Ask the Network Guy!

In a previous article I wrote about the different ways to backup a single computer. I discussed single drives to RAID sets, internal and external. One of the questions that came from that article was concerning backing up multiple computers. So In this article, I would like to develop our previous topic on backups and bring in the situation about multiple computers. This is always a challenge for some offices and nowadays for home computers users. It use to be that the only place that one would find 3,4 or 5 computers not connected in a network but sharing some resources was in a small office. This is no longer true as the prices of computers have fallen dramatically. Where a family felt lucky to have a single computer we have evolved to families where everyone has a computer/laptop. Add to this the larger and larger hard drives that are being installed in these new computers and we have a recipe for disaster. One where someone has lost all of their documents, photos or music; without a backup in place.

So what are the options for this type of situation? One of the fundamental issues that co-exist with this one is how does one build a home network, without spending a fortune, all the while maintaining some sort of security. So to answer the first question we first have to answer some others before moving forward. Home networks typically fall into the ad-hoc variety, meaning that they are not logging into a Domain Controller to gain special authentication to talk to other network resources. Ad-hoc also means that the computers are typically in a workgroup mode with each computer taking care of its own security, file sharing, etc. This is all good and so forth, until one need to share documents, etc. Being in an ad-hoc mode can also create issues with doing backups, and in ways of protecting your data. If you have a backup drive such as we talked about in the article “I'm looking for an External Hard Drive” how do you connect your other computers to the one with the backup drive? Better yet how does one maintain security, because if you share out the drive to others so they can backup their files, then that computer is now vulnerable?

Now that we have talked about ad-hoc networks, we need to answer some questions that will help to shape your solution.

· Can I create an ad-hoc network and maintain security?

· Are there other options to ad-hoc networks?

· Can I use a simple USB Drive?

Yes, you can have an ad hoc computer network system and maintain security! The best way to accomplish this is to keep the firewalls enabled on your computers/laptops and to use a NAS (Network Attached Storage) unit for saving data. This is a special unit that you install on your network and it handles its own security. You can then logon to the NAS unit and upload your files. There are several vendors that provide these units and the prices are not too bad ($300 - $400) Not including drives. This solution will allow all computers to connect, and each user can have their own password, etc. Some units even will act as a print server solving that issue as well.

But what if I do not want an Ad-hoc system? What can I do for my house that will not cost me a fortune and allow me to share resources and maintain security? For this solution, I recommend Home Server by Microsoft. The home server does not run AD (Active Directory, commonly used in business locations), but it does provide a central security system. You will want to make sure that the user account on your PC matches the user account on the Home Server. Accounts on the Home Server are for accessing data only, they do not allow for access to other computers. So you will want to makw sure that you have your own account on all computers that you will need access.

Home server will allow for RAID, so you can ensure that you have data redundancy, allows for up to 10 users, and has an easy to use interface for sharing our documents, folders, etc. The best part is now you will be able to get to your files from any computer on the network. Remember that you will still want a firewall running on your computers or between your ISP and your router.

Yes, you can use a USB drive to store data, but this solution does not allow for access to files from any computer at the same time. Therefore, when you are trying to find your photos from the last vacation, your kids cannot be accessing their MP3 files and listen to their music.

Both the NAS solution and the Home Server solution will provide data redundancy, access to files, and for the most part rather cost effective. Both will require a little setup and configuration, but overall the labor and time involved is no too bad, even for a true novice.