Thanks to all who replied. You all basically confirmed my feeling that using our web server as the backup server was not best practice. I just hoped we might get by without buying another computer, even though it wouldn't need to be a very expensive one. The only spare computer we have now is an old XP box with some type of Celeron processor. Maybe I'll use that to set up a test system, then get a better one for production.
One additional question: are there any advantages to any particular flavor of Linux for BPC? Mike On Mar 10, 2011, at 9:10 AM, Michael Stowe wrote: >> I'm looking at BackupPC and other options for a network-wide backup system >> in the museum where I work. We have about 10 Windows computers, one OS X, >> one web server running CENTOS 5.5, and an NAS (and may be adding another). >> Note that my Linux knowledge is still limited but growing as I look at >> more open source stuff. >> >> I've been reading the documentation and various other things on the web, >> and one basic question I'm unsure about is whether it is possible or >> advisable to run BPC on the web server. Is this even possible given the >> Apache needs of BPC? It does seem that the program would work best on >> dedicated computer, and then copy or archive the backups to another disk >> or NAS for safety. But since we currently only have one Linux machine >> (which is 64 bit and has open slots for additional drives), I was >> wondering if it could be used, perhaps by limiting access of the cgi >> scripts to localhost or network ip addresses. Also, if it is run on the >> server, can it backup parts of the file system on the server? For example, >> backup /var/www/html to its pool. > > Yes. > > Apache can have per-directory and per-virtual controls. Having all the > backups on an externally-facing web server is a really bad idea only from > a security standpoint -- since a compromised server would essentially > provide access to every file everywhere as well as authentication > information for every machine (depending on how you set it up.) If it's > an internal server, there's not a whole lot of worry, then. > > Backing up the server from the same server guards against everything but > complete loss of the server (obviously) so if you're concerned at all > about losing the web server, you probably want to also consider archiving > your backups at the very least. > >> Thanks for any help. >> >> Mike >> >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> Colocation vs. Managed Hosting >> A question and answer guide to determining the best fit >> for your organization - today and in the future. >> http://p.sf.net/sfu/internap-sfd2d >> _______________________________________________ >> BackupPC-users mailing list >> BackupPC-users@lists.sourceforge.net >> List: https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/backuppc-users >> Wiki: http://backuppc.wiki.sourceforge.net >> Project: http://backuppc.sourceforge.net/ >> > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Colocation vs. Managed Hosting > A question and answer guide to determining the best fit > for your organization - today and in the future. > http://p.sf.net/sfu/internap-sfd2d > _______________________________________________ > BackupPC-users mailing list > BackupPC-users@lists.sourceforge.net > List: https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/backuppc-users > Wiki: http://backuppc.wiki.sourceforge.net > Project: http://backuppc.sourceforge.net/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Colocation vs. Managed Hosting A question and answer guide to determining the best fit for your organization - today and in the future. http://p.sf.net/sfu/internap-sfd2d _______________________________________________ BackupPC-users mailing list BackupPC-users@lists.sourceforge.net List: https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/backuppc-users Wiki: http://backuppc.wiki.sourceforge.net Project: http://backuppc.sourceforge.net/