Advice needed: Backup strategy for small business w. peer2peer LAN

[C64]

Hello

My scenario is as follows:
1 PC and 1 Notebook, both running W7 x64 Pro.

Valuable data:
~5GB work data changing regularly
15GB no more changing (archived)

Devices available for backup:
1x DVD-Writer (DVD-RAM capable)
1x 2TB eSATA drive

for years I have used the following:
Roxio Backup MyPC 7, backing up like follows:
Every Month writing full backup of my work data to DVD+R media
Every Sunday writing full backup of my work data to DVD-RAM (5 discs, rotating)
Every day writing differential backup of my work data to DVD-RAM (6 discs, Mo-Sa)
Every Quarter writing my archived data to DVD+R media (storing the previous media off-site)

As Backup MyPC cannot use VSS under Windows 7 x64 I need a new software. I don't like those fancy imaging backup software marketed to end users today.

But I can't afford a program costing several hundred Euros.

I need a catalog, verification and traditional file based view without fancy assistents interfering.

So far I'm in the process of evaluation Roxio Retrospect 7 as it is cost effective and seems to be serious.

So here is the point where I request your advice:
Is the approach described above adequate or should I go for some other strategy?
Is there any media beside DVD you can recommend? I for sure would go for tape but the drives are too expensive and the monthly cost for cartridges is also very hefty.
Is Retrospect the way to go for my needs or do you recommend something different?

Thank you in advance

[gaulfinger]

Wow, this sounds like a lot of manual labor to be swapping all those optical drives. How much time are you putting into backups?

[C64]

Actually not that much. All I do is putting the disc in and start the backup. There is only swapping involved when I backup the archieved data.

But hey: Safety and convenience have always been in conflict.

Therefore I asked if there is something to improve without beeing beyond the budget of a startup business with low income yet.

[gaulfinger]

Safety and convenience aren't always in conflict. The third dimension is money :-) Getting all three of those, now that's a trick!

Online backup solutions don't require even that much effort and can be quite cost effective, especially at small volumes. Asigra based solutions can provide archiving, too. Expect this kind of solution to be more expensive than DIY, but you get your time back, plus you get get a lot more protection (daily off-site) and a support team that won't come from a DIY approach.

When going DIY, I look to open source software to keep the price to a minimum. Alas, in the arena, I would go for BackupPC, but it requires a backup server running Linux.

[C64]

Just had a look at BackupPC. The problem is the server which wouldn't justify its cost for maintenance and electricity (whilst nuclear power plants in Japan cause so much harm and leave a large area uninhabitable for several thousand years).

So I'm now considering staying with optical media and go for BD-R/BD-RE. Sadly this is not as reliable as DVD-RAM but it seems a good compromise to me.

Is there any pitfall with this strategy from your POV?

And if not. Should I change my strategy somehow? Or is the generation method I use suitable?

[gaulfinger]

If the cost of a new computer (even a small Atom based NetBook or NetTop) is too much, perhaps a Linux VM on the desktop could operate the BackupPC code. Yeah, it's jumping through hoops, but that's what I've found with most any DIY solution.

[gaulfinger]

I've never been a fan of optical for long-term storage. There are too many moving parts to keep track of and I've heard criticism of the -R +R and RW media as having less than their idealized durability ratings. If anything Blu Ray is a big step up in terms of data integrity over older optical technology. I say this not only based on the materials and assembly, but also the additional error correction and parity that's encoded when compared to older media.

I've been using hard drive based backups since the early 90's and have been pushing away from optical and tape formats ever sine. But I typically work in 10's of TB, not GB, so optical was never practical when it took 100s of disks a day for a single backup. At the scale you've described, it may not be a bad media choice for onsite copy.