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Setup Puzzle...Can You Solve?

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Ok guys I have a puzzle for you and I think there are many options but I'd like some input from the experts as to the best way to configure everything so that it works the best. Follow along:

Here is what I have:
1 Desktop - Used for Home and business apps, heavy graphics, has USB 3.0 and lots of RAM
1 Laptop - Used for business and personal (MS Office, Pcitures, Adobe CS5)
1 Laptop - Used for wife (Facebook, email, pictures etc)
1 NAS - 2 x 1.5TB Hard Disks, Has CAT5 and 2 x USB 2.0 ports
1 Wireless Cable Modem - Wireless, only 1 CAT5 (ethernet) port
1 Wireless Router - Wireless and 5 Gigabit Ethernet Ports
1 External HD - 2TB has USB 3.0
1 Acronis TI 2011

What happened:
Had most info (Pics, Programs, Vids, Docs) stored on Desktop. Nasty virus tore everything up. I vowed to never let a virus win again! I ordered recovery media for Desktop and both laptops. Bought 2tb external and got all important pics off desktop.

What I want to do:
Heres the idea! I want to wipe out all three PC's and restore to factory settings. Install all the programs I have right away and create a back up image of the PC's. I also want to save all my data (pics, docs, videos etc) on the NAS and have it RAID 1. If I can do this then I should be able to never worry about a virus/crash/failure etc. In case of a problem I just have a few clicks to recover the Desktops or Laptops to factory settings with all programs intact.

Here's the problem:
Whats the best way to set this up? What type of backup do I need and where should I put it. Should I:
A. Connect the router to the modem/ the Desktop, Laptops and NAS to the router / the External to the Desktop. Then back up images to the external and data to the NAS?
B. Router to modem / Desktop, Laptop and NAS to router / then the external to the NAS? I lost USB 3.0
C. Make DVD's for each PC?

Im confused!! There are proably 100 answers tot his problem. Whats the best? Please keep in mind that Im not sure what kind of back up I need and still want speed from my network. Ideas??

0 Users found this helpful

Matt,

As you guessed, you have many options. Let me share a couple of guiding principles:
- you need core image backups (disk and partition backups with ATI and/or System images with Win7 backup) for each of your system disks. These backups need to contain all partitions of your system disks, although you can exclude user data to make the backups smaller.
- you need a tested recovery CD/flash drive where you have verified you can boot your computer on, and you can access the backups.
- you need data backups. You can use file backup software from ATI, Windows, on-line providers to do this.
- you should have backup redundancy at the technology level, most importantly for irreplaceable content. If you use ATI's file backup, double this with some file replication software and/or online-backup service. If you use a proprietary file format like ATI's TIB, make sure you have another backup that doesn't.
- you should also have backup location diversification (a backup disk at home, one in the office and/or online). You rotate these destinations, and you duplicate for data that is irreplaceable.
- backing up over the network will always be very slow, and even slower over wireless, compared with a USB or USB3.0/eSata connection. It matters when you backups are big.
- if you use advanced features from ATI (non-stop backup, T&D) for system disks always make sure you have a disk and partition backup that is not too old for you to go back to.
- if you use partial backups (incremental, differential), always make sure you have a full backup that is not too old for you to go back to.
- don't hesitate to size your backup disks right. Estimate you will need at a minimum 2.5 time the size of a full backup to get a reliable backup chain scheme.