For the time being, I've got a solution that seems to work from a technical standpoint. On the office's backup drive, I've got a batch script that copies any new or changed files from the Documents folder and the Desktop:
Code: Select all
@echo off
setlocal
:: Source and destination directories
set srcdir=%USERPROFILE%
set destdir=.\Backups\%COMPUTERNAME%\%USERNAME%
:: The subdirectories of %srcdir% to copy
set subdirs=Documents Desktop
:: Options for robocopy
set rc_mode=/MIR /R:0 /XJD /FFT /LOG:backup_%%d.log /TEE
set rc_exclude=/XF *.lnk /XF desktop.ini /XF *.ost
set rc_opts=%rc_mode% %rc_exclude%
for %%d in (%subdirs%) do (
robocopy %srcdir%\%%d %destdir%\%%d %rc_opts%
:: if %ERRORLEVEL% > 7, robocopy failed to copy one or more files.
if %ERRORLEVEL% gtr 7 pause
)
Anyway, I've been trying to find a better alternative, but I'm having a hard time finding one that works much better.
I've looked at third-party backup software, but the main issue with most of it is that recovering files requires the original software, which could be an issue if we stop using a particular backup program. Additionally, very few programs seem to support reverse-incremental backup, which appears to be the best type of solution.
The built-in backup function in Windows looks like it would be OK, but it's geared toward an automated backup, which means that the backup disk must always be available. Since we don't have any kind of NAS, we'd either have to buy new hardware or leave a computer running overnight, which would use more power than I'd like.
We could also just have the user copy the files manually. That's the solution that is outlined in the Church's sample backup strategy for mission offices, but considering the number of files we have, copying all of those files would take a considerable amount of time. The manual copy also introduces a significant possibility of human error, and in the end, we may end up back where we started: no backups at all. Our "tech guy" from the stake prefers the manual backup strategy because he distrusts automatic backups, but I trust a polished backup program more than untrained office missionaries.
Anyway, I'm basically just looking for advice. Is there some kind of reverse-incremental backup system that we could use to back up multiple computers without needing a NAS or any special software to restore files (at least from the most recent backup like you can with rdiff-backup)?