Need this feature if possible.

 

Just need the server to scan for the pc's and auto back up periodically (say daily or once a week)

 

I'm currently looking at upgrading to Windows Home Server 2011 for this but will stay if there is a solution.

 

It's not a full back up I'm looking for. Just certain folders and files.

 

I also have a mac book so it would be a nice bonus if I could get the unraid server to back up this.

You need to have a tool run on your pc to do that... I am using Genie Timeline, location the backup gets stored is my unraid server, works great.

OK. Sorry I thought I had to get something on Unraid.

 

Have you tried a few? Is Genie Timeline the best?

 

Are there any recommendations for a mac?

For a mac I would not know but I compared a few a couple of months back for the pc and liked this one best. Its easy, not a lot of options and "just works", it can continuously backup but to avoid that causing disks to be spun up all the time I have set it to a daily sequence. I do not notice any performance degradation on my pc either.

Did a search on alternativeto.net for genie timeline and it suggested crash plan.

 

Might try this as it seems compatible with windows and mac. Not sure I can set it to the unraid server though.

 

Failing that I'll try genie timeline for my windows laptop.

If you just want certain folders backed up on the Windows box, you could always just use robocopy.

 

i have a robocopy script that kicks off daily that backs up my work folders to my unraid. I also have a WHS2011 full back up nightly.

 

For the mac you could set up a time machine back up or use rsync (you could use rsync on windows also) to back up to unRAID

 

for the laptops you could:

 

set the my documents to go to the unraid server, and set them to work offline (doesnt give backup as such)

 

i use macrium reflect (machine has to be on)

 

once a week it kicks off and takes an image of my c drive onto the unraid server.  If my machine isnt running on saturday at midnight, next time it turns on , it takes an image of it.

 

also once a month takes a copy of the unraid usb pen and dumps it to my computer.

 

Did a search on alternativeto.net for genie timeline and it suggested crash plan.

 

Might try this as it seems compatible with windows and mac. Not sure I can set it to the unraid server though.

 

Yes, CrashPlan is *perfect* for the need you described. I have been using it for Mac OS (Lion) and Windows 7, and I plan to soon set it up on my unRaid server (build in progress). It's 100% free if you chose to perform backups through your own network. You can have your unRaid server just waiting at all times for incoming backups, and tell your laptops to automatically perform backups at certain times/days.  Crashplan also lets you receive (if desired) email reminders if you haven't backed up in # of days, which I find extremely helpful. Another useful feature is that you can select all or just some folders for it to backup. Perhaps most importantly of all in a file backup program, Crashplan is very easy to restore files (1 at a time, or folder-by-folder). Many backup programs I've found were dead simple to backup but were very difficult to restore files when needed.

+1 for crashplan

I have been using crash plan free for about a year and it works great. Took me about an hour to setup and I am not a linux person at all.

For my PC I use Acronis because I am using it for both data and system backups so that I can restore my system after a crash.

 

However, if all I was backing up were data and personal profiles (and that is all I'm doing with my GF's laptop) then another tool I use and really like is Allwaysync (http://allwaysync.com/).  one-way and two-way sync, local or remote (via ftp), scheduled runs, easy to use filters, nice GUI, etc etc  Think of it like rsync with a windows gui front end.

 

It is free for "personal use"  Personal use in this case is defined by the amount of data being synced. When I was having to backup the results of a SO's weekend photography jobs (10s of GB's) and then again the results of her editing (another 10's of GB) I quickly hit the limit and had to go "Pro".  For $19 it was well worth it, and frankly I figured it was just nice to support a dev who over the years has also been very active in improving AWS.

 

PS: for a typical PC user not generating gigs of pix every weekend, the free version should have more than enough headroom.  I actually ran that way for the first two months even with all the pix being generated until I got even more anal about backup frequency

for windows:

acronis seems the best since it can do a 'bare metal' restore which i believe CrashPlan cannot.

 

i did some research & testing a year or two ago and acronis seemed the best.

 

i have since had to restore two of my systems (one was to a new motherboard!!) without issue

 

all you do is pop the bootable acronis dvd into your computer and it will find your backup images on unraid for the restore

 

acronis is not free though

 

good luck,

 

steve

 

Try EASEUS Todo Backup... muck cleaner than Acronis and much less impact on your system.

 

http://download.cnet.com/Easeus-Todo-Backup-Free/3000-2242_4-10964460.html

and easeus is free

 

most reviewers have a clear preference for acronis though

 

try googling "easeus acronis review"

 

here is example:

http://www.johndscomputers.com/2012/backup-and-restore/backup-considerations-3-clonezilla-acronis-easeus-and-paragon/

 

steve