+1 for backupPC.  I run it on a Cubieboard 2 with a 2.5" SATA disk 
attached (I did try Raspbery Pi and a USB disk, but it doesn't play well 
with USB and Ethernet running fast at the same time).  The Cubie2 can 
drive a 2.5" disk directly - for 3.5" you'll need an extra power supply 
for the 12V line.
I tried using the disk with the NTFS formatting it arrived with, but 
backupPC didn't like that (it couldn’t create proper links, I think), so 
I reformatted it as ext4.
Now Gordon has reminded me to move it somewhere safe - it's currently 
sitting on top of one of the main machines it is backing up!
On 01/12/15 09:03, Gordon Scott wrote:
>>> I am considering getting an external hard drive for use as a back-up
>>> device
>> Good you should make a back up
> An aside...
>
> FWIW, my backup system involves an additional PC, running backupPC, in
> the loft of my garage.
>
> That way the backups are done automatically and the copy is essentially
> off site because the garage is the other side of a physical firewall.
> Anywhere separated is better than having both copies in the same
> building. Garden shed, friendly neighbour, even an outside tool storage
> chest.  Linux is brilliant in that you can recycle old PCs for jobs like
> this.  Try St. James if you have no spare PC.  I bought a low-cost ITX
> for energy consumption reasons, but how well that really adds up with
> embodied energy I couldn't say.
>
> Gordon.
>
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