Chapter 5. BackupPC

Most small businesses and home networks now have a mix of machines to back up: desktops, servers, and laptops, often with a variety of operating systems. To this challenge, add the fact that they do not have tape robots or the money for a high-end tape solution. Now throw in the problem of laptops, which by design are mobile and may not be on the local LAN in the middle of the night when backups typically run.

Most open-source solutions are not designed to solve this particular set of problems. Some don't support disconnected or Windows DHCP clients. Others don't allow users to schedule their own backups or restores. Finally, most of these solutions require installing additional software on the machine to be backed up, creating challenges with machines that are not centrally administered, such as Linux systems or Mac laptops.

This chapter was contributed by Don Harper, Global Linux Engineer for JP Morgan/Chase. Don is a second-generation computer professional (his father was lead systems analyst for Shell Oil in the '70s) and has been making his living working with Unix systems since 1987, from work in startups to large multinationals.