Which software to backup computers

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AMD_RULES

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Don't care if it's free or paid...

I'm looking for a backup software that will backup my computers to my NAS, but once the entire machine is backed up, only backup new or updated files not an entire system backup each time... I've tried backup utilities in the past and they do an entire system back up each time. I'm looking for something that will only back up new or updated files once the entire machine is backed up. Does this exist?

Thanks!
 
You need imaging software, not just files backup software. The features you seek are incremental and differential backup. There are several programs that do that, although i don't know if they have any problems with direct NAS support.

You may want to do a search. Paid:

- Macrium Reflect Pro.
- Acronis Backup and Recovery.
- Image For Windows
- Keriver Image.
- Shadow Protect.

Free:

Paragon Backup & Recovery 2012 Free. (only differential backup).

Use the trial versions first, to make sure they fit your requirements and have no compatibility issues.

Here's a small FAQ about types of backup:

http://www.acronis.com/resource/solutions/backup/2005/incremental-backups.html
 
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Are there any backup solutions that can take snapshots of my harddrives (e.g. all of C:\) similar to taking snapshots in ESXi/vmware?
 
Windows 7 back up is pretty powerful. It has network support built in. It will automatically do an incremental backup, like you said you want done.
 
bigdogchris said:
Windows 7 back up is pretty powerful. It has network support built in. It will automatically do an incremental backup, like you said you want done.
Click to expand...

The only problem is that I'm running the home premium version on the machines I want to back up.
 
So being somewhat data paranoid....I do a couple of things...

1.
I use Acronis and backup/image my Windows 7x64 machine to some available space on my Linux Mint box....I have an extra 2TB drive which lets me keep 2 images of my 1TB (not filled) WIndows box. So with compression, I can do 2 images (oldest one deleted before new one is created) and still use the drive for some other storage. I do this about once every couple of months.

2.
I use LiveDrive (got in early with a good price for unlimited...but you could go Mozy, Carbonite, etc...) and do just my important files (docs, music, pictures) to the cloud. This runs all the time.

Acronis is reasonably priced and they discount upgrades and LiveDrive (when I got in quite a while ago) costs me about $10 or $12 a month.



However, there are many ways to go for backup. I live having my files available via cloud and I find images to be a nice way to backup if I have a system disaster.

YMMV.


--Jeff
 
Zxcs said:
Are there any backup solutions that can take snapshots of my harddrives (e.g. all of C:\) similar to taking snapshots in ESXi/vmware?
Click to expand...

Acronis or Shadow Protect are the two best choices. I lean twords shadow protect
 
bigdogchris said:
Windows 7 back up is pretty powerful. It has network support built in. It will automatically do an incremental backup, like you said you want done.
Click to expand...

Just started using this and it couldn't be easier. Setup a FreeNAS box, pointed Windows backup at it and that's pretty much it.
 
Crashplan has very good data deduplication engine to ensure it never backs up any more bits than it needs to when data changes.

You run the crashplan engine on the client machines and also the server you are backing up to and then the clients can connect to the server and upload their files. The files are stored in an encrypted archive. the backup works locally or even remotely across the net.

Additionally, you can pay a relatively small fee to backup unlimited data to their online servers as well. I'm paying $35 a year and have about 6TB backed up to their servers. Great service IMO.
 
Cobian Backup.... and it emails you every morning to tell you if the backup was successful or with errors.
 
I'm going to look into building a windows home server box or a FreeNAS box. I tried Acronis and didn't care for it. I will also look into CrashPlan.
 
Be aware that Acronis will leave behind a ton of crap if you ever uninstall. I always image from a boot cd without installing anything.
 
Didn't see EaseUS Todo Backup Free mentioned, which is what I use (yes, it supports incremental backups).
 
AMD, for cobian, you have to set the permissions right. (It does do either incremental or differential backups)... plus I think needed to update to one of the more recent versions. I started with Cobian a year or so ago, and took me a few tries to get the kinks worked out.
 
djgizmo said:
AMD, for cobian, you have to set the permissions right. (It does do either incremental or differential backups)... plus I think needed to update to one of the more recent versions. I started with Cobian a year or so ago, and took me a few tries to get the kinks worked out.
Click to expand...

I'll have to look into that again then... thanks for the heads up!
 
Well I must have missed the options before to set the backup type... I'm liking Cobian backup now.

Thanks for the suggestion!
 
crhall2 said:
google.
Click to expand...

tumblr_ly27r113Yi1qclfey.jpg
 
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