Com-Central.net

Build It: a DIY Backup Server
03.15.06

Don't throw out that old PC! Save yourself from hours of work, lost business, and thousands of dollars in lost revenue by using it to back up your network. We show you how.

By Bill Machrone

The question is not whether you're going to lose data, but when. And the more machines you have on your network�home or small business�the greater your exposure. But that same network can also be the key to regular, reliable backups: With the current low price and phenomenal capacity of disk drives, you can put a chunk of storage on the LAN, and that will be the backup repository for all your machines. It's called network-attached storage, or NAS, but it can be much more than a disk drive with an IP address or a shared drive letter visible from all of your computers.

Backup servers and personal servers have become a hot item, offered by Mirra, Netgear, and others. They go beyond network-attached storage by having enough onboard smarts to run backup software and other functions. These are solid, turnkey solutions, but it's both cheap and easy to build your own server from an old PC. There are many ways to do this, and ours is only one of many valid approaches. But you can duplicate it easily and have a powerful, reliable backup server of your own.

Tower systems have loads of room and a power supply large enough for big hard disks, and if the system can run Windows XP, it'll easily run the backup software, too. You should start with a clean install of XP; there's no sense in burdening your backup server with the leftovers from dozens or hundreds of applications, a clogged Registry, and a dog's breakfast of processes that start at boot-up, whether you want them to or not.