David,
Bert put me on to BackupAssist. It was pretty easy to set up and is automatic. I get a report every morning of the success or failure of the back up. I still back up to a tape drive on my server but can also back up to external hard drives. I have had to restore files and it was easy to do. You can also look at your back up to see what is there and what is not.
I also use Mozey Pro to back up on-line.
Leslie