Best method to backup executives' Windows computers
An executive asked me to do some research on backup solutions for him and some other executives. Currently they have been using Norton Ghost to image their computers to an external HD, which is a PITA for people not technically savvy. We have an in-house backup solution we use for some of our machines, but it is designed around storing the data on our servers, which they don't want.
I was wondering what programs other people have used to incrementally backup their PC's.
Requirements
- Relatively easy to use/configure
- Incrementally backup files (e.g. only changed files).
- Can be used with any drive (e.g. not network or cloud based)
- Not a drive imaging program (e.g. Norton Ghost, PING)
Useful Features
- Can be scheduled to run at regular times automatically
- File encryption
Thanks for any advice.
Solution 1:
We have used the Desktop and Laptop Option (DLO) with Backup Exec. It works decently well and meets your requirements except file encryption.
For file encryption, the cheap route would be to simply install TrueCrypt on their laptops and use a strong boot password.
Solution 2:
It sounds like you want Carbonite or Mozy, although consumer-oriented solutions may not be reasonable in a corporate/executive setting.
If you want a "corporate" solution, consider Iron Mountain's Online PC Backup program. Iron Mountain's solution can be managed by IT centrally and has lots of "security" features that should appeal to the execs. It is more expensive than Carbonite or Mozy but is still relatively inexpensive.
These fail the "not network or cloud based" requirement, but that is not a wise requirement anyway. The backup to the USB drive sitting next to the computer is not sufficient to protect the organization.
If you can't do the off-site backup, using TrueCrypt to encrypt a USB drive and scheduling a batch file using robocopy or teracopy (or similar) to save to that volume is easy. My batch file that I run weekly on my laptop is below; f: is an external USB drive and the locations are for my Vista system.
md "F:\%USERNAME%\backup"
md "F:\%USERNAME%\backup\Desktop"
md "F:\%USERNAME%\backup\Documents"
md "F:\%USERNAME%\backup\Downloads"
robocopy "%USERPROFILE%\Desktop" "F:\%USERNAME%\backup\Desktop" *.* /E /R:0 /XO /LOG:"F:\%USERNAME%\backup\%username%_Desktop.txt"
robocopy "%USERPROFILE%\Documents" "F:\%USERNAME%\backup\Documents" *.* /E /R:0 /XO /LOG:"F:\%USERNAME%\backup\%username%_Documents.txt"
robocopy "%USERPROFILE%\Downloads" "F:\%USERNAME%\backup\Downloads" *.* /E /R:0 /XO /LOG:"F:\%USERNAME%\backup\%username%_Downloads.txt"
Solution 3:
Robocopy with a scheduled task.