I’ve been asked to come up with a backup solution for a small office (8-10 users).
They were thinking of going for a off-site ftp server. Is that reasonable? The data is mostly going to be office documents / audio.
What i’m concerned about is the type of hardware needed. Its all about the damn thing being able to stay on 24/7. What do you guys suggest? Can a desktop computer be converted to run a ftp server for 24/7 (i know it can, but is it feasible/reliable), or should I suggest that they get those cheap dell rackmount thingies.
Nomaan, how about an external USB drive, it will probably cost you less than the cheap dell server. Some of these drives come with their own backup software....but all of this depends upon what is the required retention policy?
with 8-10 users... i think a good xp machine would be sufficient...
if company is loaded,,, make 'em buy a rackmount server, with windows server 2003 enterprise ;) and then buy veritas backup software... it will be a good learning experience :)
i don't think they're loaded. i'll probably go for some low voltage/low temp cpu (venice 3000+ ?) and let cool and quiet down clock itself...
They all have USB keys (1 gig) and cd/dvd burners. But, you know how it is with the office ppl, they never remember to do backups. I can automate the process, but then, having the backup right next to the source is not really a good move in my opnion ..
nomaan… i like the external drive option on a standalone machine (on 24/7 with good cooling features)… but yea u r rite.. u have to automate the process for it to be a success … you can ask users to save in specific directories [if not one directory]and then schedule backups at the end of the day…
For small office, Windows Server 2003 might still be a very good option for the Windows Sharepoint Services that's bundled in. It's very good and easy to use for stuff like employee websites/portals, Office integration, Issue management etc.
Take a look at that component if you haven't already. It will save you a lot of "can you do this for me" tasks
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I have a similar server, Cobalt Qube 2, and once had it running 24/7 for 2 yrs and it just kept going. That server is from IBM, but I think IBM took it out of production or is about to.
As for backup you can write a simple batch file that can run at login time and backup whatever files are needed (e.g. .doc, .xls etc). I wrote one for a client once so let me know if you need help in that.
If you want in house solution & as you said the company cannot spend much .. then here is the solution.
Get a P2/P3 machine with 128MB RAM & large sized HDD(s) (I dont know how much storage do you have & how big backup do u require?)... Install BSD/Linux, install samba over it & mirror it with your actual file server.
BSD/Linux comes with FTP server (proftpd), configure accounts for each user. You can disable SSH access & enable SCP for Secure filecopy for each user too, if u are security paranoid guy. SCP has its own drawbacks though e.g. not very good unless u know exact filenames & their location in ur home directory.
