Wireless Back up solutions!!

[gradyhawks]

Hello!

First off, am sorry if this is in the wrong spot. If so, can a MOD move it for me please.

Right, my dad is starting a new business up in a few months and I'm in charge of getting everything IT related up and running (websites, data bases and PCs). What I'm not to sure on is what kind of options there are for backing up files, ideally wireless.

Am wondering if anyone can offer some advice on what I should be getting? The amount and size of files that need to be backed up won't be huge at all, talking maybe 5 Gb of files a month (so 10 Gb in month 2, 15 Gb in month 3) etc). Would I be best just getting "Cloud" storage or is there a better option with going with some wireless back up hard drive (if there are any)?

Ideally I don't want to be spending much money as the PCs I will be making for the office are only going to be £300 odd, so don't want to sink in a whole load more just to back things up.

As a plus I would love if it was easy to set up and could handle multiple PCs.

Thanks,

Grady

 

[Redgie]

Well, you could use a cloud service like Dropbox, Google Drive etc. Or you could have an on-site system that links via the network (And so works wirelessly). Either option will need upgrading time though if the business consistently creates 5GB per month. Is this a guaranteed amount?

 

[Trojan Horse]

Well if its a business why dont you build an FTP server and just store everything there locally... connect all the PCs through a massive switch. You'd be much happier with way faster file speeds doing this than you would be online.

 

[gradyhawks]

Well, you could use a cloud service like Dropbox, Google Drive etc. Or you could have an on-site system that links via the network (And so works wireless). Either option will need upgrading time though if the business consistently creates 5GB per month. Is this a guaranteed amount?

Erm, well I would say that the Max storage that would be needed would be 1 TB. I've considered Google Drive as my dad will be using an android device whilst he is out and about seeing clients. Being able to quickly pull documents off Google Drive with his tablet/phone would be really handy.

The only downside is the constant uploading and downloading, would possible get rather annoying to do. But might well just get used to that since google drive isn't that expensive.

Well if its a business why dont you build an FTP server and just store everything there locally... connect all the PCs through a massive switch. You'd be much happier with way faster file speeds doing this than you would be online.

Its just the initial cost of it would be pretty high and I can't see it being used to its full potential. Initially, there will only be 2 PCs that need it possibly going to 6-7 in a year or two.Possibly an option in a year though when I know exactly what numbers are happening.

 

[Socrates470BC]

What will be your Upload/Download speeds for you internet connection?

If you are only getting a basic 8Mb/s Download and less than 0.5Mb/s Upload then a remote backup strategy for the volumes of data that you are talking about may be a little problematic.

If you have a fibre connection then a remote backup is an option.

Remember, backup is not just about taking backups, it is about disaster recovery.

You should determine the cost to the business if any of the data is lost and plan accordingly.

This requires multiple layers of backup.

You should also perform tests to ensure that your recovery plans work.

 

[Trojan Horse]

Well tbh you could build a small crappy little FTP server with a TB of storage for less than what any online storage provider would ask for a year... I don't really know if FTP servers in this case have to differ so much to regular pc's but if it is just a regular pc connected to all the other PCs the costs would only be of your networking connections (switch, gigabit ethernet) and a small server..

going online would have to factor in the networking bit but will take a very long time for anything to load unless you have fibre

 

[bignev72]

Well if its a business why dont you build an FTP server and just store everything there locally... connect all the PCs through a massive switch. You'd be much happier with way faster file speeds doing this than you would be online.

What if there is a fire in the building? All data would be lost.

You need some sort of external backup solution imho. Either cloud storage or at least backup to a couple of alternating external drives which are taken off site.