Using an old Dell PC as a HD backup for network.

MurX · 03-16-2006, 06:26 PM

I have a very old Dell PC with a 4GB HDD and I was thinking of adding a new HDD, a wireless network card and installing a basic server distro of Ubuntu. I would then use the machine to backup all of my files on the home network automatically at say 2am when I know that nothing is going to be happending.

Is this a feasable proposition? I could leave the machine switched on 247 and only have to do anything with it if I needed to recover any files?

The machine is very old indeed, probably about 8 years so.

nickj6282 · 03-16-2006, 07:11 PM

This is a feasible way to run backups. One thing is to make sure that the backup server has the Keyboard and Mouse error messages disabled on boot so you can stick it in a closet and run it headless. I have used a solution like this to make backups too. Just create yourself a shell script to copy what you want over to the backup server and set up a cron job to run it at 2am (or whenever).

MurX · 03-17-2006, 02:45 AM

Thanks for that Nickj. Could you do me a favour and tell me how to disable the KB and Mouse errors messages please. Putting it in a closet and running it headless is exactly what I plan to do.

Also, I would really appreciate it if you could send me a copy of your shell script, obviously taking our anything in there that is security sensitive, it would prevent me from having to re-invent the wheel.

thanks again.

enine · 03-17-2006, 12:54 PM

somehwere in the hardware/bios setup should be that option. rsync is supposed to be good for backups because it will compare files and only send the changes. I have a small mini-itx system that I just setup to do this myself.

nickj6282 · 03-18-2006, 01:06 AM

For most Dell machines, just press the F2 key during POST and find the option labeled "Suppress keyboard error" or something like that. Basically you want it to not complain when booting if a keyboard/mouse is not present. If you're not sure if it's already set, just turn the machine off, disconnect the keyboard and mouse and leave the monitor, and turn it on. If it boots to your OS then you're golden, if not then you'll need to make the BIOS changes.

MurX · 03-18-2006, 02:06 AM

Thanks Nick,

Could you post your backup script here or post the commands that I need to enter. I understnad if you are reluctant to do so.

I assume I will need to do something along the lines of cp * *