Backup strategies

17 years ago

I've had to recover from several hard drive crashes and have also had to help other people recover from crashes.

I'm curious what approaches people use for backups.

I image my drive periodically. Between backups, I'll copy important files to another drive. At one time, I had software running that would do this automatically "in the background" but it used too many resources, so I stopped it.

The backup approach most people I know use seems to be along the lines of "Backups? We don't need no steenkeng backups!" And when the drive crashes, they hope somebody can recover the drive using some kind of recovery program and if not, they shrug and go forward.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (9)

owbist
17 years ago
I suspect bpgreen's last paragraph covers 90% of personal computer owners sadly. Too many also fail to create a set of recovery CD/DVDs to protect against a fatal crash. Many are first time owners of course.

Up until perhaps 3 years ago I simply wiped a drive and started over, it got rid of all the problems. Then I bought Acronis True Image but still fail to use it properly. All 3 currently used computers are backed up but I fail miserably with the incremental backups.

For those considering buying a new computer with Windows 7 you might be pleasantly surprised to know there is a built in backup program. It seems a slow process, my trial version took over 4 hours to create an image with only a few programs installed. The answer is simple of course, set the backup to run when you leave the computer, even overnight.
ravencajun Zone 8b TX
17 years ago
I preach back up all the time and I have to say I wish I did it as much as I preach it LOL
I have not had a loss of needed data however, knock on wood!
I do have Acronis also, I do have online storage, I do have external usb hard drives, I have a lot of the really important stuff saved too, I have flash drives for each pc with all my essentials saved and I re-do those from time to time.
One pc does not have a recovery partition or dvds and I have not imaged it yet, bad bad bad! I have saved the data to back up, but not my OS image. The new acer laptop apparently does have some type of recovery program or partition, have not messed with that yet, it also needs to be imaged. But I have little to nothing on it at this point so no data to lose there.

I only use web based email nothing is on my pc.

I know from my personal experience talking to LOTS of people about computers over 90% of them have no form of backup, and most have no idea what a partition is. In addition they think if there is a problem with the computer it is not fixable and they go out and buy an entirely new computer. When they could have simply reformatted the pc.
I wish I could be the one getting all those computers that are being thrown out! I have a personal friend that has gone through about 5 computers to my one and the reason why is well it would not work right so it had to be replaced!

