Good free backup solution

[Rob de Vries]

Hi Everyone. Does anyone have suggestions for a decent backup program that can be installed on a server (server 2008 R2) as well as (server 2012 essentials) and would like to backup data to a NAS on the network

Server 2012 is backing up to another server(its predecessor) with free-nas installed
server 2008 is backing up to a Seagate NAS

I have tried Cobian which does the job but it doesnt clear old backups after time (unless im missing a setting somewhere) so the drives on the nas end up getting full.

and i cant seem to get my head around bacula

 

[Krynn72]

You have a client that can afford a server, a NAS and a tech to manage it, but not afford a $120/year license for something like Cloudberry? The time it will cost them in your wages to research and learn a "free" solution will (should) be significantly more than just buying a ready to go turnkey solution.

Or is this for your personal use? And are you looking for just files or image based too?

 

[NviGate Systems]

I think another user here mentioned Second Copy.

It's a fairly robust sync/copy program. It's not free but it does have options for clearing old backups.

The issue lies with feature sets. There is unstoppable copier, but it won't clear old backups without some help. If you used batch it might work.

 

[TurricanII]

For free and with the equipment you have: technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg318052

If your server has 300 gig then create a 500 gig virtual hard drive file on freenas. Mount it from the server then use Windows Server backup and dedicated the virtual hard drive as the destination. Windows Server backup is fairly robust and prunes older backups plus gives you the option of multiple full disc images in a compact differential backup.

One caveat with this method (also with using freenas to create a new iSCSI target to back up to) is that to do a full bare metal restore you will have to base install Windows Server 2008 R2 then reattach the virtual hard drive file and do a full server restore over the top. When you backup to a local USB hard drive you can of course just boot off the CD and kick off a full server restore immediately which saves some time.

If it's for a business then you should really spend some time and money coming up with a robust supportable solution

 

[SAFCasper]

For free and with the equipment you have: technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg318052

If your server has 300 gig then create a 500 gig virtual hard drive file on freenas. Mount it from the server then use Windows Server backup and dedicated the virtual hard drive as the destination. Windows Server backup is fairly robust and prunes older backups plus gives you the option of multiple full disc images in a compact differential backup.

One caveat with this method (also with using freenas to create a new iSCSI target to back up to) is that to do a full bare metal restore you will have to base install Windows Server 2008 R2 then reattach the virtual hard drive file and do a full server restore over the top. When you backup to a local USB hard drive you can of course just boot off the CD and kick off a full server restore immediately which saves some time.

If it's for a business then you should really spend some time and money coming up with a robust supportable solution

We have one client setup in this way. Server 2012 R2 backing up to an iSCSI target on a Synology. It has worked pretty flawlessly for about 16 months now. It sounds like @Rob de Vries just wants to backup data so BMR shouldn't be an issue.


Another option - Veeam endpoint backup works on server - https://www.veeam.com/endpoint-backup-free.html

Full system images, versioning, bootable recovery disk, email reports. We install it often for clients with unmanaged backups and it works well... although I have never actually tried it on a server.

 

[skdmaster]

I know you said free but I have found this to be great software and budget friendly http://www.todo-backup.com/

 

[Rob de Vries]

You have a client that can afford a server, a NAS and a tech to manage it, but not afford a $120/year license for something like Cloudberry? The time it will cost them in your wages to research and learn a "free" solution will (should) be significantly more than just buying a ready to go turnkey solution.

Or is this for your personal use? And are you looking for just files or image based too?

Thats the thing. Both these clients are a bit funny. We know they can afford a paid solution. And we have tried selling many options. But they asked for an alternative. Even though just buying a program to so the job would be cheaper they seem more than happy to pay for my time.

 

[Mick]

If it's purely files/data you want to back up, have a Google for Free File Sync. As the name suggests, it's a syncing tool rather than a back-up, but from what you've said, that shouldn't matter. Also can be set to include versioning. Cheap and cheerful. As has already been mentioned, Windows own, integral back up doesn't do a bad job, although I've had it behave a little flakily on 2008 - sometimes seems to 'forget' about its schedule. Quick fix for that is to change the time the back up starts by, say, 30 min, save and you're back in business.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

... use Windows Server backup ... Windows Server backup is fairly robust and prunes older backups plus gives you the option of multiple full disc images in a compact differential backup.

This.
It's already been purchased by the client...so there's no additional cost, unless you (and hopefully you do) offer managed services and will monitor it. Windows Server built in backup works quite well. While I enjoy selling higher end products, honestly even going back to the Server 2000 days...I've used the built in backup at quite a few clients, and restored stuff many times from it no problems at all! Even Exchange Server.

 

[LordIntruder]

I have tried Cobian which does the job but it doesnt clear old backups after time (unless im missing a setting somewhere) so the drives on the nas end up getting full.

What about using a batch file in which you are checking for old backups and remove them before starting Cobian from within this batch file? It might be the easiest solution in the situation you described.

 

[Matthew Bradley]

Veeam endpoint. It's free and works very well. Email notifications and a robust bare metal restore process. It creates an ISO at the time of installation and will allow recovery to a VM or different physical hardware.

 

[Rob de Vries]

Thanks Everyone for your replies. Will have a look at everyone suggestions

 

[timeshifter]

Another vote for Veeam Endpoint Backup. It's free and will backup physical servers and workstations. I'm a big fan of the product. It's stand-out feature is the recovery disk. When you install the software it will create recovery media, an ISO or a bootable disk or whatever you need. What's cool is that it will inject the drivers needed FOR THE PC YOU'RE INSTALLING ON. (I've been down the other road many times before, one time spending almost three hours trying to inject a driver for a Windows Server Essentials client PC restore for a Dell PC's built-in network card. It was not fun).

https://www.veeam.com/endpoint-backup-free.html

but not afford a $120/year license for something like Cloudberry?

You scared me a bit and correct me if I am wrong. The Cloudberry program for a Windows Server is a one time license fee for $119. From there you pay monthly for storage to a hosting company. Looks like there's a $24 annual maintenance fee for Cloudberry, but it's not $120 / year?