Ajax Bestiary: A Javascript Field Guide
 
Ajax Bestiary: A Javascript Field Guide
 
 

Backup Systems

November 26th, 2007 Posted by Don Albrecht

This is a bit off topic for this blog, but is something that has very much been on my mind lately.  I’ve been maintaining an archive of all of my work over the past 12 years.  Everything from coursework to UI markups, Personal Notes to SVN repositories all lived in a set of redundant 750 gb external hard drives.  Over the years , I’ve found these archives to be an invaluable asset (especially with modern desktop search tools).  Last monday, those drives were stolen.

Although I can cope without the data, I need to start compiling a new personal archive & I’m curious what other people have done for backup systems & how you deal with offsite backup of personal data.


Filed under Uncategorized
10 Comments

10 Comments

  • Kelter
    November 26th, 2007 at 11:59 am

    For me, over the past 15 years, I’ve used a mix of the following:

    * Finished work goes on CD or DVD depending upon the mount of data. CD/DVD backups managed by a disc cataloger called DiskTracker. Discs are usually burned with Toast.

    * Finished work PLUS working files (the files it took to get to the finished work) on AIT tapes using incremental backups. Tape backups managed with Dantz Retrospect.

    * Ongoing projects and Resources that need to always be online with external drives, plus a mix of external servers (even including dotMac and Box.net – ouch that’s slow)

    I manage both Macs and PCs, but all backups and cataloging (tape and optical) occur on the Mac.

    I read somewhere that data doesn’t exist unless it’s in 3 separate locations. Sure it’s redundant. Did I mention that it’s redundant? It’s also redundant. :-)

  • Chad Crowell
    November 26th, 2007 at 11:59 am

    Don this is tragic news and I am sorry to hear it. Its bad enough to have a drive fail and have to restore or rebuild from backups, but to have your backup drives stolen with years of work and personal files, you must feel like you are completely lost. Again, my apologies.

    I’ve just recently read enough stories to make my stomach turn when I think about data loss. I began full time freelancing this year and have an MBP with 160gb HD. A couple of weeks ago I bought a 500gb firewire drive and partitioned it into a 160gb slice and then the remaining slice (about 340gb). I use the 160gb for a nightly bootable clone via SuperDuper and the 340gb for transparent hourly Time Machine backups. I just this weekend hooked up the same setup on my wife’s 80gb Macbook.

    Of course, this won’t help me if a thief takes them- but here’s hoping they take the laptops and don’t even notice the backup drives.

    Good luck Don.

  • Don Albrecht
    November 26th, 2007 at 12:04 pm

    Don’t count on them not taking the backup drives. They simply cleared out everything with an electrical cord in the vicinity of my comp.

    I like the concept of a bootable backup, it’s something I’ve never done. Has anyone adopted S3 or a similar service to provide a subscription based offsite?

  • Kelter
    November 26th, 2007 at 12:07 pm

    S3 is yet another one of the services I use but I bet you’d guessed that. I don’t use it for backup so much as online delivery of content live videos and podcasts in blogs I manage. I like the service (only using it for 6 months or so), but I wish I understood the API better.

  • Chris P
    November 26th, 2007 at 12:10 pm

    Hey Don,

    I’ve found a good solution that I am using. Amazon’s s3 web storage service is dirty cheap.
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/browse.html?node=16427261

    I’ve also found this freeware tool that allows you to choose what directories you want to upload and how often you would like to do it. They allow you to encrypt as well as password protect the uploaded files, so even if you’re computer was stolen, they wouldn’t be able to mess with your backups:
    http://www.maluke.com/software/s3-backup

    Works like a charm for me. Shoot me an email if you have more questions, you can even come over and see how it works if you like.

  • Chad Crowell
    November 26th, 2007 at 12:13 pm

    A bootable backup is a perfect choice for a drive failure. Imagine walking into the office in the morning thinking “hmm I didn’t turn my computer off last night”- or hearing a clicking sound that makes you sick to your stomach…the sign of a bad HD.

    Best case scenario is to have an identically sized bootable clone (or bigger- but on its own rather than a partition on a bigger disk) so you can just swap in the clone in the event of failure, but I’ll take the long route and just boot off the clone and use it while my new HD is on order, then use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone the clone back to the new HD. That’s how it works in my head, anyway…

  • Don Albrecht
    November 26th, 2007 at 12:25 pm

    I like the bootable for drive failure, I usually try to maintain a spare drive for my machines anyway. One thought I have is to maintain a bootable backup on an internal sata drive housed in an external enclosure so that I can just crack open the external drive housing, and swap the drive inside for the production drive.

  • Don Albrecht
    November 26th, 2007 at 12:25 pm

    Chris, Great idea re: S3. I’ve been looking for a tool like that. Thanks.

  • Kelter
    November 27th, 2007 at 10:39 am

    Oooohh – hey folks. Here’s a decent write-up on S3. http://www.digital-web.com/articles/scalable_hosting_s3

    enjoy!

  • Don Albrecht
    November 27th, 2007 at 10:59 am

    Thanks, That’s an awesome article.

Leave a Reply

Previous Post