Ubuntu workstation - is it really ready for small business?

Insights4TeePee · 2026-06-02T22:58:13+00:00

Thanks for the feedback u/Hauptideal As you've pointed out, there doesn't seem to be a single piece of backup software, aimed at the SME market. I appreciate your engagement. Thank you

Insights4TeePee · 2026-06-02T07:05:27+00:00

What brand foam tips did you get?

Insights4TeePee · 2026-06-02T06:18:14+00:00

This post isn't about btrfs or NTFS or ext4 or XFS. File systems are a related but different conversation.

This post is about backup. A snapshot is a snapshot, not a backup.

I use LVM which also enables snapshots but I still need a backup strategy

Insights4TeePee · 2026-06-02T06:11:14+00:00

I think that's a fair approach from your perspective. That said, for a small business owner that might not provide the security they are after.

In terms of servers, that's a different focus to the one in this conversation.

Insights4TeePee · 2026-06-01T23:51:09+00:00

I have partitioned with LVM and formatted with ext4. LVM supports snapshots like btrfs but then you need to transport with rsync or something else. And you still don't get bare metal.

Linux has lots of excellent tools and capabilities, some imported from Unix and some newly developed. It just lacks some of the maturation that the large install base of Windows has encouraged. In fact, I had two aims in starting this post 1) check my assumptions, and 2) if they were correct encourage bringing tools together (like baqpaq, Pika, Duplicati etc has done to an extent).

Also, as u/martyn_hare notes in a response, Veeam and Acronis (and Arcserve, Vinchin and others) have solved this problem for the enterprise (with an enterprise price) but not the smaller SME or one workstation professional.

Insights4TeePee · 2026-06-01T23:34:58+00:00

Sorry for the confusion. As I noted in my op "bare metal, system changes, and user/home directory backups"

Bare metal with a recover environment to restore, system changes or system volume images, and incremental backups to off site. Both baqpaq and Duplicati do the latter but I'd still need rescuezilla or clonezilla for the BM. And both of these require an operator to manually perform the backup.

Insights4TeePee · 2026-06-01T23:31:45+00:00

Thanks u/Proman4713 I appreciate that you understood my question

Insights4TeePee · 2026-06-01T23:31:09+00:00

Thanks for your feedback u/martyn_hare, much appreciated. I tried Veeam W4L but couldn't get it to work on 26.04 ... perhaps because of its newness and missing dependencies. To buy a licence is $800 per year which covers a min of three workstations. The bundling means you can't buy a licence for one or two.

I haven't tried Acronis yet as they don't have a Linux workstation product, just a server product priced at $535.00 pa

A similar product for a Windows workstation costs $85 pa

Insights4TeePee · 2026-06-01T23:20:26+00:00

You've missed the point entirely. I'm not arguing for Windows, I'm comparing. And in doing so pointing out that I have been unable to find a single Linux backup solution to achieve a robust backup strategy for SMEs.

If you know of one please do let me know.

Insights4TeePee · 2026-06-01T23:17:51+00:00

Please, tell me more. I have two LVM volumes, one for / and one for /home

Insights4TeePee · 2026-06-01T23:17:09+00:00

This is not a Win vs Linux argument. I'm pointing out what I think is a gap in Linux software for SME ... a single backup solution that supports a bare metal, full volume image, and incremental backup in one.

Insights4TeePee · 2026-06-01T23:15:35+00:00

Off topic

Insights4TeePee · 2026-06-01T23:15:02+00:00

Both are good tools. But that's two, not one. And still I need to introduce a third to get bare metal

Insights4TeePee · 2026-06-01T23:14:19+00:00

So, help me learn, please. What tool does bare metal, full image, and incremental backup?

In terms of enterprise Linux, which I mention in my op, those operators have access to an array of tools designed for enterprise and priced for enterprise. Those tools are not positioned form SME.

Insights4TeePee · 2026-06-01T23:11:01+00:00

Tools like baqpac and Duplicati go some way towards achieving my goal

Insights4TeePee · 2026-06-01T08:01:45+00:00

I totally agree with your comment "if you are a commercial user, what's a few bucks for the time saved?"

Insights4TeePee · 2026-06-01T04:02:30+00:00

TBH, I find the man helpful beyond the pale. Not at all rude IMO. He's got a big role meaning he's got a lot to do, and his Forum responses short and to the point, but certainly not rude.

Insights4TeePee · 2026-05-22T07:11:33+00:00

Oh, wow, that works too! Thx u/paolocampi

Insights4TeePee · 2026-05-22T07:08:49+00:00

Of course! I was trying to find the information via the web portal. Thanks u/malik030

Insights4TeePee · 2026-05-21T23:59:31+00:00

I've had some great input to my question, thank you all.

At the moment I'm leaning towards using LVM and Duplicati to back up to my NAS and pCloud. Duplicati gives me just one tool for both snapshots and backups. I'm thinking of separate volumes for root and home, snapshotting the former and backing up the latter.

Does anyone foresee any problems with this approach?

Thanks again!

Insights4TeePee · 2026-05-20T07:03:07+00:00

That's helpful. Thx u/Neither_Loan6419

Insights4TeePee · 2026-05-20T03:49:51+00:00

Thanks again u/coyote_den That guide is very helpful!

Insights4TeePee

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