flat-rate backup service for Windows Server

backup windows-server-2008-r2

3,654

Solution 1

The best solution I have found so far is livedrive.com

Unlike some of the other services, they promote their flat-rate service to small business too:

http://www.livedrive.com/business

They specifically allow backing up of servers:

http://www.livedrive.com/faq#faq-business-5

And they support Windows Server 2008:

http://www.livedrive.com/faq#faq-general-15

Their more expensive option also offers FTP support and a number of interesting looking collaboration tools.

Solution 2

In my experience a lot of services make all kinds of promises in the features list on the front page but either cut you off at the knees with the details in the EULA, or end up going out of business.

One thing that's going to be important with any cloud service is trust, specifically the following:

Sustainability of their business model is a good point... no use having a backup service that goes out of business.
Data security (keep in mind that a service that looks ideal may be great but may do things with your data that aren't allowed, e.g. EU data privacy laws)
Data integrity (a backup service that might delete some of your files is not a backup service at all).
Service Level Agreement - if they're your backups, can you afford to have your business out of action because you lost a file, then when you went to do a restore the backup service has a problem and the one person who knows how to fix it is in Antigua for 2 weeks.

I think GregD's concerns over livedrive show that it might be very difficult to find a service that is flat rate AND meets the above criteria, plus anything else I missed out.

Solution 3

One that I plan to investigate is CrashPlan+.

CrashPlan do offer both a consumer flat-rate service and business focused services (Crashplan+ and Crashplan PRO) but they are completely different, incompatible services, with different client applications, and unlike Backblaze for example, there are no restrictions on using the flat-rate service on servers.

They specifically DO support Windows Server 2008:

http://support.crashplan.com/doku.php/articles/vss#supported_os_versions

Furthermore, their terms and conditions do not have any restrictions on what machines or devices you may back up:

http://support.crashplan.com/doku.php/eula

3,654

atkayla

Updated on September 17, 2022

Comments

atkayla almost 2 years
I am trying to solve a problem exactly like this: nth smallest number among two databases of size n each using divide and conquer

From what I could figure out, the "comparing medians/median of medians" algorithm would give us the solution? My question is whether I am understanding this correctly.
```
array 1: [7 8 6 5 3]
array 2: [4 10 1 2 9] 
```
First, find the median for each. we can do this by querying for k=n/2, where n is the size of that array. Being the 3rd smallest element in this case, this gives us 6 for the first array (call this m1), and 4 for the second array (call this m2).

Since m1 > m2, create 2 arrays using the elements that are less than m1 and greater than m2 in that array.
```
array 1: [5 3]
array 2: [10 9]
```
^ How would we find the elements that are less than m1 and greater than m2? Would we just take m1 and m2 and compare them with every element in their respective arrays? I know this works when the two arrays are both sorted, but would sorting them first allow us to still get O(log(n)) queries?

I'm assuming we can continue to use our special query (can we?) to get the k=n/2 smallest element (median) for that particular array. If this is the case, we query for k=n/2=1, leaving us with new m1 = 3, m2 = 9.

m1 < m2, so we make 2 arrays using elements that are greater than m1 and less than m2 in that array.

Since there are no elements in array 2 that are less than m2 = 9, we are only left with one array with one element greater than m1 = 3.

[5] <- this is the median

I am also interested in seeing the proof of correctness (that this finds the median) by induction.
- Zoredache over 13 years
  
  Just to help us, are you talking a few GB, a few hundred GB, or a few TB?
TomTom over 13 years

Thanks for the downvote. Obviously arrogance meets ignorance. Here some not to ignmorant thing. Name ONE good service, I sign up. I ahve a 2000gb external server at a provider with a 1gbit link that I have a backup problem with. Flatrate please - I get aboutg 30gb changed data per day. Definitly cheaper than getting me a tape library... which I consider at the moment. Oh, and another 2 similar servers are ordered, plus a local backup machine... which has all things on discs and then I will use the bakcup service to backup THIS ONE MONSTER MACHINE. THanks for the flatrate.
Colin Pickard over 13 years

