CrashPlan#

Evaluation#

Until 9/7/2009 I used KeepVault and was getting unlimited backup for $99/year, but they raised prices.

I switched to Mozy in September 2009 with a roundabout backup plan that I blogged.

In 2012 I switched to CrashPlan. From a cost/benefit perspective, CrashPlan is a clear winner.

  • Unlimited backup

  • Backs up network mounted drives

  • Runs on any OS (Linux for the Synology, Windows clients and servers, etc.)

Mounting Drives#

CrashPlan supports backup of mounted network drives, but getting one mounted for the SYSTEM account is easier said than done. This StackOverflow article shows how to use Sysinternals psexec to mount a network drive for the SYSTEM account; but it’s better to use a script to mount things using Windows Startup Scripts via group policy instead.

First, create a batch file like this that creates a log (for troubleshooting) and mounts the drives via the net use command.

echo %date% %time% : "%cd%\mount_crashplan_shares.bat" >> C:\Windows\Temp\mount.log 2>&1
net use V: "\\diskstation\video\Home Videos" /USER:DISKSTATION\admin password >> C:\Windows\Temp\mount.log 2>&1

Now set up Local Computer Policy so the script runs at Windows startup:

../../_images/startupscript.png

CrashPlan is set up on the Windows Home Server to back up all shares on the home server. It also has mapped drives for:

  • Home Videos - V: @ \\diskstation\video\Home Videos

  • Plex Database - W: @ \\megaplex\Plex