Offsite Backup Business - ideas and suggestions please.

[Thread_Necro]

I currently own my own computer business that services on the east coast, its just me so finding extra ways to earn revenue is a concern.

I came up with the idea of offering an offsite data backup service.

What I would like to offer:

• multi-platform file backup ability
• automated bi-hourly backups of all data
• a web interface to monitor files backed up and add new directories
• the ability to connect from any computer on the net and download/upload files ( basically FTP )
• Support at least 4 TB of drives' mirrored in raid 1 for security
• Support at least 20 simultaneous users backup up files

Ideas thus far:
I was thinking as a beginning testbed I would impliment an FTP on a server 2003 platform. The user account i would setup per customer would be tied to the NT login (allowing me to set disk quotas) and simultaneously work as the ftp login cridentials. i could install apache or IIS to be a frontend for the FTP login, however i would need a configurable client/server program that allows for adding files to be backed up.

Another idea was to install a VPN network and an automated backup software on each customer machine and have it connect to a mapped drive through the vnp and transfer data on a bi-hourly basis. The problem with this is interoperability between windows platforms and linux platforms.

Server & Connection:
The computer I would begin with would be either a:

1. AMD AthlonFX52 - 2GB ram
2. 3x P4 Dell Dimensions clustered with 2003 enterprise edition

Would it be advisable to purchase a NAS? or a seperate storage medium? Should i drop the cash on a quad core 8gb system with 4TB non raid immediately? The computer would host All services, such as web interface, ftp and remote file management. i also have avalable a server 2003 cluster running 3 old p4 dells. Could i find use in their redundancy? I am also currently running on verizon business, where the ip is no static. Should i look to get Comcast highest speed i can get and pray the IP stays static?

Questions I have are:

• should i go with Linux or Windows as my platform
• should i trust all the open source programs and try those to lower overhead?
• Is it possible to impliment Hamachi as my VPN or is that too unsecure and slow?
• The program "Cobian Backup" has been a very nice data backup program thus far, but is there one better suited to my needs?

I am very (and i mean very) open to suggestions on what you think would work well. The only idea im not open to is a "give up, other people offer that service already" schtick.

Software I've tested for this:
Hamachi - VNP program
Cobian - backup software

[Steve R Jones]

Couple of ideas to throw at ya....

1) Shop a few dozen companies in your area that are already doing this to get some picing info and ideas.

2) Touch base with several of your existing clients to see if they'd be interested in doing this for approx XX amount per month.

[Linda Lynch]

I own a computer business too and can certainly understand wanting to make more money - especially recurring revenue.

What you are proposing sounds like a lot of work to me and I wonder if you have given sufficient thought to the risk you will be assuming for your clients. You will be responsible if they need their data from the offsite location, so above all you had better be sure that you really have it.

If I were you, I would look for solutions that will do what you want, but don't provide their service to the general public. Many of these services allow you to brand it with your logo and your service name. That will also allow you to use data centers that are not in your geographic area without you having to worry about the logistics or the details of the hardware configuration.

I hope you don't think that is a 'just let someone else handle it' answer. I believe that while there are a lot of solutions, it has not been widely adopted by small business, so I think that this is a market that has a lot of potential.

Unfortunately, I don't have a product recommendation that will meet all of your requirements. We use eFolder to backup up critical data from workstations and I do believe that they have multi-platform support. We have branded this under our name.

For server backup, Windows only, we are using the Zenith Backup and Data Recovery solution.

If you are really interested in providing Business Continuity services, check out Xilocore. I just talked to them at CompTIA Breakaway and this is an impressive product at a reasonable price. If your client has a complete disaster, they will virtualize the servers and have them back in business via the internet very quickly. They do have multi-platform support as well.

Be aware that this is a C Level sale - you are selling insurance to the business owner and you will have to have a business owner to business owner conversation to sell it.

We have been offering remote backup services to our clients for a couple of years and have tried several solutions. My experience tells me that I want to give up a bit of my revenue to let someone else share the risk. The margins are still very good, and once we have the setup completed, it is very little on-going effort.