Well this is probably relevant - home FTP server for backups?

I have a dual sossaman box running WCG. Not a lot of horsepower but it is a fun little 2P box :D Anyway, I have some friends who have local backups of their stuff but like the idea of having offsite backup. So we looked into the typical Carbonite, etc, but then I got the idea that maybe I should look into hosting my very own FTP server they could then back up to. Saves them money, it could be fun to do, I could use it for other things, and hey, the box is running already anyway :D They would run their backups at night so it won't affect my internet or theirs too much... my download rate is far faster than their uploads combined, so that's a non-issue.

So... ideas of how to go about this? The box currently has XP Pro but that's just what I had lying around when I set it up. I could go with something else.

Also, I have a dynamic IP as is typical, so I'd need some sort of dynamic DNS service I guess. There used to be some free ones but not sure if they are or not or which is recommended, or whatever. So info for that would be helpful too.

Danke!

My FTP server, running on my good old sammy (one of them that is), uses FileZilla Server which has treated me well. For IP, I have a 'dynamic' IP as well, but it only changes once every few months so I just update the dns manually.

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Originally Posted by Nirvash

My FTP server, running on my good old sammy (one of them that is), uses FileZilla Server which has treated me well. For IP, I have a 'dynamic' IP as well, but it only changes once every few months so I just update the dns manually.

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Using filezilla as well, officially I have dynamic IP, but, I got 3 static IP, not sure why they call it dynamic.... ;) I have locked my IP to the routers MAC, works pretty well for me.
As for OS..... Win7 works the magic for me...

Sammy's make perfect FTP servers and the dynamic IP isn't really a hassle..Just check your IP and your buddies will definately let you know.

The thing with the dynamic IP and the backups is these people won't check to see if it is actually backing up or not, or remember how to change the settings when there is an IP change. I would like to make it a "set it and forget it" thing so it just works.

Subscribed.

Looking forward to what you come up with Sparky. I have a Sammy rig that Dave gave me. Been running for probably a couple months now. I want to use it as a NAS but, not sure exactly how to do it. I know this isn't the same as what you're trying but, I'm still curious. May need to do something like this in the future.

Filezilla server here too. Great piece of software. My friends and I have our own home servers and we browse each other's to get our files etc.
Does anybody know if Filezilla server supports FXP so our servers can sync without any browsing?

Regarding the dynamic IP, you can write a small script that checks your external IP regularly and sends an email to the user if the IP has changed since the last check.
You can use http://checkip.dyndns.com/ which should be easy to parse.
I'm working on it right now for my FTP server. My IP does not change so often, but I want to do it just for kicks. If you are interested I can share my code with you once I get it to work.

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Originally Posted by my87csx481

I want to use it as a NAS but, not sure exactly how to do it.

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FreeNAS.org and/or napp-it is a good place to start. There is also something called OpenFiler.

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Originally Posted by Sparky

I have a dual sossaman box running WCG. Not a lot of horsepower but it is a fun little 2P box :D Anyway, I have some friends who have local backups of their stuff but like the idea of having offsite backup. So we looked into the typical Carbonite, etc, but then I got the idea that maybe I should look into hosting my very own FTP server they could then back up to. Saves them money, it could be fun to do, I could use it for other things, and hey, the box is running already anyway :D They would run their backups at night so it won't affect my internet or theirs too much... my download rate is far faster than their uploads combined, so that's a non-issue.

So... ideas of how to go about this? The box currently has XP Pro but that's just what I had lying around when I set it up. I could go with something else.

Also, I have a dynamic IP as is typical, so I'd need some sort of dynamic DNS service I guess. There used to be some free ones but not sure if they are or not or which is recommended, or whatever. So info for that would be helpful too.

Danke!

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Hi, I am all for running my own ftp server and it is fun to figure it out and so on, but I had to let you in on what I found. The website crashplan.com allows you to download their software for free to use on as many computers as you want and it allows you to back up to a HDD, different computer in your house, a friends computer off site, and of course, if you pay, you can back up to crashplan.com. I pay to be able to back up offsite but I also setup my wife and my computer to back up to eachother. The best part is that your buddy can't open your files when you back up to his computer and you can set how many system resources you can use and when you can use them. No static IP either.

I AM NOT ASSOCIATED WITH CRASHPLAN.COM GUYS!! I just thought it was really interesting and I just found out about it in a magazine. Tell me what ya'll think.

Try to avoid FTP. It is old and insecure (passwords sent over plain text... not a good idea!). Make sure you use SFTP (or something better). FreeNAS is a quick set it and forget it kind of OS (based on FreeBSD). There are still some free dynamic dns services out there. Google should provide some help with that.