Looking for 500GB-2TB backup solution

[Atheist]

I haven't been keeping regular backups of my data the way I know I should, so I'm looking to set up something simple and automated. I'm concerned primarily with my desktop, less so with my laptop or other miscellaneous machines (HTPC, etc).

I was thinking about a 2TB NAS that could, while holding almost a full drive backup, also serve as a media center. I set up a 2TB (RAID1 for 1TB) Buffalo NAS at a clinic several years ago where I was interning and it while the interface software wasn't great, having 1-2TB floating around for me to schedule a backup to and share files across my different workstations was convenient. I'm sure things have improved in the intervening years. Web accessibility isn't a huge priority for me at this point. I'm thinking a RAID1 on the NAS would be useful, though it wouldn't be absolutely necessary as I envision it being a duplicate of my main rig's drive(s).

Alternatively, I have a 500GB USB2.0/eSATA (though in 5 years I've yet to get the eSATA to work properly) Seagate FreeAgent Pro that I could be content to hook up to my desktop (mostly used it to augment my laptop's 80GB SSD a few years ago) and run a scheduled backup to of select files/folders, though this seems like a PITA to keep updating the directories as things change; a one-shot full image/backup would be handy.

I run a SSD for my OS, so I don't mean to say that I need an image to restore from necessarily (a la Ghost). In case of a problem, I'd reformat my SSD and reinstall Windows; I'd format my 1TB storage if something happened to it, too. If I had to restore documents, game saves, etc, my ideal solution would be to run a script and have my backups copied over to their previous locations.

Can you recommend software that can do what I'm thinking of that I could run with my Seagate drive?

Are there NAS solutions out there in the $200-250 range that I should look into?

 

[Impulse]

An external drive would work just as well a as a NAS device if you're just backing up a single system... Obviously the NAS is more versatile and I think you're aware of that, I'll leave the, NAS recommendations to someone else.

As for software, you're over thinking it imo, there's dozens of options that can do what you want. You could use something like Synctoy or Brightsparks Syncback (both free) to keep the contents of your documents folders completely synchronized with your NAS or external (on a schedule); they'll add/delete directories as you change stuff on your desktop, same for files. That's about as simple as it gets, unless you're very disorganized and you keep stuff in 20 places outside of the Desktop and User folders.

I like to create image backups of my OS drive in addition to that just because it makes it much quicker to get back to a working system if something happens or a drive dies. Arconis/Ghost are the old standby paid solutions, there's free alternatives like Clonezilla & Drive Image XML. Since I only keep the OS and some games on my SSD, leaving all data on a HDD, this two-prong approach is relatively simple and easy to manage.

 

[tgrimley]

Don't know about hardware either, but syncing is a bad way to back up. Real backup software will let you save versions and protect against accidental deletion. Most will let you backup to a NAS or an external drive, some for free. I use Crashplan (locally and online, different sets of data) but there are others that might suit you better.