Home computers and backup

[oj88]

How many computers (desktop, laptop, notebook, netbook, etc) do you have at home and what's your backup strategy?

[ghosthunter]

I have a total of five computers. Three desktops and two netbooks.

Backup strategy at home? Important files copied to external drive.

But I am planning a new game PC (to replace my ancient one) that would have built-in hard-disk mirroring so the entire system is backed up automatically on a 2nd HDD in case the primary drive crashes.

[Jun aka Pekto]

At home? The current lineup is 3 desktop PCs and 3 laptops (1 of each for me, the wife, and the kid) plus 2 Mac Minis (mine and the kid's).

Backup strategy? I keep all important files, photos, documents, software/patches/updates on all external hard drives plus the 3rd hard drive on my PC.

I don't backup my Windows install. In case something happens, I rather do a fresh install.

[jimnyeatworld]

3 laptops

backup strategy : acronis trueimage

[ptk675]

4 laptops. i used to struggle with duplicated files since I switch laptops fairly often (whichever one is within reach). specially a problem when the wife asks me to whip up a document NOW and I happen to be on a different laptop than the last time she asked me for something.

Now everything is stored on an external drive + a backup copy is stored in my Live SkyDrive account.

[oj88]

Ok, the reason I asked is that I'm curious as to what you guys are doing. The number of computers in our home is increasing to a point that using an external HDD as backup is most likely impractical. And being the only IT guy in the family, I'm the go-to guy for any computer-related problems. So it's just natural that I think up creative ways on how to make my life a bit easier. First on the list for me is to automate backups among all computers at home.

To put things into perspective, we have a total of 3 desktops and 7 laptops. (Don't ask... big family).

Just to share, I've been considering the MS Windows Home Server (WHS) platform for a while and it seems to address my needs. Particularly of interest to me is the drive extender; You just keep adding HDDs and WHS will automatically add it to the storage pool and present it to the user as one logical storage unit. So I can buy a motherboard with six SATA ports which could potentially yield 12TB of available storage (2TB x 6). That will take care of scalability for the next several years.

WHS v1 is based on Win2k3, which is needless to say, a bit outdated. WHS v2 (Code name "Vail") however, is still on public beta. Nevertheless, I'm downloading it right now . Gonna buy the hardware maybe tomorrow and put in 1 or 2 2TB HDDs as a start. You think it might be a good idea to use "Green" drives? I am planning to leave this server running 24x7.

I'll keep you guys posted on this build.

[ptk675]

That should work pretty well. I have a win2003 domain running in my parent's house (4 desktops + 3 laptops) and used it for the same purpose when I still lived there. but i've since gotten married and moved out. getting VPN going between my house and theirs is too much of a chore just so I can keep syncing my files there (im lazy :D) so i just went with the external drive. for now its still manageable.

Let us know how it goes with WHSv2 i might consider that in the future as well. was thinking of setting up my own domain at home too so I can setup GPOs and stuff to manage my home network and get everything organized.

[ghosthunter]

My suggestion:

A simple file server with a SATA based RAID1 (mirror) HDD setup would be enough for most people to store their data safely.

Maybe two 1TB HDDs should provide enough storage for years.

[roninblade]

maybe two 1TB hdds should provide enough storage for years.

ftfy






.

[jimnyeatworld]

Ok, the reason I asked is that I'm curious as to what you guys are doing. The number of computers in our home is increasing to a point that using an external HDD as backup is most likely impractical. And being the only IT guy in the family, I'm the go-to guy for any computer-related problems. So it's just natural that I think up creative ways on how to make my life a bit easier. First on the list for me is to automate backups among all computers at home.

To put things into perspective, we have a total of 3 desktops and 7 laptops. (Don't ask... big family).

Just to share, I've been considering the MS Windows Home Server (WHS) platform for a while and it seems to address my needs. Particularly of interest to me is the drive extender; You just keep adding HDDs and WHS will automatically add it to the storage pool and present it to the user as one logical storage unit. So I can buy a motherboard with six SATA ports which could potentially yield 12TB of available storage (2TB x 6). That will take care of scalability for the next several years.

WHS v1 is based on Win2k3, which is needless to say, a bit outdated. WHS v2 (Code name "Vail") however, is still on public beta. Nevertheless, I'm downloading it right now . Gonna buy the hardware maybe tomorrow and put in 1 or 2 2TB HDDs as a start. You think it might be a good idea to use "Green" drives? I am planning to leave this server running 24x7.

I'll keep you guys posted on this build.

grabeh sino ba pamilya mo the jetsons

[oj88]

grabeh sino ba pamilya mo the jetsons

Kulang pa pala... I forgot the HTPC running Windows Media Center in the living room.

Ganun talaga.... ever since nagkaroon ng sub-20k na netbook, nagbilihan na sila.

[Javoy]

Maganda rin na may offsite na backup. Mahirap ng mawala ang mga important documents and mga pictures and videos...