The importance of backups
Jan 30, 2011, 12:39 am
#31
Join Date: May 2006
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Oh, and afterwards don't forget to backup the backups!
Jan 30, 2011, 1:09 am
#33
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I'm not sure I'd miss any of my personal data that much to jump through the hoops some do, I'll stick with my Time Capsule. Having lost unbacked up drives in the past, life goes on.
I'm not sure I'd miss any of my personal data that much to jump through the hoops some do, I'll stick with my Time Capsule. Having lost unbacked up drives in the past, life goes on.
Jan 30, 2011, 1:12 am
#34
Join Date: May 2006
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That's great! You won't regret taking some time to do so. Photos are in particular irreplaceable.
Jan 30, 2011, 1:38 am
#35
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I'm not sure I'd miss any of my personal data that much to jump through the hoops some do, I'll stick with my Time Capsule. Having lost unbacked up drives in the past, life goes on.
I'm not sure I'd miss any of my personal data that much to jump through the hoops some do, I'll stick with my Time Capsule. Having lost unbacked up drives in the past, life goes on.
The music and personal files would be a considerable inconvenience, but that's all
Jan 31, 2011, 3:10 pm
#37
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Los Angeles, CA
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I would add:
3) Those who had a backup and it didn't work and now keep multiple backups on different media in different locations.
My current approach is RAID 1 on main system + Nightly backup to two separate disks (NAS + USB) + critical/current files on Drop Box.
Drop Box has the additional advantage that I have access to files from my desktop and laptop at all times, plus they are stored in the cloud if everything breaks.
3) Those who had a backup and it didn't work and now keep multiple backups on different media in different locations.
My current approach is RAID 1 on main system + Nightly backup to two separate disks (NAS + USB) + critical/current files on Drop Box.
Drop Box has the additional advantage that I have access to files from my desktop and laptop at all times, plus they are stored in the cloud if everything breaks.
At home, I backup to a 2TB eSATA hard drive (external). From there, I use Carbonite to back up the external hard drive.
At work, I have a central backup server that I push my desktop backups to. From there, we write to tape overnight and take offsite daily.
Hard drives crash. Google did a study on their hard drives (there probably have millions). About 8% failure a year. Backup your data.
Jan 31, 2011, 10:26 pm
#38
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Feb 1, 2011, 8:29 am
#39
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Viz the restore question, depends if you are just restoring the data or just the OS or the OS+data.
In the worse case scenario of catastrophic h/w failure I like to keep a Virtual Machine (using VMWare) on hand that I can fire up on just about any PC with some decent RAM in it. Just use VMWare converter to make a live back of the target machine. If the physical machine dies, gets stolen etc. you fire up the VMWare copy in minutes and be away.
Also, provides some comfort you can actually login on to it and see it really works, before you need to for real. Handy if your OS and apps do not change much. And it's free!
In the worse case scenario of catastrophic h/w failure I like to keep a Virtual Machine (using VMWare) on hand that I can fire up on just about any PC with some decent RAM in it. Just use VMWare converter to make a live back of the target machine. If the physical machine dies, gets stolen etc. you fire up the VMWare copy in minutes and be away.
Also, provides some comfort you can actually login on to it and see it really works, before you need to for real. Handy if your OS and apps do not change much. And it's free!
Feb 1, 2011, 2:00 pm
#40
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Before backing up, I always tell my family and friends to organize.
For years, I've been using a fairly simple system for organizing my files, which makes it easy to back them up - I always have two drives in my computers, one for OS and apps, and the other for data. Documents, music, photos, videos, and even various system settings and application configuration data, are all kept on my D: drive. Sometimes D: is a separate physical drive, sometimes it's just a separate partition, but keeping the data separate allows me to easily sync it across all of my PCs and backup media, and allows me to easily re-install the OS and apps in the event of a system failure.
For years, I've been using a fairly simple system for organizing my files, which makes it easy to back them up - I always have two drives in my computers, one for OS and apps, and the other for data. Documents, music, photos, videos, and even various system settings and application configuration data, are all kept on my D: drive. Sometimes D: is a separate physical drive, sometimes it's just a separate partition, but keeping the data separate allows me to easily sync it across all of my PCs and backup media, and allows me to easily re-install the OS and apps in the event of a system failure.
Feb 1, 2011, 2:29 pm
#41
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I'm a total computer dummy. 
Never heard of a RAID or a NAS or a FAT32, NTFS, Ext3 or Linux SWAP. 
Heck, I still have a Motorola Razr flip phone and don't own a laptop .... but am thinking about living on the wild side -- for the first time seriously considering an iPad and a SmartPhone sometime this year. Woo-hoo!
Am I totally foolish to pay for Mozy? They just sent out an announcement today, that their prices are going up with the next renewal cycle; their cheapest option is 50 GB usage, $120.00 for a two-year contract. Currently, their notice indicated that I am using a big-ol', whopping 0.50 gigabite!
Never heard of a RAID or a NAS or a FAT32, NTFS, Ext3 or Linux SWAP. Heck, I still have a Motorola Razr flip phone and don't own a laptop .... but am thinking about living on the wild side -- for the first time seriously considering an iPad and a SmartPhone sometime this year. Woo-hoo!
Am I totally foolish to pay for Mozy? They just sent out an announcement today, that their prices are going up with the next renewal cycle; their cheapest option is 50 GB usage, $120.00 for a two-year contract. Currently, their notice indicated that I am using a big-ol', whopping 0.50 gigabite!
Feb 1, 2011, 2:48 pm
#42
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Am I totally foolish to pay for Mozy? They just sent out an announcement today, that their prices are going up with the next renewal cycle; their cheapest option is 50 GB usage, $120.00 for a two-year contract. Currently, their notice indicated that I am using a big-ol', whopping 0.50 gigabite!
Feb 1, 2011, 2:54 pm
#43
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Los Angeles, CA
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You need to mount the external drive. My external drive looks like a folder on the C drive.
Last edited by jbdk; Feb 1, 2011 at 2:59 pm
Feb 2, 2011, 12:28 am
#45
Join Date: Jan 2005
Programs: Dirt
Posts: 949
You can test the restore operation on a blank hard disk. Keep the original in a safe place in case the restore fails. The computer will be tied up during the restore test however.
