Backup System For 5 PC SMB

@BRRABill said:

@scottalanmiller said:

I have backup servers at home.

And what would YOU do if your main server died at home?

Fail over to another one, like anyone would do.

But, no one is doing that for desktops.

All kidding aside, he's correct there. Even at home I have a desktop for permanent work and a laptop for mobile work and my data is stored on server(s) - that way I can access my data from any machine, if one were to fail I can just work from another while replacing the one that has failed, etc. And I can work from anywhere.

scottalanmiller

My sister in law's family is not technical in any way. They are a family of six that previously only had a single old Athlon64 single core machine with like1 GB of RAM that they all shared. But they have now moved to Google Chromebooks and so now they are all able to share files, everything is backed up, they can work from anywhere and replacing a failed machine is as simple as getting to another Chromebook and voila, back in business.

While theirs is a very basic setup, they are able to own as little as you can imagine and spend almost nothing and have a very robust, easy to use and well maintained environment. It patches itself, backs itself up, does nearly everything on its own. It's quite nice for those that do not need extended features.

BRRABill

@Chris

I am going back to my (US-based) backup vendors on this one.

Can you explain to me specifically why you cannot
a -- make a full backup of my Windows 7/8/10 system
and
b -- spin that backup image up temporarily in a virtual environment (virtualbox, etc.)

I am still hearing from them that you can (and that they work directly with Microsoft), so I'd like to present them with your direct words on the issue, and get a response from them.

Thanks!

Jason

@BRRABill said:

@Chris

I am going back to my (US-based) backup vendors on this one.

Can you explain to me specifically why you cannot
a -- make a full backup of my Windows 7/8/10 system
and
b -- spin that backup image up temporarily in a virtual environment (virtualbox, etc.)

I am still hearing from them that you can (and that they work directly with Microsoft), so I'd like to present them with your direct words on the issue, and get a response from them.

Thanks!

The issue whether the technology allows you to or not. The issue is the EULA does not allow you to do that. Say for Example if you ran Server 2012 R2 you could do this. Those software products are made for server not desktop OSes.

BRRABill

@Jason said:

The issue whether the technology allows you to or not. The issue is the EULA does not allow you to do that. Say for Example if you ran Server 2012 R2 you could do this. Those software products are made for server not desktop OSes.

But I am hearing back from them you can 100% do this with Microsoft desktops. I mean, they are selling a product designed to do this, for Windows.

BRRABill

Regardless of whether it is a good idea or not, I'd just like to know the answer.

dafyre

@BRRABill said:

Regardless of whether it is a good idea or not, I'd just like to know the answer.

Best way to get an answer: Try it and see if it works.

BRRABill

@dafyre said:

Best way to get an answer: Try it and see if it works.

It definitely works.

Jason

@dafyre said:

@BRRABill said:

Regardless of whether it is a good idea or not, I'd just like to know the answer.

Best way to get an answer: Try it and see if it works.

Works isn't the issue. The issue is licensing.

BRRABill

@Jason said:

Works isn't the issue. The issue is licensing.

Exactly. I am a "i" dotter and "t" crosser.

Jason

@BRRABill said:

@Jason said:

The issue whether the technology allows you to or not. The issue is the EULA does not allow you to do that. Say for Example if you ran Server 2012 R2 you could do this. Those software products are made for server not desktop OSes.

But I am hearing back from them you can 100% do this with Microsoft desktops. I mean, they are selling a product designed to do this, for Windows.

Yes, it's designed for windows and you CAN do it with Desktops but that doesn't make it legal. I can install a single seat of software on all of our computers but that does not make it legal.

Jason

@BRRABill said:

Regardless of whether it is a good idea or not, I'd just like to know the answer.

He's already went over this. This would be considered a VDI deployment.

BRRABill

@Jason said:

@BRRABill said:

Regardless of whether it is a good idea or not, I'd just like to know the answer.

He's already went over this. This would be considered a VDI deployment.

I wanted to give him an opportunity to more specifically answer to the exact scenario I am talking about.

I get the feeling if I copy and paste his original response, they'll come back with a "we're not doing that".

scottalanmiller

@BRRABill said:

@Chris

I am going back to my (US-based) backup vendors on this one.

Can you explain to me specifically why you cannot
a -- make a full backup of my Windows 7/8/10 system
and
b -- spin that backup image up temporarily in a virtual environment (virtualbox, etc.)

I am still hearing from them that you can (and that they work directly with Microsoft), so I'd like to present them with your direct words on the issue, and get a response from them.

Thanks!

Because it's VDI. Which US vendor is saying this? Maybe they should be told to post here?

scottalanmiller

@dafyre said:

@BRRABill said:

Regardless of whether it is a good idea or not, I'd just like to know the answer.

Best way to get an answer: Try it and see if it works.

That's not how you determining licensing Unless you mean "request an audit and see if you get dinged."