This is not only a great idea, but I highly recommend it. In my opinion not enough people backup their data, or at least don't start backing up their data until the first time they loose something important. Then they see the merit in doing backups. Backing up data can be done in many ways, and the best way to do it depends on many factors such as, the amount of data, the type of data, the source of the data, the method of accessing the data, where the backup data is stored, and many other factors.

     I know that after all of that, this sounds like it is going to be a nightmare to set up, but it won't be bad. The great thing about this, is that because it is backups and you generally don't have to have it done instantly, even slower hardware can work great for this. The biggest thing you should pay attention to is making sure that you have enough harddrive space available to do all of your backups.

     Use these links for what you will need.