backing up more than one PC?

DriversEd

hi,
i was looking for a solution at home to back up more than one pc.
i've also a laptop, and a couple of ipads and phones etc.
there's wireless broadband in the house, but its in the attic, so something that would use the main pc as its hub would be best.
any solutions, bigger the better storage wise?!

ZENER

A NAS or something similar which connects directly to your router would make it accessible to every device on the network. Western Digital do a WD MyCloud device from 1 to 3 TB which is simple enough to install and can behave as a media server as well.

There's going to be others who will say there's better and they'll be right, but it's down to price usually.

Ken

DriversEd

do all these type of devices need to be connected directly to the router, or can any of them work from the main pc, and then the rest wifi back up to it?

ZENER

I can't see any advantage having the drive connected directly to a single machine, is there a reason it's important in your setup ? A disadvantage of that setup is that the computer would need to be switched on in order for other devices to connect to it. Having a drive connected to the routers switch means it's always available to all devices on your network - even from outside your network if properly configured.

The system you're suggesting can be easily achieved by attaching any USB drive to the PC and simply sharing it, this will work for most devices including iPads etc though you may need an app to allow transfer of files.

Ken

DriversEd

thanks ken, i hadn't thought of that problem.
the reason i was looking to not hook up to the router, is its in the attic, thats all.
are these devices able for that 'always on' set up?

ZENER

Any that I've seen are capable of 24/7 operation - remember the old adage: "You get what you pay for". That said if your attic isn't insulated it can get pretty warm there during the summer and very cold during the winter so check the environmental condition the device requires. Most of these devices will spin down the drive when not accessed for a while so they should last.

You can also get wireless devices though I'd not be too sure of the speed. Another option is to use a power line network setup to connect the drive to the router yet keep it in a more stable environment downstairs.

Ken

ruairi

Do you have to back up locally? Crashplan is a subscription cloud service. For I think $150 per year, you can back up up to 10 computers, and they don't restrict you as to capacity. You have the option to encrypt your backups in the cloud, and also to simultaneously back up locally to another PC or even to back up to a friends PC via the service (presumably encrypted) if they are also signed up.

I've been using it myself for a while and haven't had any issues with it. There's a trial subscription available, I think.

Just my 2c.

Overheal

Frankly I just use OneDrive for my sync/backup needs. Everything else on my computers is expendable, replaceable data.

Saying that, I was an early adopter of SkyDrive Beta and an early switch to OneDrive, and an active Office 365 member so my storage on the service is 139GB, which is more than ample. In fact its more space than I have on my Surface/Surface Pro, total.

Once a PC is wiped and updated, I just plug my onedrive credentials back into the OS and there is barely anything else to do beyond reinstall web browsers/security.

DriversEd

thanks for all the advice, i found a wifi unit, clickfree, on amazon.
it will allow me to connect it to any device i need to back up from, once, then i just plug it into the wall socket, and they all continue on the schedule i set up, sorted!

thanks