Backing up a PC to a server?

[RocketFoot]

Does anyone know a good way to be able to back up my PC and all it's applications to a remote server? I though I saw a way to do a complete dump to a server and be able to restore it easily one time, but now I can't find how to do it!

[Kaos]

Does anyone know a good way to be able to back up my PC and all it's applications to a remote server? I though I saw a way to do a complete dump to a server and be able to restore it easily one time, but now I can't find how to do it!

You could create an Image of your system - given that your network is reliable enough and your server has the storage. I used to do this with test machines often at a company I worked at. I kept images on the NAS of different environments and then used a boot disc to load the images.

Norton Ghost etc can do this for you - even to DVD.

Acronis has a great product for this as well.

Linux solutions for those more technically inclined (this is my solution - dd) but if this were you...you wouldnt be here asking. One of the first two solutions should serve you well.

[LittleRedToyota]

are you looking for something beyond just the regular windows backup utility (start menu|programs|accessories|system tools|backup)?

that's what i use to backup my workstation to our server. works fine. (just make sure you check off all of your local disks and "system state".)

but you can try something like norton ghost if you want to actually image the disk.

[andrewjs18]

You could create an Image of your system - given that your network is reliable enough and your server has the storage. I used to do this with test machines often at a company I worked at. I kept images on the NAS of different environments and then used a boot disc to load the images.

Norton Ghost etc can do this for you - even to DVD.

Acronis has a great product for this as well.

Linux solutions for those more technically inclined (this is my solution - dd) but if this were you...you wouldnt be here asking. One of the first two solutions should serve you well.

I agree...or you could set up a RIS box and remotely install them onto your pcs but that could seriously bottleneck your network.

[dc dalton]

Backing up that way can really lead to a boatload of problems, I'd have to agree that making an image of your system is probably best. Now once you have that image made you have a multitude of ways to store it ... remote box, external hard drive, hell DVDs if you want to go that route.

I also have two clients that us the Maxtor 'one touch' external drives. They come with backup software and both clients like it a lot. Damn things are cheap right now too, think a 500gb is only $100

[chrisaka]

By far and large the easiest, cheapest thing to do is sign up at backblaze.com.

$5 a month for unlimited backups and it runs continuously.

No affiliation, I've just been using it myself and installing for all of my clients. You can download files from the web if need be, or even request a DVD/External hard drive copy of your data.

Chris

[wa3ra]

The cheapest thing in the long run is to run a RAID solution on your box. If one of my drives flakes, I can run off of the second drive, replace the trashed one, and re-run the solution, and be back where I was within the hour.

[Kaos]

By far and large the easiest, cheapest thing to do is sign up at backblaze.com.

$5 a month for unlimited backups and it runs continuously.

No affiliation, I've just been using it myself and installing for all of my clients. You can download files from the web if need be, or even request a DVD/External hard drive copy of your data.

Chris

The issue here is that you cannot backup installed applications in this manner. Data - yes. Apps: not so much.

The cheapest thing in the long run is to run a RAID solution on your box. If one of my drives flakes, I can run off of the second drive, replace the trashed one, and re-run the solution, and be back where I was within the hour.

I used to run RAID on every system I built - until I stopped building systems and switched to laptops pretty much solely. I like to use solutions that would work in any way, shape or form.

Personally for me that was always DD because I could use it off a boot disc against any machine - no matter the OS. DD is a bit daunting though. In this case norton ghost I think fits his needs best, or TrueImage.

[eXceLon]

I'm running a Windows Home Server (WHS). If you aren't inclined to build your own server and install the operating system yourself, HP sells the MediaSmart Server with WHS pre-installed. Even though I typically build my own PC's I went with one of these, just because it's difficult to build a machine with this small of a form factor at a comparable price.

You just install the client software on any of the computers in your house, and they'll be fully backed up to the server every night. You can either restore individual files, or restore the entire PC to any of the previous stored backups.

I'm technically inclined enough that I'm capable of doing things like creating disk images and all of the other kinds of backup methods available, but I rarely bothered to do so because it was just too much of a hassle. I'd have backups, but they would typically be months old and worthless. This just works, and you don't have to do anything after the initial configuration.

I also use the server for network storage, web shares, and some other tasks/functions. I'm running 2.5TB (2500GB) of storage in mine.

[RocketFoot]

Actually, I am concerned with the age of my PC...I am looking for a source to upload everything and then restore it all onto a new PC...Ideally, up and running on a new PC in minutes!