I'm addressing the issue,but not putting a lot of time into it. What seems to be required is:
1. An image backup for Windows. This basically means programs and no data on a partition and keep the size relatively small like 300 MB.
2. An incremental backup for files.
Windows is a mess if it gets corrupted and the only real fix is reloading it. To prevent that you can image the hard drive that contains Windows. You can image a drive to a file.
An incremental backup basically only backs up changed files and you may be able to go back in time to retrieve versions of them.
I haven't selected the programs yet, but from talking to friends who do this, it's possible.
So, that's the strategy.
One of the next issues to solve is connectivity:
USB 3.0 is ideal and so is Gigabit Ethernet. USB 2.0 will do. USB 3.0 has effectively replaced eSATA for external drives.
I would consider a server rated hard drive, which will likely be a 3.5 form factor. These drives are designed to be on 24/7.
Going up the ladder, a RAID server is a way to go and it's going to be my plan. The RAID server only has Gigabit Ethernet. USB 3.0 Drives at each location is another.
The problem I have is laptop connectivity. It does NOT have Gigabit Ethernet. It has USB 2.0 ports. It has a cardbus slot. I do have a cardbus that will make USB 3.0 Ports. I can get a CARDBUS card that will make a Gigabit Ethernet Port. It looks like I can get a wireless ac card for the laptop. Presently, the laptop supports n (300 mb/s), but my wireless is 802.11g (54 Mb/s) but it's running at 18 Mb/s. Wireless ac will support up to 1800 Mb/s on a good day. So, gigabit speeds on a wireless connection, maybe. Cardbus is disappearing on laptops too.
I currently don't have any infrastructure wired convenient ports for the laptop. I'm close, but not there yet. In the most convenient place, the low voltage plate can be mounted and the holes are drilled in the joists. Just no wires. In another place in the same room, I ran 4 Ethernet connections behind a TV. Terminated at the wall only and wires not run to patch panel.
The CAT6 patch panel now is totally empty. I have plenty of devices on the network, some wired and some wireless. The improvements I made recently included, the installation of a patch panel, cleaned up the wire routing, and I put the network on a UPS and ran POE (Power over Ethernet) to the modem. I do have a repeater which is not backed up and does not have surge suppression at the location. I also made it easer to troubleshoot the modem, although not as easy as I would like yet.