# How to set up automatic remote backup to FTP? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 16, 2007, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-set-up-automatic-remote-backup-to-ftp/404365 "2007-05-16T20:30:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DirkGntly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DirkGntly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DirkGntly)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-set-up-automatic-remote-backup-to-ftp/404365/1 "2007-05-16T20:30:52Z")
Hey folks… I wanted to toss this question out there and see if anyone had some suggestions… I have an FTP server with a password protected login on it. I would like to set up a Windows 2000 server to be able to login to this FTP server and perform regular backups to it. Does anyone know how I can do this? Note that this is my only real option for this; 3rd-party offsite backup services aren’t satisfactory in this instance. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-set-up-automatic-remote-backup-to-ftp/404365/2 "2007-05-16T20:35:20Z")
Sounds like you want to run a [crontab](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crontab). Is this a Unix-type server? Windows? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-set-up-automatic-remote-backup-to-ftp/404365/3 "2007-05-16T20:37:50Z")
You can FTP automatically using a batch script of the FTP commands. I do it a lot for work. You can use the built-in scheduling tool to kick off this batch script. There are also free backup utilities that support FTP as well. ---
**Author:** ![DirkGntly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DirkGntly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DirkGntly)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-set-up-automatic-remote-backup-to-ftp/404365/4 "2007-05-16T20:44:56Z")
The FTP server is a Windows 2000 server. **Shag** , can you point me to some of these utilities? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-set-up-automatic-remote-backup-to-ftp/404365/5 "2007-05-16T20:48:05Z")
[http://www.download.com/Save2FTP/3000-2242\_4-10404793.html?tag=lst-0-1](http://www.download.com/Save2FTP/3000-2242_4-10404793.html?tag=lst-0-1) is one. There are plenty of them if you want pay $20 or so. ---
**Author:** ![DirkGntly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DirkGntly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DirkGntly)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-set-up-automatic-remote-backup-to-ftp/404365/6 "2007-05-16T21:28:19Z")
Thanks! That one seems to work fine…I just need to set it up so it does it automatically each week… ---
**Author:** ![MrSquishy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@MrSquishy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSquishy)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-set-up-automatic-remote-backup-to-ftp/404365/7 "2007-05-16T21:40:14Z")
[Cobian Backup](http://www.educ.umu.se/~cobian/cobianbackup.htm) works great and is free. It’s got a bunch of nice features, e.g. you won’t need cron and it can encrypt your files if you want.