Back up recommemdation please

[bivvyman]

we have 3 pcs networked via Net Gear ASDL Router , 1 spare port .

We back up each computer separately on memory sticks or portable hard drives ( Freecom)

Looking at central back up which is automatic - Can I hook up to spare port - can i make it automatic - Is this called mirroring

Ps this forum is a brilliant idea and just what we are looking for especially for the no techie like me - just a plug for you all our computers , printers etc are all Novatech

Regards

[gwendes]

Hi bivvyman,
The Netgear Stortage Central here (http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?NGR-SC101) simply attaches into the spare port on your router and becomes what is known as NAS (Network Attached Storage). Any RAID referred to in this product is between the drives inside. This can be configured to either mirror the contents of one drive to the other for data security (RAID 0) or 'combine' the storage on the drives for access speed (RAID 1). It cannot create a RAID with another drive in any of the PCs.

The Storage Central is supplied with software to manage your backups from multiple machines.

Yes, this can be setup to be automatic.

[bivvyman]

Thanks for help so far & if ive understoood correctly it need a NAS set up for raid 1 , all 3 computers backing up at regular intervals with the provided software . The Novatech NAS doesnt come with Drives ? Which ones are suitable , Am i right is saying the 3 machines back up to one drive and the second drive is a morror (copy) of the first drive

Regards

[gwendes]

Yes you can set this up as you describe, making two backups using the mirror (RAID 1)

We do have a setup bundle which includes 2 x Maxtor 250Gb drives here (http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?NGR-SC500). Most IDE drives are compatible, but you should match drive capacity and speed as closely as possible. For example using a 120Gb and 80Gb will limit the RAID 1 to a total capacity of 80Gb.

Please note that this NAS does not support SATA drives.

[lettice]

I have the Netgear Storage Central Bundle With 2X 250GB Hard Drives
Its excellent, had no problems at all with it.
I dont use the bundled backup tool, as I have Acronis True Image to do my backups.
But there are plenty of free backup clients out there.
I use it also to share all my media and files across my different PCs and laptops.

Well recommended!

Jon

[stu]

If you are up for some techy stuff and doing this on the cheap then I suggest you get a bit of tired iron and stick a couple of huge drives in it, stripe them if you want double backups. Install a linux distro. Share the useful folders on the machines that you want backing up or allow permanent SSH access to them and then use cron+rsync/cron+sftp+mget to do backups. Dead cheap and you can configure it all. Not for the feint harted though...!