Holistic Backup Strategies

khad
khad
1Password Alumni
Onsite, Offsite, Online, etc.
I was just wondering what your backup strategies are. Everyone uses something different, but I'll go first:

Carbon Copy Cloner on external drive

(I would use SuperDuper! if they were the same price since I like the interface more, but even if you pay the suggested donation of $15 for CCC, it is still half the price. I haven't found a compelling reason to switch.)

Dropbox for cloud storage

Also useful every day to sync 1Password data between Mac, Windows, iPhone, and iPad. :-)

iPhone for offsite storage

This one is a bit funny perhaps, but considering that any catastrophe that would wipe out my data at home will not affect my iPhone while I am out and about, it's not a bad idea. If I am home, my iPhone is probably going down with me anyway, though.

So, it's nothing fancy — I prefer it that way — and I will be getting a Time Capsule to add Time Machine to the mix, but I thought I would put it out there. I learn something every time I ask people this question. What better place to ask than the 1Password community? A group of security-minded folks who rock are sure to offer some cool ideas. :-)

Comments

  • Penelope Pitstop
    Penelope Pitstop
    Community Member
    edited September 2010
    Speaking from experience, it's not very nice when your computer hard drive fails or your laptop gets stolen. I also know how friends have felt when they have lost photos of their kids that they will never be able to replace. Here's what I do:

    1. Time Machine with Time Capsule. I have had the misfortune of needing this twice and have completely restored my computer both times without a hitch. That's the main thing about a backup, you have to know that it works. The beauty of Time Machine is that you don' t have to think about it so the backups actually get done without interfering with your computer usage. You get your machine back with at most an hour's worth of work lost.

    2. SuperDuper + external, rugged FireWire drive once a week. This is to protect me against some sort of catastrophe that takes out both my computer and the Time Capsule at the same time. My Time Capsule failed a few months ago (manufacturing fault). Apple replaced the Time Capsule but I wasn't comfortable whilst that was being done. I preferred the simplicity of SuperDuper and the quality of support given by the vendor. Well worth the money IMO. The FireWire drive is stored in an off site location after the backup is complete. Downside of this is that you have to discipline yourself to do the backup. It is a bootable backup so I know it works. The other advantage to this is that you can immediately start work again with the bootable clone if you need to. Restoring from Time Capsule took the best part of a day on my computer. I can imagine circumstances where that would be too long to wait.

    3. DVD's for email, purchased media and photos once every six months. I use Apple's Backup program that is available via the MobileMe subscription because it automatically prompts me to do the backups so I don't forget. The DVDs are stored off site. The email/photos simply cannot be replaced and the media would cost me a lot to replace. Everything else on my computer I can either do without or download again. So whilst this is probably overkill, the small amount of time involved makes it worth it IMO. I keep the last two copies and back the lot up each time.

    Obviously I don't think relying on any single backup facility is a great idea. I regard DropBox etc as a way to get files anywhere (like DropBox sync with 1PW) rather than a backup mechanism but I suppose my keychain is backed up there too. I tried the various on-line backup services but we only have ADSL in my country and the slow uplink speed makes them impractical. Even if I could use these, I would still do the bootable clone and DVDs.
  • sjk
    sjk
    1Password Alumni
    Posts linked to under Chuqui 3.0 > Stuff to Read > Backups can be worthwhile reading.
  • khad
    khad
    1Password Alumni
    Bootable backups FTW!

    I too have not been very enamored with online backup. I only store important, irreplaceable stuff on Dropbox. I tried CrashPlan a couple times, but it was nearly impossible to balance between actually having bandwidth for daily use and getting hundreds of GB backed up. I couldn't handle it in the end and uninstalled. I need to get better about bootable offsite backup. :-(
  • thightower
    thightower
    Community Member
    Yep somehow missed this thread. I love crashplan and i agee its a big gripe abount not being able to choose backup sets based upon location. But it serves me well. So ill let that part slide and put it in a wish list. It saved my bacon one time when the wifes iweb file became corrupted. She was ecstatic I could get it back with some effort I had to try a few versions to get before the corruption. It was in the default location so ..... I just moved it to dropbox a good while back.
  • pbryanw
    pbryanw
    Community Member
    edited November 2010
    I've just started using Crashplan after trying a few online backup solutions (using the free trials), and finding it best suits my needs. I've also upgraded to Crashplan+, and like how I can leave it to backup every hour in the background, while I continue using my computer as normal. This is on my PC, where I use it in conjunction with Acronis True Image, for backing up my whole hard-drive (Crashplan is used to backup the most important data on my Hard Drive).
  • thightower
    thightower
    Community Member
    CP+ is great I upgraded all my licenses to + about a month after starting to use CP. and thats been over 1 1/2 year ago now. The only services I pay for in advance are MobileMe (yr), CrashPlan (did the 3 yr this last renewal thats how much I like it), and Dropbox (yr)


  • thightower
    thightower
    Community Member
    edited November 2010
    Mainly near real time backup and not the once a day backup like standard. (Hourly to Crashplan Central in standard) and then Web restore for pro.

    Not seen any real benefit of feature updates ( free in pro version ) or just never noticed any rolled out yet :) plus removal of ads but they also are not that obtrusive and really how much time do you spend in the UI anyway.
  • jay_gunn
    jay_gunn
    Community Member
    I hadn't heard of CrashPlan. Glad I checked this thread!

    I've been mulling over possibly signing up with Backblaze, Carbonite, or Mozy for about a year now. I think the real winner with CrashPlan, besides the onsite/local backups, is the family plan is a fixed price and doesn't climb as more members start adding on. I think that just won me over. Downloading the client to give it a go.
  • thightower
    thightower
    Community Member
    edited November 2010
    Here is a Crashplan : Tweet from about 7 days ago,

    NOTICE: Our family subscription pricing will be increasing by ~25% in ~1 week. Purchase or extend now if you want to lock in lower price!

    Still a very reasonable price in my opinion.

  • thightower
    thightower
    Community Member
    Crashplan

    Now has backup sets. Yippie
This discussion has been closed.