External Backup Solutions for Remote Users?

[fichtene]

Does anyone have any easy solutions that a Remote user can use to back up there hard drive to a external source that they can plug into there computer and perform a Full system backup? and a Restore if needed?

Edward
MIS

 

[echoecho]

I shopped around for some recently at CDW. Look in the storage section at portable harddrives. There were a couple that would image the entire harddrive to the external one, similar to ghost. I don't remember any brand names, but it only took a few minutes for me to find them.

P.S. I think most of these were PC card HDD's, but some may have been USB or 1394.

 

[fichtene]

We where looking a the PCMCIA cards hard drives, we tested one version of there software and it took 4 hrs to make a backup and 7 to reload the image to the PC.

Too Slow but will look into the other options that you mentioned.

Edward-

 

[ceh4702]

DVD can back up 6 gigs or so. IBM was selling a netwok DVD backup device for around $1,500.00 or so. You would need some kind of software to copy the drive as an image and not as individual files like norton ghost copy
. I think it might be possible to get some raid package to mirror a harddrive. I think you have to use a motherboard which is raid capable to do that. They probably make an I/O board you could hook up a scsi cable to for an external drive. Sony makes a tape backup but it is designed for internal operation. The tapes however would be portable. If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.

 

[attrofy]

One thing that works great is something similar to what fichtene proposed. There are USB Hard Drive cases that turn any drive (up to 80 or 100 GB) into an external USB device. With USB, compatability and setup are not an issue. If you run Ghost, it makes an image, if you run MS BAckup, that backsup any of the files you want. I prefer Ghost as it is much more reliable and trouble free. I think last look, the cases were about $50 - $60. If you can't find one, let me know. Tiger Direct had them as complete kits in last months flyer.

 

[fichtene]

All these are great ideas, But when the user is not on the network and is using a Dial-in Device, it kind of makes it a difficult to have the user Backing up to a Network Storage device. The feasable one is Attrofy's Idea, but need a User friendly version of software that does incrimental backups.

Thanks

Edward