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:
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