How to send large files to a remote computer (backup)
 

Hello,

I would like to have my file server (debian) at my office do an automatic backup of certain files. The files are about 50MB or so in size. I would like the backup to occur each night and send the files to my home computer.

What are my options?

I have tried to send via email, but the files are too large and are not sent.

Thanks

Given that this is an office computer, I'd suggest that you start with your network administrator. Your company may have a policy that prevents you from doing such a thing. OTOH, they may have VPN setup and allow you to do it, though this sort of thing is usually not in a company's best interests. Your best bet would really be to discuss the need for backups with your network administrator.

If you're self-employed or the owner of the business, then this is obviously a different issue. If that's the case, let us know and I'm sure you'll get several useful ideas.

This will definitely require cooperation from your employer's IT dept. You have several options, just off the top of my head:

1. Ask the sysadmin to set up an FTP cron job to send the file to you
2. Assuming you have VPN, save the backup file to a network drive, then log in from home and retrieve it
3. If you don't have VPN, ask the sysadmin to open a hole in the corporate firewall to permit you to access/download the file. (This is unlikely to be approved)

I'm sure there are other options, eg, if you can save the file locally, and have a USB pendrive, you can probably just copy them........

Thanks for the responses, but maybe I should clarify.

I am the IT dept (self employed) small business running a network of 6 computers with a debian file server.

I have been saving files with a thumbdrive, but in the chaos of my days, I don't make the backup most days. I really want to automate the task.

So FTP is probably the way to go with this?

Check into secure ftp if you don't want to see the contents of your files on some website or in the hands of your competitors. If you're not in need of the data at home, you could also consider hiring Yahoo or someone else to keep your backups online. That would get you out of the business of running a secure ftp server and just let you have off-site backups.