I have told them about backing up I have told them about recovery and reformatting, I have sent them links to FREE security programs to put on the pc and run, it does not matter.
We can only try to teach...
Related Discussions
Rock Wall for Raised Bed
Q
Comments (6)
Gardengal, I have similar questions about a rock wall we just built. We don't have a lot of problems with dirt running out yet, partly becuase the rains haven't come yet (that is, they hadn't until today) and I think because my husband quite solidly compacted the soil behind each course of rock before putting the next one on. My back-up strategy is to put plants with fairly fibrous root systems near the biggest gaps and hope that they will catch and hold any remaining debris over time. The book we used for guidance did say that the gaps would eventually stopper themselves with bits of stuff.
...See More
So, what's your backup?
Q
Comments (2)
This is probably not what you were thinking when you asked about back-up heat but I'll share anyway. We are big fans of passive ways of maintaining temperatures so we excavated deep enough so that our GH floor was below the frostline to take advantage of the steady temperatures of the earth. Greenhouses that use this strategy are called "Pit" greenhouses but ours is too tall to fall into this category. Pit greenhouses never freeze because they minimize heat losses by having very little glass while taking advantage of the thermal mass of the earth. Again, ours is too tall with too much glass to be as efficient as a Pit greenhouse but we make up for it with a tight building enclosure and high performance windows. We are considering using Phase Change Materials to capture and store heat while it is hot and then release it when temperatures dip. PCMs have been used in greenhouses to keep them from overheating and freezing. This could be a good option if you already have a greenhouse. What I like about passive ways of maintaining temperatures is that when there is a power outage, you are still fine and it is light on the environment and your energy bill.
...See More
External Hard Drive Questions
Q
Comments (9)
It sounds like you want to move the data more then just back it up. You should be able to accomplish that with an external drive. The question is, do you have enough music or other files to warrant purchasing a 750 GB drive over a 320GB A couple things to remember, the external drives are great for a temporary storage medium, but I would rather have them on a solid medium as a backup such as a dvd. They do go bad as often as, and sometimes more often then internal drives. I have been working on computers for a long time, and I never understood why someone would back up the whole computer versus just their data. Most of the programs do not have the ability to restore your computer from a backup. You should have the setup cds or dvd from your computer so you should be able to (if needed) reinstall the operating system from scratch should the drive go bad or you get a virus that kills it. There are programs out there that can backup the whole system, but why would you want to? Raid, This is where you have 2 or more hard drives running the same data/ os. If your computer came with the ability to do a raid setup it is usually just 2 or more hard drives with the same data on it. For a detailed description it would be best to do a google search for it. There are different levels of raid. In my experience, the lower levels of raid aren't of much use. I have seen cases where the main drive dies and the data is not readable. In the higher levels of raid, it is spread out or stripped over several different drives and protects you from data loss. Over all, I think for home use it is just best to use a good backup strategy for data (CD or DVD or Tape) of the actual data and should something bad happen, you can restore the data and load the OS from scratch. Here is a link that might be useful: Raid defined
...See More
To Be Sure You Don't Forget Babies in Hot Cars
Q
Comments (81)
Yesterday's network news describes a rescue of a toddler locked in a closed car in a Kansas parking lot (very hot weather too). Video shows a woman attempting to smash and open up the auto safety glass with a tire iron. Safety glass is intentionally designed to NOT break open from relatively blunt impacts. However it will explode when a fine point is sudden forced against it (there is a sweet spot as well as areas that are less likely to yield). I have a spring punch in my center console, but a neighbor has the ResQMe product and I'm going to buy a couple of those since that device also has a seatbelt cutting tool and fits onto a keychain. (Someone at a B Q showed me his very cinched tight seatbelt from an auto accident -- I don't know how anyone was supposed to release that belt after it tensioned so tightly. Links: toddler rescue https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=57fc1PWqXOE Keychain Rescue Tool (glass breaker seatbelt cutter) There are a number of devices that have a pointed steel tip. When tapped against auto safety glass (or when the spring loaded tip of the ResQMe type is put against the glass and released), the safety glass will shatter. Even a spring loaded "punch" sold at Hardware stores can work. ResQme http://www.esafetysupplies.com/ResQMe-Keychain-Rescue-Tool.html?gclid=CJyfzJ-j7MYCFcWPHwodxWsGOg Oh, one more thing: the comments on the YT video are not thought out. And as far as (cell phone or purse being) "...more important than a child," nonsense. The idea behind it is this -- as an added layer of safety (leaving something you usually take with you from the car, in the back seat close to the baby/child), is aimed at addressing the many of us imperfect humans, who can momentarily become distracted. If we _routinely_ grab our cell phone, briefcase, purse or laptop, but do not routinely have a young one with us, this technique may help prevent a child from being forgotten in a car. If, once at the office (wherever), a purse, laptop or mobile phone need could have us racing to a parking lot. With regard to the kid's invention. People can jury rig a similar setup. Marine suppliers sell thin, UV resistant bungee cord by the foot as well and easily attached hooks or fasteners to secure to the ends. Another summer safety topic is children drowning (it is silent and quick), diving accidents, grills or bonfires (never put volatile fuel or starter on anything but a cold wood, propane or charcoal grill), and boating accidents. Just be aware. If they were planned, they wouldn't call these sad mistakes "accidents."
...See More
bpgreen
Original Author
17 years ago
Ravencajun--you use Linux, right? Do you set up shell scripts with find -newer to automate backing up new files? I'm running Windows, but have cygwin and have thought about setting up a cron job to do something like that to back up a couple of folders. I think that would be less resource intensive than some of the commercial products.
ravencajun Zone 8b TX
17 years ago
oh sorry was basically commenting on how I handle my windows boxes.

On my linux I only have one that I bother making backups and I just back up my Home to external.
I have not done that but I would think it could certainly be done.
Of course having home on a separate partition is a good idea too.

If Baldy happens by he could probably give some ideas.
baldy_linux
17 years ago
There is a program called Keep that has a lot of users. Easy to setup and it can be set to run at night or on certain scheme
ravencajun Zone 8b TX
17 years ago
Keep Application

I was over on freshmeat and you can find a lot of options for linux listed
bpgreen
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks for the info on Keep. It looks user friendly, but I think I might go with a shell script running in cron.

On a larger note, it seems that even those of us who know better are really bad at backups.

So what's the answer?

I've been fairly good at periodically imaging my drive, but discovered that my backup drive is "in danger of immediate failure" when I tried to make it the new boot device.

Is there a relatively inexpensive RAID device that I can hang on the network and force backups for everybody?

Am I overly paranoid because of my wife's recent crash or am I on target?
owbist
17 years ago
Bpgreen wrote On a larger note, it seems that even those of us who know better are really bad at backups.

So what's the answer?

For those contemplating Windows 7 it will be easy enough because not only does it have backup software included as I noted above but it also automatically does the incremental backups to a set schedule.
DA_Mccoy
17 years ago
My position for the general user is as long as important personal data is backed up regularly; specifically, but not limited to financial data, bookmarks, and the on-board mail client address book, don't worry about system backups. Valued data, documents and photos should not be stored on the system without backup to begin with.

A clone of an existing H/D is not essential for the general user. I totally support backing up critical or wanted data, but entire systems I don't.

DA

Backup strategies

Comments (9)

owbist

ravencajun Zone 8b TX

Related Discussions

bpgreen
Original Author

ravencajun Zone 8b TX

baldy_linux

ravencajun Zone 8b TX

bpgreen
Original Author

owbist

DA_Mccoy

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Backup strategies

Comments (9)

owbist

ravencajun Zone 8b TX

Related Discussions

bpgreenOriginal Author

ravencajun Zone 8b TX

baldy_linux

ravencajun Zone 8b TX

bpgreenOriginal Author

owbist

DA_Mccoy

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

bpgreen
Original Author

bpgreen
Original Author