Hi Peter, I have posted to WAMUG many times explaining how important a good Backup Strategy / Plan is.
On 14/04/2012, at 6:00 PM, Peter Crisp wrote: > You mention "other backups" over and above the TM backups. What method do you > recommend for this? In answer to Peter’s question I have changed the Subject to: Backup Strategy. The Document I created some time back is on my support website: Don't Scream - Backup - MY BACKUP STRATEGY Backups are a Must Scheduled Backups are Vital My Backup Strategy <http://ronnibrown.net/BACKUP.html> I do very much appreciate a donation if you download and find the document useful. =============================== Basic Backup Strategy Basically, a good backup strategy consists of three key parts: 1. Versioned backups: Use Time Machine to store versioned backups—copies of each file as it existed at many points in time onto an External Firewire Hard Disk Update your versioned backups incrementally (Time Machine copies only new or changed files each time) hourly, daily, monthly. 2. Bootable Duplicate: Create a bootable duplicate of your startup volume on another External Firewire Hard Disk and update that duplicate regularly. Weekly is my recommendation, and after any major updates or project. 3. Offsite copies: Keep at least one backup copy of your important data somewhere safely away from your computer—in another building, at least. Furthermore, my goal is to automate nearly all of this so backups happen in the background without people having to remember anything, press buttons, run programs, or intervene in any other way. Not only that, but I want to make even the setup process as painless as possible. I receive emails from people who assure me that even after reading about my threefold backup strategy, they’re certain they have no need whatsoever for either bootable duplicates or versioned backups—and then they go on to detail some other convoluted backup strategy and ask for help making it work. In response, I can only say: Really? The strategy I recommend comes from years of experience—not only my own, but that of numerous industry experts. In my professional judgment, bootable duplicates and versioned backups are the only activities worthy of the name “backup.” Feel free to do other sorts of copying or syncing, but if you do that instead of following my guidance, I won’t be able to help you! ================ Why Create Versioned Backups? Time Machine and most other backup programs protect data by using versioned backups—that is, backing up your files without overwriting or deleting earlier versions already stored on your backup media. The first time your backup software runs, it copies all your files in their entirety; and then on subsequent runs it performs an incremental update—that is, it copies only new or changed data. In some cases, incrementally updating a backup means copying each file that has changed in its entirety; in others, backup applications copy only the changed portions of files. Although a duplicate includes a single copy of your data, a versioned backup includes many different versions of your data—including, crucially, copies of files that have since been deleted. This makes it much more likely that you’ll be able to retrieve the files you need in the event of a problem. Don’t get hung up on the word “version,” because even if you never need to see a previous version of a file, you may want to see a file that was accidentally deleted, damaged, or overwritten. Why Create Bootable Duplicates? Of the many things that could go wrong with your Macintosh, quite a few of them involve problems with either the hard drive or SSD itself (that is, physical or electronic damage) or the way data is stored on it (directory corruption or media errors of other sorts). No matter how scrupulous you are with saving and backing up your files, you could find yourself, one day, facing symptoms such as these: • Your Mac refuses to start up when you turn it on—perhaps with a blinking question mark icon, or perhaps with a blue or grey screen that never goes away. • Your Mac crashes repeatedly, for no apparent reason. • You begin noticing misbehaviour in multiple applications, such as failure to launch, incorrect preferences, or missing documents. In situations like these, you’re looking at some down time. Maybe your computer is out of commission for a half hour while you quickly run a disk repair utility; maybe it’s out for days while you wait for a replacement hard drive to be delivered. In any case, there’s going to be a period of time during which you can’t get any work done. For many of us, myself included, that’s a serious problem. That’s why, in addition to versioned backups, I recommend creating a bootable duplicate. You’ll store a complete copy of your startup disk on another drive, such that if your main disk ever goes south, you can start up your Mac—or even a different Mac—from your backup drive and get back to work in minutes (instead of hours or days). Bootable duplicates also give you insurance against software updates gone bad. If you install a new version of Mac OS X and encounter compatibility problems, you can quickly revert your disk to the way it was before. Why Automate Backups? I can say from personal experience that backups are far more likely to happen regularly if your backup software runs without any manual intervention. And I want to assure you that regular backups are the only kind that matter. I think its fair to state this as a corollary to Murphy’s Law: “The likelihood of suffering data loss increases in direct proportion to the elapsed time since your last backup.” In other words, if you’re performing all your backups manually, the one day you forget (or run out of time) will be the day something goes wrong. Why Store Backups Offsite? If someone breaks into your home or office and steals your Mac, chances are they’ll also grab whatever’s attached to it, such as your backup drive! Fires, floods, earthquakes, and other disasters could likewise wipe out your backups as well as your computer. As much as we want to believe these things will never happen to us, the prudent course is to plan as though they will. So I urge you to keep at least one extra copy of your data far away from your computer and away from your home or office (Offsite) Cheers, Ronni 17" MacBook Pro 2.3GHz Quad-Core i7 “Thunderbolt" 2.3GHz / 8GB / 750GB @ 7200rpm HD OS X 10.7.3 Lion Windows 7 Ultimate (under sufferance) -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> Settings & Unsubscribe - <http://lists.wamug.org.au/listinfo/wamug.org.au-wamug>
