Gizmodo.Com had a brief mention today about the Mirra network backup device which is targeted at home users.
Looks like this is a box running embedded Linux that polls any other boxes hooked up to your home network and backs up the files on them automatically. The product site isn’t big on details, but it looks like the software is configurable so you can tell it exactly what to back up on each machine (i.e. so you’re only backing up the data). It also has some sort of software that has to be installed on each machine that keeps track of newly created or modified files, so if you’re off at Starbucks rewriting that Great American Novel, the devices detects this and automatically backs up the new version of the document when you’re back on the network.
A Mirra with a 120gb hard drive goes for $499. Assuming it actually works as advertised, that’s not a bad price at all, especially since it has USB connectivity (hopefully that’s USB 2.0) and the site talks about future software upgrade plans to allow the device to use external USB 2.0 drives for additional backup space.
Can’t wait to see the reviews on this puppy. If they’re positive, this might be the answer to my ongoing backup woes (there doesn’t appear to be a fast way to back up 30gb of data, especially when it is all sitting on my laptop’s crappy 4200 rpm drive.)
Update:
Interesting item from the manufacturers’ overview on this product,
Mirra automatically synchronizes your files on your PC to your Mirra appliance, and from your Mirra appliance over the web to trusted friends with whom you have set up a Mirra Share.
Hmmmm…so if I’ve got one and my friends got one, we can set it up to so the MP3 file automatically synchronizes?
Update #2:
Actually, the friend doesn’t need a Mirra appliance, they can access your MP3 directory using a web account (assuming you authorize them to), but that runs through some sort of special Mirra web site. Their web site talks about how secure this is, so will they be monitoring such transfers to stop music file sharing, or simply argue they are a backup service provider with no interest in violating the privacy of their users? The best option would be to simply encrypt traffic so even the company doesn’t know what is being transmitted, but I bet that’s a can of worms they’re unwilling to open.
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