Backup my kids computer over the internet?

I have two daughters in college and I know that they will not remember
often to back up their computers.

I am wondering if it is a consideration to purchase a router with a VPN
or to purchase a program that will set up a VPN to allow them to back up
their computers to one of our home computers that I use just for storage
(it is an XP box with 600Gb of storage). If so, what programs/hardware
would I need?

Thanks
Ken K

Ken wrote:
> I have two daughters in college and I know that they will not
> remember often to back up their computers.
>
> I am wondering if it is a consideration to purchase a router
> with a
> VPN or to purchase a program that will set up a VPN to allow
> them
> to back up their computers to one of our home computers that I
> use
> just for storage (it is an XP box with 600Gb of storage). If
> so,
> what programs/hardware would I need?
>
> Thanks
> Ken K

They will never learn fend for themselves if you always try to
save them.

--


Travis in Shoreline Washington

Ken wrote:

> I have two daughters in college and I know that they will not remember
> often to back up their computers.
>
> I am wondering if it is a consideration to purchase a router with a
> VPN or to purchase a program that will set up a VPN to allow them to
> back up their computers to one of our home computers that I use just
> for storage (it is an XP box with 600Gb of storage). If so, what
> programs/hardware would I need?
>
> Thanks
> Ken K

Please don't, even if you find a way to do so. Having tens of thousands of
college kids backing up hundreds of GBs of HD each, every night or even
every
week, will consume a major portion of the world's bandwidth. What a waste.

--
Cheers, Bob

In article <Z7adnfbFiqUCzMLeRVn-(E-Mail Removed)>,
(E-Mail Removed) says...
> Please don't, even if you find a way to do so. Having tens of thousands of
> college kids backing up hundreds of GBs of HD each, every night or even
> every
> week, will consume a major portion of the world's bandwidth. What a waste.

Au contraire!
In this case, we'll all soon be on a 10 Gbps network.
Hmmm, oh, but you already have that in the US !

--
ICQ# 114297372

Ken wrote...
>
>I have two daughters in college and I know that they will not remember
>often to back up their computers.
>
>I am wondering if it is a consideration to purchase a router with a VPN
>or to purchase a program that will set up a VPN to allow them to back up
>their computers to one of our home computers that I use just for storage
>(it is an XP box with 600Gb of storage). If so, what programs/hardware
>would I need?

At home, I always try to train my 12-years-old boy to take care
of himself, even he is still not doing it quite well yet.

At work, I always try to teach my fellow workers to solve their
problems by themselves first, before comming to me asking for help.

If you solve the problems for them, they will come to you every
single time. And I do not enjoy pampering other people.

Harry <(E-Mail Removed)_> wrote
> Ken wrote...

>> I have two daughters in college and I know that they
>> will not remember often to back up their computers.

>> I am wondering if it is a consideration to purchase a router with
>> a VPN or to purchase a program that will set up a VPN to allow
>> them to back up their computers to one of our home computers
>> that I use just for storage (it is an XP box with 600Gb of storage).
>> If so, what programs/hardware would I need?

> At home, I always try to train my 12-years-old boy to take
> care of himself, even he is still not doing it quite well yet.

> At work, I always try to teach my fellow workers to solve their
> problems by themselves first, before comming to me asking for help.

> If you solve the problems for them, they will come to you every
> single time. And I do not enjoy pampering other people.

On the other hand, with something done as unreliably as
backup, there is a lot to be said for a fully automated solution.

And the bandwidth requirement should be minimal if the backup is
incremental and not just mindless brute force image backup at a high rate.

Rod Speed wrote...

>> Ken wrote...
>
>>> I have two daughters in college and I know that they
>>> will not remember often to back up their computers.
>
>>> I am wondering if it is a consideration to purchase a router with
>>> a VPN or to purchase a program that will set up a VPN to allow
>>> them to back up their computers to one of our home computers
>>> that I use just for storage (it is an XP box with 600Gb of storage).
>>> If so, what programs/hardware would I need?

>On the other hand, with something done as unreliably as
>backup, there is a lot to be said for a fully automated solution.
>
>And the bandwidth requirement should be minimal if the backup is
>incremental and not just mindless brute force image backup at a high rate.

Agree.

Also found a link for the OP.
http://www.backup-for-workgroups.com...netmirror.html

Paul Atreides wrote:
> In article <Z7adnfbFiqUCzMLeRVn-(E-Mail Removed)>,
> (E-Mail Removed) says...
> > Please don't, even if you find a way to do so. Having tens
> > of
> > thousands of college kids backing up hundreds of GBs of HD
> > each,
> > every night or even every
> > week, will consume a major portion of the world's bandwidth.
> > What a waste.
>
> Au contraire!
> In this case, we'll all soon be on a 10 Gbps network.
> Hmmm, oh, but you already have that in the US !

Not in my part of the US.

--


Travis in Shoreline Washington

Bob Willard <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote
> Ken wrote

>> I have two daughters in college and I know that they will not remember often
>> to back up their computers.

>> I am wondering if it is a consideration to purchase a router with a VPN or to
>> purchase a program that will set up a VPN to allow them to back up their
>> computers to one of our home computers that I use just for storage (it is an
>> XP box with 600Gb of storage). If so, what programs/hardware would I need?

> Please don't, even if you find a way to do so. Having tens of thousands of
> college kids backing up hundreds of GBs of HD each, every night or even every
> week, will consume a major portion of the world's bandwidth.

And proper incremental backup wont.

> What a waste.

Only if that mindlessly crude approach is used.

Its actually something crying out for a decent commercial solution, stupid.

Paul Atreides wrote:

> In article <Z7adnfbFiqUCzMLeRVn-(E-Mail Removed)>,
> (E-Mail Removed) says...
>> Please don't, even if you find a way to do so. Having tens of thousands
>> of college kids backing up hundreds of GBs of HD each, every night or
>> even every
>> week, will consume a major portion of the world's bandwidth. What a
>> waste.
>
> Au contraire!
> In this case, we'll all soon be on a 10 Gbps network.
> Hmmm, oh, but you already have that in the US !
>
not hardly! 99% of of those on high speed connections are paying 30-50 US
dollars per month for Broadband with transfer rates somewhere around 3-15
Mbits/sec download and 256-512k bits/sec upload. Nearly all the rest are on
either DSL or dial up. There is a very small number of poeple who are using
special university networks that allow very high speeds for very specific
types of transfers and not for general purpose every day Internet use.
There ain't no such thing as a free lunch!
Eric