Computer Backup procedures.....
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Hi Guys,
Boring topic I know, but I need to change my way of backing up!!!!How best do you do it?
Currently I still back up to DVD so very tedious. What do you recommend?
Maybe I should have dropped my system to a tech while I was at OS at Basecamp...
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I use Mozy...its only $5 USD monthly and automatically backs your data up online when your computer is idle...you can adjust the frequency, I have it set to daily.
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I use a seagate usb powered portable 100gb hard drive, it has back up software included. It services the office pc and the lappie.
baz
ps 100 bucks from officeworks. -
Time Machine. Archive to external discs every now and then.
Plenty of online backup services if you have the upload/download speed and allowance - depends on your ISP.
But do it.
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I use a separate USB hard-drive and an auto-backup of everything scheduled to run daily.
It's on my network so anyone on the network including laptop users can back-up to it if needed...
In case that hard-drive fails [or is stolen, == paranoia] I also have a 'digital-vault' supplied by my ISP that auto-backs up selected files daily over the Internet to their site, so chances are that no data will 'ever' get lost.
With a laptop this method is particularly useful as it can back-up away from home.
Having said that I did lose almost a day's work when my desktop-PC's hard-drive died and it was irrecoverable... and no back-up had run for almost 24 hours !
The main pain is reinstalling everything from the back-up - interestingly it is a useful exercise as you find there are all kinds dross you've installed over time that you never use and you can therefore choose not to reinstall... -
a SATA USB/ESATA Dock (little as $30), a few 1TB SATA HD's (you can get them for as little as $70 now) and a Hard Disk Cloner.
we just clone the entire machine onto a 1TB HD and put it in the safe.. simple and easy. as funds allow we just pick up another 1TB here and there.
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I have an external HD with 1TB of space. I periodically back up my files manually.
I think I can pose this question here as it is relevant.
What software(s) is good for automatically backing up files? -
I use MS 'Onecare' and backup to my server, I have 8x1TB drives and use one for backup. I am scheduled for everyday starting at 2am.
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I have huge questions in my mind about backing up on-line. You are placing your confidential data in the hands of people you do not know and who may disappear without warning - as many new internet idea start-up ventures do. What happens to the data on the servers which will invariably be sold if they go bust?
Not sure if government and even private clients would be that impressed knowing that their information is being 'secured' in this way. Imagine backing up your designs for the new bank or prison on-line. I doubt whether you would have much chance of you professional indemnity insurers coming to your aid if any liability arises if this information is accessed unlawfully. Another question in my mind relates to one's responsibility and liability in terms of data protection if you are backing up personal data on-line.Apart from a conventional backup system/strategy I also like to keep an secondary external disk that exactly mirrors my working disk in case the primary disk fails. That way I do not have to wait on restoring a backup but can resume working immediately by simply mapping the working drive letter to the secondary disk. A useful free utility from Microsoft that synchronises the secondary disk with the working drive can be downloaded here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?familyid=c26efa36-98e0-4ee9-a7c5-98d0592d8c52&displaylang=en
It makes it relatively quick to keep the secondary disk up to date once or twice a day, as it will only copy files that have changed. -
I have use Cobian Backup. You can do seclude back ups or on the fly. It will let you back up to any device or any online storage you have access to. Best of all it's free.
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@toxicvoxel said:
I have huge questions in my mind about backing up on-line.
I agree wholeheartedly about this. Call me paranoid but I just like the idea of holding my saved work in my hand....
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that and I have about 1.5tb online with the machines here on our house network. my monthly bandwidth from my ISP is 125gb. then it's a dollar a gig over that to a max of $50.
online just ain't practical. (we push the 125gb limit each month anyway)
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Nice to see you're still following this thread Andrew...
You must be busy tiling
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@solo said:
I use MS 'Onecare' and backup to my server, I have 8x1TB drives and use one for backup. I am scheduled for everyday starting at 2am.
http://onecare.live.com/standard/en-us/default.htm
Boo hoo, Onecare is no longer available.
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@khai said:
that and I have about 1.5tb online with the machines here on our house network. my monthly bandwidth from my ISP is 125gb. then it's a dollar a gig over that to a max of $50.
online just ain't practical. (we push the 125gb limit each month anyway)
But how much changes each month - that's the amount you would have to transfer during backups. Assuming of course that your backup system is moderately smart.
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I'm with Todd - I've bought (and used) NTI Backup and Nero BackItUp, as well as Cobian, and Cobian is the only one that does exactly what I need. No fuss, no muss, no wondering if it's working or if it did the backup. I haven't had the need to restore (yet), but so far what I've set up for full monthly, weekly incremental and daily incremental works as advertised.
I do a full backup to my website server monthly, with the weekly and daily's going to my on-site 1.5TB drives.
I also agree with toxicvoxel - I don't trust off-site servers. Once they go sneakers-up you're just SOL.
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@unknownuser said:
You must be busy tiling
Yeah Rich, 'tiling' away.... had a busy week since getting back from basecamp and not have to prepare to go away next week also. This time to watch my little 10 yr old bloke play in a regional soccer carnival.... not getting much done in the office!!!!
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Here's my system at work...
My actual computer has a 500gb hard drive which I keep almost nothing of not on except for my OS.
I have a NAS (network-attached storage) on my desk which has mirrored 1tb hard drives which I keep everything on. So if one drive fails, I lose nothing.
Then I've got 2 portable 1tb drives as well. One sits in a locked firesafe, the other sits on my desk. Every couple weeks or so I backup everything from my NAS onto the portable drive and trade it out with the one in the firesafe.
So the NAS protects me from hardware failure, and in the less likely event of a fire or theft I've got the portable drives - so at worst I'd lose a couple weeks worth of work.
I also happen to have a 320gb portable drive that I take home with me and keep it synced up to the more essential folders on the NAS. It's not so much for backup though as simply so I can work from home.
-Brodie
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Gee Brodie, that's quite a secure system!!!
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