Backup of offsite laptops

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1101

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#148668 26-Jun-2014 16:47

Hi Guys

Im after some suggestions for backing up doc's archive pst's etc from company laptops that are outside the office (sales reps etc)
USB drives for backup may not be suitable , as they would end up in the same carrybag as the laptop

The client wants these remote backups to something 'in house' , Im not sure a backup to a 3rd party `cloud` would get approval.

The companies server is behind a hardware firewall.
I considered a simple(ie cheap) NAS , but its bundled software required port forwarding of ports in use
by the server.
Then there is also the issue of woefull upload speed of many home/shared office internet connection, so I wonder just how practical
a backup via the internet would be.
The fewer holes I have to poke in the firewall to make this work, the better.

Just after ideas to consider
Cheers

Dynamic

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#1075120 26-Jun-2014 16:54

Do the sales reps come in from time to time? Are the laptops on the domain? If so a simple robocopy of %userprofile%\Documents to \\server\secretlaptopbackupshare$\%username%\Documents started via login script or similar might be enough for an 'every now and then' backup.

If the backup needs to be up to the last day or three, you'll have to go over the internet. Options you could consider are:

- Carbonite or Crashplan to get the files purely into online storage (no central management that I know of)
- symform cloud storage with a 'hot copy' back at your office. No central management of the laptops sync settings but you get weekly emailed reports of the sync status and who has not checked in (or you can login to the portal and see immediately).

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1101

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#1075124 26-Jun-2014 17:07

A paid solution would be the best option, but Im not sure thats a go . I'd really have to sell it , with no other options viable.

The laptops are a mix, many are Win Home some Pro with domain connection, but very rarely connected to the domain.
Of course there will be issues with some users saving huge files where they shouldnt (eg movies etc) , but it will allways be a best attempt only.

Are there any free cloud based backup options, sugarsync ?? would dropbox be an option (a bad option yes, but an option?)
At least thats an easier sell, with the option of later moving it to a better paid service

The other option is to use the firewall client on the laptop to give a secure VPN to the network, allowing a simple robocopy backup to something on the main network (NAS, spare pc,whatever) . The firewall client really need a GOOD clean internet connection though, so that alone may cause some issues

Cheers

Peppery

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#1075127 26-Jun-2014 17:10

Using Dropbox is better than not having a backup at all, but for free you get a relatively small amount of space and there may be privacy/legal concerns.

billgates

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#1075146 26-Jun-2014 17:47

If you have Windows Server 2012 R2 (need to install the free essentials role) or Windows Server 2012 Essentials R2 backend, then it has built in anywhere access where you deploy a small client on remote or local machines and it does backup's (full bare metal or selected files/folders) automatically if the device is connected to the internet even if offsite. I use this and it works very well.

Do whatever you want to do man.