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Waragainstsleep · Feb 4, 2015, 03:17 PM

I need to take over backups for a server which has a connection which is awesome and not a problem for running nightly offsite backups, but I need a decent service or set up to achieve this.

I've looked at a number of them and they are mostly too fancy for what I need. These are file servers, so its nothing complicated like databases or email archives, its just documents, images, artwork and video files. Just a bit more of it than most casual single users. (Nothing excessive, its a couple of terabytes at the most at the moment).

In a perfect world I could run Time Machine over their 30mb leased line but something tells me 2TB of iCloud Drive space will not be cheap.

Backblaze and Carbonite and similar services seem irrevocably obsessed with trawling through my OS finding things to sync and being generally overly helpful. I just want something I can point at one or two volumes and say "back this up, then backup the changes each night".

Anyone know a service that allows for that?

I also look after a few small business servers some of which are located too remotely for decent internet based backups. Any thoughts on the best ways to back these up off site?

patman600 · Feb 7, 2015, 05:15 PM

I use Backblaze to back up my mac and I've been very happy with it. You can limit it to backing up specific volumes if you just want to back up certain drives. If you want to back up individual folders on a drive it's a little more complicated (have to back up the drive, and exclude folders you don't want backed up).

turtle777 · Feb 7, 2015, 09:08 PM

Take a look at Arq.

Mac Backup to AWS Glacier, S3, SFTP, NAS | Arq | Haystack Software

Plenty of online backup options (Google Drive, Amazon, Dreamhost etc...)

It's fully encrypted, you are in control of all your data.

-t

subego · Feb 8, 2015, 01:02 AM

I like CrashPlan. 60US$/year unlimited.

The only downside is it uses Java.

Online Data Backup - Offsite, Onsite, & Cloud - CrashPlan Backup Software

OreoCookie · Feb 8, 2015, 12:04 PM

I have a subscription to both, Crashplan and Backblaze, and both services do the job, they are fire and forget. If your servers run OS X or Windows, then you can install either one natively, but if you don't and you intend to run the backup service from one of the clients, then Backblaze won't work: They've made a conscious decision not to back up network volumes in favor of simplicity (just one tier, $5/month, unlimited everything). Crashplan has no such limitation, but uses a java-based client which is an atrocity (plus, it wastes more cpu cycles, but that's more of a problem for mobile Macs).

As other have mentioned, there are services such as Amazon S3 and Glacier which are much more flexible (e. g. many apps, say, xTwin will back up to them), but they are also »dumber« because of that. Plus, they are significantly more expensive than either Backblaze or Crashplan if you have more than a few hundred GB of data to back up.

My recommendation: if you can install a client on your servers, get Backblaze. If not, Crashplan.

subego · Feb 8, 2015, 05:30 PM

Yeah. As much as I like CrashPlan, it's very poorly optimized.

I never felt it bogged down my mid 2011 Mini Server, but it'd kick in the fan at full when doing scanning and de-duping.

My current model Mini handles it with no fan.

OreoCookie · Feb 8, 2015, 05:47 PM

Originally Posted by subego

Yeah. As much as I like CrashPlan, it's very poorly optimized.

On a server, I feel it's less of an issue. On my MacBook Pro, the lack of CrashPlan's optimization costs many minutes of battery life. With Backblaze, I haven't had that issue. It's really a pity they don't backup networked drives and only retain copies of your data for 1 month. I had to re-upload the entirety of my external hard drive after my 2-month trip to Europe last summer.

Subego, if you want to do me a favor, make a request for NAS backups. I've made 2 already, and I feel like they eventually have to tackle this issue.

turtle777 · Feb 8, 2015, 06:45 PM

Originally Posted by OreoCookie

I
As other have mentioned, there are services such as Amazon S3 and Glacier which are much more flexible (e. g. many apps, say, xTwin will back up to them),

I used to use xTwin, but it's dead now.

Arq has taken its rightful place; it's working better than xTwin ever did.

-t

OreoCookie · Feb 9, 2015, 12:46 AM

Originally Posted by turtle777

I used to use xTwin, but it's dead now.

Arq has taken its rightful place; it's working better than xTwin ever did.

Thanks, I didn't know as I no longer use it.

turtle777 · Feb 9, 2015, 10:06 AM

Originally Posted by OreoCookie

Thanks, I didn't know as I no longer use it.

The nice thing about Arq is that it backs up to Google Storage.

And since you can sign up for unlimited Google Accounts, it's easy to slice up your backups and get many GB for free.

-t

subego · Feb 9, 2015, 08:14 PM

Originally Posted by OreoCookie

Subego, if you want to do me a favor, make a request for NAS backups. I've made 2 already, and I feel like they eventually have to tackle this issue.

I'm confused... with whom?

ghporter · Feb 10, 2015, 09:51 AM

Originally Posted by subego

I'm confused... with whom?

If I'm reading right, with Backblaze. They're the ones that don't back up networked volumes, right?

OreoCookie · Feb 10, 2015, 12:48 PM

Originally Posted by subego

I'm confused... with whom?

With Backblaze, of course. If they see enough demand, I'm sure they'll change their mind -- especially since it is not a technical issue.