i am trying to set up a scheduled back up of my raq4 to my local pc for the first time. what "method" should i choose? do i put the local pc file path in the "location" field?

i just found out that you need a static IP address for the local pc for the back up to work. i don't have one. can anyone recommned one of those free storage services out on the www?

couldnt you use some free service like dns2go.com or something similar to get a static ip?

no i don't think so. i believe that i would have to get the static IP address from my ISP. i use Comcast RoadRunner cable modem and they will not allow static IP addresses for their cable modem customers. can anyone else verify this?

You wouldnt have to have a static IP for it to work if you initiated the backup fromyour pc's side, most ftp programs have a schedule you can setup to have the ftp program connect and download.

Originally posted by netastic
i just found out that you need a static IP address for the local pc for the back up to work. i don't have one. can anyone recommned one of those free storage services out on the www?

Its not free, but we've been very happy with ibackup:
http://www.ibackup.com/

Very good rates and FTP access :).

allan

I've been looking into the best solution for backing up my RAQ4 - Not just user data but sites as well. The host with who I lease this server do not offer any tape backup for the RAQ. It's all a bit confusing (I'm still learning!) but as the RAQ admin, all I can backup is the site/user settings for the whole thing, and a site backup can only be done by the site admin (daft?). One idea I had was to add a second disk to the RAQ and use a cron job to copy the web sites (nightly/weekly) to the second disk. Not ideal, but at least a HD crash would not be the end of the world - And allowing site admins to backup a site is fine, but what when those sites get reasonably large, it could take ages!

How does the ibackup thing work? You have an account with them (allows a FTP connection) which you use the schedule to backup too?

Mat,

If you decide to go the second harddrive route, there is a great program called Mirrordir http://mirrordir.sourceforge.net/ that we have used on some of our non-cobalt servers. It can tar up and copy a directory, just do a strait copy, or tar up and FTP directories. It can be installed as a cron job, so you can even backup several times a day (although that's probably a waste of resources).

As far as ibackup goes, you are correct. They give you a login account and you simply enter that information into the admin panel of the Cobalt and it is automatically backed up every night.

I'm not sure if you resell servers or not, but it also creates another revenue stream, because you can resell their services to your clients.

Hope this helps.

allan

Allan,

Thanks for the ideas - Yes I will be reselleing space (not much probably just for sites I do), and had not thought about reselleing the iBackup dtuff, thanks for the input :) Probably cheaper and easier to backup offsite then to another hd (fire hazards etc.)