What do you use for off-site backup?

[felixrosbergen]

Gents,

I'd like to know what you guys use for off-site backup.

My server gets backed up nightly to a 2nd drive in the same server so deal with any drive failures or deleted files. The production drive is Raid 1 to begin with as well.

Currently i've been making irregular back-ups (once every few months) to a USB 1TB drive. My plan was to take this drive it put it in my safe deposit box in the bank...but i havent made it out there yet.

So the physical drive in the safebox doesnt seem like a very practical solution, i'm just too lazy.

What other solution are you guys using? I don't mind paying..say up to $50-100 per year or so for the service (actually sounds like a lot)..but it needs to be a very reputable company that i can rely on to be around for a very long time.

I've considered just upgrading my DropBox account to something bigger, but security on that seems not so sure. Currently i have some of my important stuff on there to allow it to synch between server and my laptop, but it's all in a TruCrypt containers so i feel it's reasonably secure.

Any experiences/suggestions?

 

[personalt]

I use a dlink ds321that I keep at parents house.it has built in ftp server.i use syncback se to sync.

Considering I sync dvd library this was cheapest way

 

[WayneW]

No personal experience, but these may be options for some people.
http://www.sentrysafe.com/Products/278/QE5541_FIRE-SAFE
http://www.hddfiresafe.com/

 

[fabriziojoe]

I have a crashplan server setup at a remote location and point my backups to that.
In addition, I also use Mozy and MobileMe. 4 Times a year I make bootable images with the following:

Mac: ChronoSync
Win: Acronis or Ghost

I invested in a 4 bay drobo with 4, 2TB drives with dual disk redundancy, basically a raid6.

It is not a matter of if something will fail, but when.

Just because you back something up does not mean it is any good.
You need to test your restores on a non-production box to make sure everything is working.
There is nothing like a system crashing and then finding out that the backups you have been doing for the last year are no good.

 

[Ira]

Was using Quicken online backup (ironmountain.com "behind the scenes") but recently switched to idrive.com because it supports network drives. You can use their "Basic" (i.e., free) plan to backup up to 2GB of backup storage for free. Above that, it's $5/mo for 150GB per PC or $15/mo for 500GB (total) from up to five PC's.

 

[roussell]

Back Blaze is only $5/month for unlimited storage and they also backup external drives. I don't use them but I've been looking at them for a while and will likely start using them soon...

Terry

 

[Kevin L]

Was using Quicken online backup (ironmountain.com "behind the scenes") but recently switched to idrive.com because it supports network drives. You can use their "Basic" (i.e., free) plan to backup up to 2GB of backup storage for free. Above that, it's $5/mo for 150GB per PC or $15/mo for 500GB (total) from up to five PC's.

+1

I use the 150GB plan. The backup from network drives was the big selling point for me. I backup important data and non-multimedia files to idrive. For photos and irreplaceable multimedia, they are on a RAID-1 NAS. That NAS is then backed up nightly to a RAID-5 NAS. Other multimedia files are on a RAID-1 NAS that I don't back up since they are on CDs, DVDs, or otherwise easily replaceable or not important.

For security, I have and M1G, cameras all around, and all servers and AV equipment (except for TVs) are in a central closet in the laundry room. But just in case someone got in and found the room, I've located all the NAS units in the attic. Not likely they'd find them, too.

HTH,

Kevin

 

[Photon]

For security, I have and M1G, cameras all around, and all servers and AV equipment (except for TVs) are in a central closet in the laundry room. But just in case someone got in and found the room, I've located all the NAS units in the attic. Not likely they'd find them, too.

HTH,

Kevin

You live in south Florida and keep active electronics in your attic? What make/model NAS boxes are you using? How long have they been working up there? If they pass that kind of torture test for any amount of time, they should last forever in my cool, dry Wisconsin basement.

Regards. . . . John

 

[Kevin L]

Hi, John.

Yea, in SWFL attics normally would be a terrible place to keep electronics. However, when I built my home I used Icynene insulation in an unvented attic. On the hottest, sunniest of days, my attic doesn't get warmer than ten degrees higher than the living space. Since the warmest I set the house is 82 (when we're out, otherwise it's 77-78), that means the attic gets no hotter than 92. Without being vented to the outside (a no-no with Icynene), the humidity is manageable, too, but that's not as big a deal since the equipment's always on. It's warm up there, but not the 130+ I'd get in the attic in my old house.

I have four NAS units up there: a Netgear ReadyNAS NV+ (with four 750GB drives in RAID-5), two D-Link DNS-323s (one with two 1TB drives in RAID-1, the other with two 1.5TB in RAID-1), and a Buffalo unit I don't remember the specs offhand.

Kevin

 

[Neurorad]

Great thread. I'd love to keep a backup server at a neighbor's/friend's house.

Looks like that StorCase DS321 isn't an option, out of business.

Off the shelf solution would be fantastic for this.

 

[opie]

I have been using BlackBlaze for a few months. The initial back-up takes forever if you have a lot of data, however, there is a setting to make it go faster if bandwidth is not a concern. The ability to back-up external drives was the driving factor for me.

 

[apostolakisl]

I have VPN modem at home and at the office and have the two networks merged into one. Then I have a synchronizing program that syncs my office server files with the home server files every night. This way, if I have ever have a server failure at the office for any reason (not just hard drive failure), I can run off of my server at home which I set up with the same applications. Plus I create an image of the office servers hard drive once a month and store that in a safety deposit box. Also I have a 3 drive raid configuration at the office.

 

[personalt]

Great thread. I'd love to keep a backup server at a neighbor's/friend's house.

Looks like that StorCase DS321 isn't an option, out of business.

Off the shelf solution would be fantastic for this.

the box I use is actually this one
http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=509

it has a small linux kernel that run a FTP server. There are some guys that hacked the kernal to make it do some other stuff but for me the FTP is fine.

 

[felixrosbergen]

So this IDrive solution..has it been around for a long time? Definetely want a reputable company for something like this.

Do you still encrypt your stuff or don't worry about it? I think i'll still keep financials and such in an encrypted container (TrueCrypt) but not worry about the family pics and such.

And how would you guys think the IDrive thing differs from a larger DropBox account? Wouldnt they sort of do the same thing?

 

[Kevin L]

I've had my idrive account since October. It's worked without a hitch. Other than my quicken file, nothing's been encrypted especially for idrive.