I didn't get any responses to my original query from people who were doing
cloud based backups, but I did get a number of requests for information
about what I found out.
There were multiple responses from Canada, where there are legal
restrictions on universities storing data in cloud based servers, because
of security and privacy concerns. Although I'm not aware of any similar
U.S. laws, I took the precaution of removing things like web browsing
histories and caches from the backup data stream.
I ended up using the Livedrive service. They have very nice software
packages for Windows and Macs that run unobtrusively in the background,
although no similar application so far for Linux. One of their packages
includes the feature of direct ssh based access to upload files and a web
client to download them anywhere, where you can grant password based
access to specific people to whatever files you choose to let them see. I
thought the ssh service might work automagically with rsync from my Linux
boxes, but in practice, I found their servers were many hops away and this
left a lot of room for mysterious timeouts and it didn't have the
reliability I had hoped for.
The easiest solution was to pay a few extra bucks on top of the base price
and opt in for automatic backup of network/external drives which I export
from Linux to Windows using Samba. Then the transfer to their servers is
done by their Windows client, and it all happens in the background.
Should they introduce a Linux client, I'd use it, but for now I've got
what I want.
David VanderVelde
Manager, High Resolution NMR Facility, Caltech
davidv_at_caltech.edu
Received on Thu Feb 23 2012 - 09:37:51 MST