Backup Solutions for a SOHO Network

One of the most important things you can provision in your SOHO network is a means to create regular backups of your data. Applications, as mentioned earlier, should always be copied (and the copy used, with the original safely stored elsewhere). Most software licenses allow you to make backup copies; you just can't give these backups to your friends as "evaluation copies."

But you do need to back up data files and other information on a regular basis. The frequency will be determined by weighing the cost of having to re-enter the data (or lose it). It used to be common practice to use a tape drive to back up an entire drive from a PC. Today, with disk drives with capacities now reaching 500GB (half a terabyte!), it may not be practical to wait for a backup to completeor use a more expensive tape drive costing $1,000 or more. While you can still use an expensive tape drive if you just want to copy a few important data files, you can also use a low-cost dual-layer DVD burner to do the same. Dual-layer DVD burners can use both write-once and read/write CD and DVD media, and at their price-point now (around $100), they are a viable means for creating backups for a SOHO environment.

For full system backups at a reasonable price, it's hard to beat the current crop of external USB 2.0 or IEEE-1394a hard disk drives. Most include backup software, and many also feature a single-touch backup process. After you install the backup software, push a button on the drive to start the backup. With capacities of up to 500GB, there's plenty of room to back up the entire contents of a hard disk and changes at a later point. Some backup programs create backup files small enough that you can transfer them to CD or DVD media for long-term archival storage so you can clear off your drive and have the entire contents available for another backup.

Another method you can use is to copy data from one computer to another. If you have a second drive installed on another computer, you can create a nightly batch job to copy files to that other computer. You can use this method to copy data from a set of more than two computers, ensuring that all important data files are safely stored in more than one place.

If lightning strikes, however, be sure your surge protector or UPS is capable of withstanding this kind of event, or you could still lose it all!

Networking equipment is so inexpensive today that using a single computer and exchanging data with other business associates of other computers at your SOHO is now just impractical. A small network should cost less than a few hundred dollars (depending on the number of network adapters and cables you have to buy). Most recent computers include 10/100 Ethernet adapters, and many notebook computers also include 802.11g wireless network adapters. The technology has become so simple that just about anyone who can read a few pages of documentation can have a SOHO network up and running in a few hours or less.

Tip

If you use Windows XP Service Pack 2 or greater, don't overlook one of its most useful enhancements: a wireless network setup wizard. If you are setting up a SOHO network, you can use the new wireless network wizard to set up wireless clients. Then, use the regular network setup wizard (found in all versions of Windows XP) to set up all stations (wired and wireless) for network name and shared resources. Both wizards can be run on older versions of Windows by creating setup media when prompted. The Network Setup Wizard can also be run from the Windows XP CD.