Create Your Own Cross-Platform Backup Server

Feature: Create Your Own Cross-Platform Backup Server

This looks pretty cool... it uses the same concept as say Veritas BackupExec and other enterprise backup software solutions where they "pull" the files to be backed up instead of the client "pushing" them to the server/share.

As my friend mentioned, the problem with this solution is what if the IP changes on a client machine and there is no dynamic DNS registration taking place. This solution seems directed at consumers for their homes, and most houses do not have dynamic DNS registration setup on their private network. I personally do, but I'm not a normal consumer.

With that said, this is still a cool solution that seems to be pretty easy to setup for cross-platform backups. However, the one common thread across Windows, OS X and Linux (the most common OSes for consumers) is the ability to attach to a Samba (SMB) share. So, really, all you need is a Samba share that your clients can connect to and then you can easily push the files. This could even be accomplished over the internet from a laptop not on your home network quite frankly. There is more setup involved on the firewall side of things, but it's possible with a push solution where the pull will not be able to find the laptop if it's not on the home network.