How to create a WAN

[JCROCCO]

I have a Snapserver4200 at the office. I am looking to add a T1 line to the office, a second T1 line to my House, and a second Snapserver4200 at my house for offsite backups. Both are 1tb capacity. I only have about 200-400mb of daily changed files, so nightly transfers wouldnt be a problem. Plus they backup at the byte leve, not whole files. I am running winXP but this would be backup from Snap4200 server to Snap4200 server.

I probably need to create a WAN from the office to the home for one snap server to backup to the other. What hardware is required?

Adaptec (snap) has a snap enterprise data replicator software than can work over the network on both snap servers. One can backup the other. In order for the one to backup the other, it needs to connect to the work Lan. Both are using the T1's with Static IP's.

 

[netsysadmin]

That sounds like a pretty large expense having two T1's just for backup. Why not just backup to tape and cycle them offsite?

John

 

[JCROCCO]

Been doing tape for years. On our third tape drive. It is now failing also. The last restore didnt work so well. We have 30+ gig storage currently, but increasing greatly. Taking tapes offsite daily has been problematic. Either way, we need to spend money on a new tape drive, and tapes, maybe even software. We are upgrading to a T1 anyway, and have an offer for a T1 and phone line at home for only $150 more. Its almost a wash right there from my broadband and my phone bills. Also, there are no other monthly fees, like other online backup services.

Yes, a big expense up front, but no monthly costs, and even some cost savings in there.

 

[netsysadmin]

What type of tape drive are you using right now? You know that sounds a little cheap for a T1 to a house? Are you sure that includes everything?

John

 

[JCROCCO]

Well, its an added to the $450 for the office (which include 4 telco lines, 2 cell phone, shared long distance minutes, whalemail and filesharing, efax, 800 number, web site hosting, voicemail, domain name listing, yadda yadda yadda) For the home, need to upgrade anyway, plus then I can easily work from home online, accessing all our files, plus eliminating my home phone bill and dsl charges.

Currently have a Travan40 tape drive using Tapeware backup software.

I am all ears if I can find something else. I am tired of taking tapes offsite, sitting in my car (which may damage them) every day. A tape autoloader is good, but no offiste protection from fire or theft. Offiste internet backups can be easily 300-600 month.

So, my conclusion was to do it myself with quality stuff, pay the upfront costs, and save the monthly expenses, while taking the benefits of the offers of the other money savings.

 

[InlineFive]

Why not use removable hard drives and store them in a company firesafe in your home? It's a dirt cheap solution that works pretty well.

 

[netsysadmin]

Well there is your problem...haha...Travan drive! Get a nice new DLT drive and find a local place you can store your tapes offsite such as a bank deposit box or even a local tape vaulting service.

John

 

[JCROCCO]

A firesafe may prevent contents from catching on fire, but I dont think it will be safe for tapes or hard drives. Though the inside doesn't get hot enough to combust paper, it probably can still melt or ruin sensitive hard drives and tapes. Dont you think? Really, its my oppinion, so not absolutely sure.

Either way, couple issues arise, those files are not immediately accesible, plus you still need to move them on a weekly basis, or whenever to keep them updated. Manual backups = Disaster if not done consistantly.

 

[JCROCCO]

Is DLT that much better? What about the fire safety thing, can they survive in a firesafe?

 

[netsysadmin]

Compare the MTBF between the Travan and DLT drives and tapes.Oh and anything plastic will melt inside the firesafe. The point being that the data is offsite, there is not much chance that both locations will go up in smoke at the same time. By the way what type of data are you backing up? Depending on what it is you may also have other concerns to deal with.

John

 

[JCROCCO]

Other concerns? Like what? Files are drawings, documents, and finance files, emails, etc.

 

[netsysadmin]

Well I was reffering to like if you had patient information that you may have to follow HIPAA regulations....etc. I personally dont like having backup data at home. I feel that it is too much of a security risk! That is why I suggested a bank or a tape vaulting service.

John

 

[nweaver]

you are not looking for a WAN, you already have that (any connection to the internet is going to be a WAN)

what you need is a VPN. There are several ways to do this, you could get hardware and do a site to site VPN tunnel in h/w, you could use openvpn and do it in software

 

[Genx87]

Who is bringin T1 lines to the home for 150 bucks?

 

[JCROCCO]

I would want to do a H/W VPN, so it would be on all the time. I already can VPN using software. Can XP automatically be set up to open a VPN connection for a remote backup to perform at a set time, then close at a set time? If so, I wouldnt need hardware to maintain the VPN. Does that type of connection using VPN in XP slow down the system at all and can this be done?

The package is $450 for the office, and $150 for (1) home, both FULL T1's. Both include lots of stuff. CBeyond is the provider.

 

[nweaver]

I don't use windows VPN stuff much, so not sure.


what I would do (if this were me) is to use scp and rsync to open/close an encrypted tunnel and sync. but those need Linux (maybe not need, but it's more of a pain without)

 

[JCROCCO]

I have a P2P winXP system, no server per se. No Linux. Can windows open, and close a connection automatically if so configured, and if so, HOW?

 

[nweaver]

Originally posted by: JCROCCO
I have a P2P winXP system, no server per se. No Linux. Can windows open, and close a connection automatically if so configured, and if so, HOW?

it depends on your backup S/W's capabilities.