Hi TomTom, I downvoted your answer because I felt it wasn't an answer to my question. Robert Moir has rewritten your answer but I still feel this is wrong - clearly such services do exist since I have discovered a couple of possibilities in my own research - I have added these as answers. You may want to investigate livedrive.com as a solution to your backup problem with the 2000gb external server. Their FAQ page is here: livedrive.com/faq - Kind Regards
GregD over 13 years

They may promote their flat-rate service to business, but the only edition available to businesses is Live Drive Professional and that's installable on "Windows PCs". Of the other "editions" that would presumably be installable on servers, one is still in beta (Medium Business) and the other (Large Business) you can't sign up for.
Colin Pickard over 13 years

I can't see any details of different editions - if you go to the business section of the FAQ they specifically say there is only one edition, and that backing up servers is explicitly supported (livedrive.com/faq#faq-business-1). It also says further up that they support Windows Server.
TomTom over 13 years

You know, this rewally sounds interesting.
TomTom over 13 years

I am not sure they would love being the "dump drive" if a central backup server. I actually would assume this would get me into trouble VERY fast.... That said, I think I will sign up for some of the data I am otherwise keeping around. SStill 2gb new data every day without ever deleting... but...
TomTom over 13 years

There is no documentation on their side regarding them loosing the data.... which makes it pretty bad for mid / long term data archival / backup. So.... good fora short timeframe only.
GregD over 13 years

Their TOS seems to also be "anti business" if you ask me: "Livedrive may delete from the Livedrive Services any Content that in the sole judgment of Livedrive violates this Agreement or which We deem inappropriate." Part of my job as a professional systems administrator, is to thoroughly investigate SLAs (which they don't have). Their TOS basically absolves them of any responsibility for your data: "Livedrive assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, loss, deletion, defect, theft, destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of any Content you upload..."
GregD over 13 years

"...to the Livedrive Services." Not exactly someone I'd entrust my data too.
Colin Pickard over 13 years

It might be worth emailing them and asking - they do stress frequently throughout their site that there are no limits on overall storage or file size.
Colin Pickard over 13 years

@GregD I agree, this service doesn't sound suitable for a large business, particularly if you don't already have another backup strategy in place. I would expect to pay very much more for a service which offers SLAs and takes responsability for data loss. If you're a tiny business, and you're looking to back up just one or two servers which are already backed up to local USB disks or mirrored to another datacenter, then this seems like very good value.
GregD over 13 years

I also couldn't find any mention of encryption. In addition to that, they only allow one signup per account. In businesses with more than one IT person, that doesn't work.
GregD over 13 years

@Colin: I'm a consultant for several "tiny" businesses and I work for an enterprise. Without a specific SLA, I wouldn't recommend this type of service to anyone. With the specific wording in their TOS, I wouldn't recommend this particular service to anyone. Their TOS basically says they have the right to go through your stuff and delete anything they want and you can't hold them responsible for it. Good value or not, what the hell kind of backup service is that?
GregD over 13 years

Which is all the more reason to not believe terms like "unlimited". It's going to be VERY difficult to find a flat-rate provider (for SERVERS) that has a sustainable business plan or an SLA that provides for adequate coverage for business backups. Unless of course the flat-rate plan is 5000-10000/month. There is no such thing as unlimited...
GregD over 13 years

I'm just going to throw this out there. At my main job, we pay roughly $6000 - $8000 a YEAR for between 60GB and 150GB worth of data. But this gives us a proper SLA, encryption and a local restore appliance.
Colin Pickard over 13 years

$500/month seems a lot for 150GB. For that money, I'd be tempted to colo my own hot standby servers AND hold day/week/month snapshots - but of course this all depends on your business model. Different services are applicable to different folk, and a cheap online provider might well provide a useful extra level of backup for some businesses. It's worth ensuring your backups are encrypted before they leave your site regardless how much you trust your backup provider - or even if you're backing up to your own remote hardware.