Automatically Sync Local Folder To Home Drive

[Oppressa]

Currently on my network, students and staff save to their H drive which is a network drive. We'd like to be able to automatically back up all users' My Documents etc (excluding some files maybe based on extension or file size).

Has anyone implemented this? Using what software? Do you get feedback on when it's syncing and how much it has completed? How do you manage syncing of large files especially over wireless (which all the students will be running over)? How often does it sync? Have you had issues where a student saved a file, it didn't sync and the student HDD was damaged and file/work therefore lost?

[PabloEscobar]

Originally Posted by Oppressa

Currently on my network, students and staff save to their H drive which is a network drive. We'd like to be able to automatically back up all users' My Documents etc (excluding some files maybe based on extension or file size).

Colour me confused.

Users save their work to a H drive.
But you want to back up the (presumably local) My Documents folder?

You probably want to google "Folder Redirection" - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/232692

Essentially, you can redirect their local "My Documents" folder, to be on the networked H: Drive. And then you can back up the fileserver using your regular backup system.

Or are you trying to do something else?

[Iceman]

You're half way there, now deny write access to the folders 'desktop' and 'my documents' and you're done!

[Oppressa]

Yeah so I came back to add a bit more. There is a mix of what students currently do despite us telling them that best practice is to always work using their H drive.

They also work on massive files occasionally and with constant saving those are best worked on locally. There is also the fact that they take these devices home and work on files while away from the network.

Hence why I would like to offer a background service that IT/students don't have to think about. So when the laptop needs reimaging or if something goes wrong with their HDD, all data is already safe.

Thoughts?

[f3n1x]

http://backuppc.sourceforge.net/

If you have BSD/Linux Servers, this should be suitable.

It doesn't require micromanagement, but like any backup strategy it needs to be tested fully and as frequently as is viable.

You'll need a lot of disk space if you're planning on doing full disk backups on any considerable number of devices.

[EvilGenius]

For users on win7 I just set the My Docs folder location to the users H drive, then right click my docs and select 'always available offline'. Microsoft sync centre then keeps a copy of all files on the server and locally.

[Oppressa]

Originally Posted by EvilGenius

For users on win7 I just set the My Docs folder location to the users H drive, then right click my docs and select 'always available offline'. Microsoft sync centre then keeps a copy of all files on the server and locally.

Do you do this manually or can you apply globally?

[bsbozzy]

Originally Posted by Oppressa

Do you do this manually or can you apply globally?

Use folder redirection as per post 2

[EvilGenius]

Originally Posted by Oppressa

Do you do this manually or can you apply globally?

I do it manually, but I don't have any control over global settings... I imagine there would have to be a way though.

[bsbozzy]

Originally Posted by EvilGenius

I do it manually, but I don't have any control over global settings... I imagine there would have to be a way though.

There is, its called Folder redirection.

[Oppressa]

And when they're off network they won't have their files...

[bsbozzy]

Originally Posted by Oppressa

And when they're off network they won't have their files...

Yes they will, they will automatically be made offline.

[ewok85]

Originally Posted by Oppressa

And when they're off network they won't have their files...

Someone didn't read the link...

Btw, I use it for this:

If you use Roaming User Profiles, you can use Folder Redirection to reduce the total size of your Roaming Profile and make the user logon and logoff process more efficient for the end-user. When you deploy Folder Redirection with Roaming User Profiles, the data synchronized with Folder Redirection is not part of the roaming profile and is synchronized in the background by using Offline Files after the user has logged on. Therefore, the user does not have to wait for this data to be synchronized when they log on or log off as is the case with Roaming User Profiles.

Works like a charm, even on laptops, with very little input by anyone.

[Oppressa]

Originally Posted by ewok85

Someone didn't read the link...

I was out and about. Thanks for taking time out to explain, I'll look into this.

Appreciate all the replies.

[ewok85]

Originally Posted by Oppressa

I was out and about. Thanks for taking time out to explain, I'll look into this.

Yeah, I had the same reaction the first time I saw it, but when you take a look it actually does exactly what you want.

Here's the rest of that list:

Advantages of Folder Redirection

• Even if users log on to different computers on the network, their data is always available.
  
• Offline File technology (which is turned on by default) gives users access to the folder even when they are not connected to the network. This is especially useful for people who use portable computers.
  
• Data that is stored in a network folder can be backed up as part of routine system administration. This is safer because it requires no action by the user.
  
• Data that is specific to a user can be redirected to a different hard disk on the user's local computer from the hard disk that holds the operating system files. This makes the user's data safer in case the operating system has to be reinstalled.
  
• As an administrator, you can use Group Policy to set disk quotas, limiting how much space is taken up by user profile folders.