, but with dd-wrt you can make mozy "bulk" priority and then just let it go to town without screwing up your internet usage while its working.

9/18/2009 12:13:41 PM

the board is used by many brands. it's supported by openwrt and soon dd-wrt. aetheros board with a belkin box and psu. are the belkin applied leds going to catch fire or something?

9/18/2009 12:16:50 PM

Why are NAS systems so expensive? I thought that I could get a 4bay system and just plug in my own HDD's for ~100

9/18/2009 4:26:49 PM

they're mini-servers

ReadyNAS is also a really good entry

9/18/2009 4:39:54 PM

^^you can. but they're also piece of shit from China.

9/18/2009 4:41:01 PM

Let me ask a question ... how much of that data is considered "mission critical" to backup? There's the "oh crap I lost some stuff on my media server" and there's the "oh crap I lost my last 10 years in tax returns and all my other financial stuff".

Even at work, very rarely are entirely hard drives backed up. Typically a select few folders (My Documents) with data in it. I truly don't think "cheap" and "massive storage" go together usually. Figure out what's really needed, and you could easily do a 1TB drive that would likely cover it.

9/18/2009 7:22:54 PM

None of it is mission critical. I'm running out of space pretty quick and I need to add another TB or two. My HTPC case only has enough space for 2x drives and I thought this would be the best time to start worrying about backup.

I figured that I could get a cheap NAS with 6x hdd bays and just run a 3x2x1.5TB Raid 1.

9/18/2009 8:41:57 PM

htpc?

fucking delete your shit pirated movies and tranny pr0n collection and be concerned with your data that actually matters

9/18/2009 8:43:30 PM

rawrawrawr

9/18/2009 8:55:06 PM