Backup to remote PC - network over the internet?

smudger73

Firstly, I am paranoid so please no smart-alec comments about why bother. I am going to bother. I just need to find a way to do it cheaply (i.e. free).

The Aim
I want to backup my PC data hard drive securely to a PC in another building on a different broadband connection.

Current Setup
At home I have a PC running Windows XP SP3 with the OS on a 80GB hard drive and all data on a seperate 160GB hard drive. The PC has some 45GB of files (pictures, documents, music and video) all of which are important to me and need to be effectively backed up. I have also just purchased a new HD camcorder and expect my video data to grow rapidly to exceed 500GB within 18-24 months.

The PC has an external backup drive connected which takes daily incremental backups of the PC data drive.

I also have a laptop which has the PC data drive mapped as a network drive and automatically syncs the documents and files daily. I therefore have a slave copy of the PC data held on my laptop.

My laptop rarely leaves the house so in the albeit unlikely event of burglary or fire, I could lose my PC, my laptop and my backup drive and therefore all of my files.

This would be disastrous as all the images of my newborn son would be lost forever.

My Parents and In-Laws
My parents have a new PC which has 2 x 250GB hard drives in RAID 1 configuration to mirror their data. They have around 25 GB of data and this should only grow slowly.

My In-Laws have an older PC with a single 80Gb hard drive and around 25GB of data which should only grow slowly.

Proposal
I would like to purchase 2 x 1TB internal hard drives, one for my PC onto which I will migrate all of my data files from the existing 160GB drive. The other 1TB drive will go in my parents new PC and serve as an off-site backup for all of my files.

My now defunct 160GB hard drive will be partitioned 50/50 and serve as an offsite backup disc for my parents and my in-laws data.

The BIG Question
All I need now is to figure out how to securely maintain the following:

1. A synchronised copy of my PC files on my parents PC
2. A synchronised copy of my parents and in-laws files on my PC

I don't want a software solution that backs up the files in a non-readable format. In the same way that my laptop has the PC data drive mapped as a network drive (the PC drive is shared) and auto-syncs this when both PCs are turned on, I want the same solution across the internet.

I guess I somehow need to network all 3 PC across the internet, presumably using some kind of VPN connection, share the relevant drives on this WAN and sync the files daily.

I have no idea how to set up a secure network using the internet (peer-to-peer??) or how to effectively secure it. I have looked at Windows Live Sync but that is only useful to access files from another PC when the PC is turned on. Not what I need. I have looked at EasyVPN and others, but they don't provide the backup sync engine I need.

Internet backup solutions are not appropriate for me due to the amount of data to be backed up once I start exceeding 250/500GB and the cost this would entail.

I have BT Total Broadband, but that backup solution is limited to 5GB. I need 500GB minimum!


Any thoughts or help gratefully accepted.

Thanks very much.

pcombo

this seems like extreme measures for home use.

You said you want to buy 1Tb hard drives and a PC in another building.(VPS or dedicated server) thats wasting money imo.

smudger73

Thanks - very helpful.

The PCs are already there - I just need to network them somehow.

gaming_guy

i'm just guessing here but i think you would need to get 3 1tb drives. one for your machine and 2 for your parents machine. raid 1 needs a minimum of 2 drives to work and as far as i know, it will not work with just 3 disks.

don't forget that if a power surge takes out the motherboard/HDD etc then you might loose both drives and your data that hasn't been backed up.

smudger73

Parents machine already has 2 x 250Gb drives in RAID 1 config to hold and mirror all their data - business documents so quite critical for them that they don't lose it.
So....

1 x 1TB on my machine to hold all my data.
1 x 1TB on parents machine to hold a copy of all my data.
1 x 160GB partitioned 50/50 on my machine to hold a copy of my parents data and a copy of my in-laws data.
Parents data is RAID 1 mirrored on their machine
In-laws have no backup in place.

All PCs are surge protected.

davb

To set up a VPN, the easiest way would be to have routers that support VPN at each end (preferably the same make model to maximise compatibility), but having 3 locations makes it harder.
Also it is going to take a long time to copy this data across a broadband connection, as unless you have SDSL, you are going to be limited by your max upload speed (download speed is irrelevant in your case). So for a 398 Kbps upload speed, you would only copy about 4.3 GB of data in 24 hours - assuming that you do nothing else with your connection.

AHAR

How long do you expect these backup tasks to take?

RobTang

running large backups over consumer broadband will never ever work, VPN isn't a good idea really as you'l have to manally initiate your backups every day.

Just run a cheap computer or nas drive in each location, then rotate the drives every week or 2.

There are loads of programs that would serve your needs
but somthing like synctoy wound probably be sufficient

hc25036

Maybe you need to think about the odds of various potential catastrophes actually happening and work back. I'm a little like you in that I have critical data synchronised over an NAS, a laptop and a windows home server, plus completely critical documents on an online service. . The difference is that rather than try to set up an offline solution in another location, I regularly backup to 2 500 Gb bare hard discs (you can get an eSATA caddy that takes bare discs) using synctoy or allwaysync and store them in a locked fireproof box.

I reckon that takes care of any eventuality likely to occur once in more than 50 years and anything that might lead to a loss of all those data sources is likely to do for me as well, so I won't care!

pcombo

I have a NAS where i keep all my files I also have a 320GB on my computer for files such as music, Games other general things. And a 16GB memory stick for college work which i also have a copy of on my nas.

I never keep anything such as music, games etc, on my C drive simple fact it just drives me crazy.

cuppajoe

You can write some simple DOS commands to auto run and a scheduled basis, but the reliability of this varies.

I know you mentioned that you wanted to do this cheaply/free, but with all the hardware that you're proposing to purchase, you might want to look at Mozy online.

US$5 per month for unlimited storage is very reasonable and you won't have to worry about VPN's & scripting DOS commands.

If you're not sure, try it out with 2GB free and see how it runs. I think you'll find it's a much simpler solution to what you are proposing.