Hello. I met with a Relator company and they are looking for some backup options and security software. Currently, some of them store their files on an external hard drive... but they want a backup solution for all of their computers. They have 5 desktops running Windows 7, and 5 laptops that also run Windows 7. They had a different company come in and they quoted them for a Windows server and also a tape backup drive which was around $9000 after installation. They currently have an old Windows XP computer that resides in their basement and have an Internal HDD where the shared files are at. What does one recommend for a situation like this? Also, what kind of security software would you recommend? They were recently hit by the FBI Moneypak virus or trojan and had to pay the ransom of $300 to unlock their computer.. Any help is appreciated! Thanks!
Backup Solutions for Small Company
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Lexluethar
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I think a windows server solution would probably be the cheapest overall.
Windows 7 has a quality backup solution already integrated, you could setup the backup on each device and select the backup target to be a shared drive. Each PC would then backup to that shared drive which ideally would have it's own redundancy (IE RAID).
I think for around 4,000 you could realistically setup a centralized backup using the backup feature in server. You would have to buy a license for server, you would also have to have hardware to run it on. Ideally you would want to also have some RAID setup on the server to protect if a drive fails.
There are plenty of software solutions out there, but quality ones are going to cost and since you are wanting to backup 12+ PC's licensing may get pricey too. Also you are going to have to have a centralized location to store these, so you are going to have to drop a few hundred on hardware regardless of the solution you choose.
Windows 7 has a quality backup solution already integrated, you could setup the backup on each device and select the backup target to be a shared drive. Each PC would then backup to that shared drive which ideally would have it's own redundancy (IE RAID).
I think for around 4,000 you could realistically setup a centralized backup using the backup feature in server. You would have to buy a license for server, you would also have to have hardware to run it on. Ideally you would want to also have some RAID setup on the server to protect if a drive fails.
There are plenty of software solutions out there, but quality ones are going to cost and since you are wanting to backup 12+ PC's licensing may get pricey too. Also you are going to have to have a centralized location to store these, so you are going to have to drop a few hundred on hardware regardless of the solution you choose.
Joe C
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Because you stated they already got taken for $300. from a trojan, in addition to a back up server, consider a cloud back up too. That way if any network drives get corrupted or even encrypted from something else, the cloud back up would be extra security
Lexluethar, thanks for the reply. Do you think a Dell PowerEdge T110 II would be sufficient for their use? Currently, they only have a 100GB HDD in their computer downstairs, so they don't have a ton of data that's shared.. Do you think (2) 500GB drives would do? Also, how does the licensing work for that?? So if there is a total of 10 devices/user, would I need to purchase 10 separate licenses?
Lexluethar
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For server, no. Licensing is flat - but in order to backup data you will have to add those PC's to the domain. I think the poweredge will work, we have r610's here and they work great.
I don't think the virus was indicative of lack of backups or using the cloud as storage - it was more poor security setup on the company (IE allowing people to download whatever / lack of quality virus protection / etc).
I don't think the virus was indicative of lack of backups or using the cloud as storage - it was more poor security setup on the company (IE allowing people to download whatever / lack of quality virus protection / etc).
take a look at crash plan for backup. its a great backup system and not too expensive either.
Online Data Backup - Offsite, Onsite, & Cloud - CrashPlan Backup Software
Online Data Backup - Offsite, Onsite, & Cloud - CrashPlan Backup Software
