Backup solutions

[Guest adrianmoorsel]

Hello all!

 

I would like to ask for some advice in the topic mentioned in the name of the thread. Currently I'm working on a laptop, I have an SSD for the system and a regular HDD for all my data. I backup my files on an external HDD, but I do it manually (so it's not consistent, I don't have everything backed up immediately, just when I do it for myself regularly). Can you give me some tipps, what are your solutions, what is the best way to do this? (are there any softwares that do the job for you, etc.)

 

The other thing is, that I'm about to buy a new desktop PC that performs better than my current setup. In this case what is the best solution for backing up data? I always read, that people buy 2 separate HDDs for their configuration, one for the data and the other one for backing up everything. Can you please tell me, how this actually works?

 

Sorry, if I asked something, that has been answered before, but this is something, that - of coures - is really important for me, and was never clear.

 

Thank you for your answers.

 

Adrian

[numerobis]

I always read, that people buy 2 separate HDDs for their configuration, one for the data and the other one for backing up everything. Can you please tell me, how this actually works?

 

And the paranoid ones like me have a server with RAID1 + two removable backup drives in rotation...

 

I have been burned some years ago loosing an external data drive, so now i prefer to make one backup too much

 

There are many backup solutions available. You can use an image program like TrueImage which stores the backup in one big archive file that can be incrementally updated or a program that copies the files and folders one by one without archiving them. I prefer and use the last solution because i feel better when i can access the files without a special program to read an archive - SecondCopy ( http://www.secondcopy.com/ ) is my choice so far out of the one i tested. But maybe the first one would be the cleaner solution - it seems that the data on the backup drives grow over time using SecondCopy. I don't know what it is, because the data structure looks ok, but once a year or so i make a complete copy to remove the clutter.

But i'm always looking for better solutions, so maybe someone has a recommendation...

 

And i use Acronis True Image for images of my windows installations.

Edited November 22, 2013 by numerobis

[CliveG]

I'm really surprised this thread hasn't warranted more discussion. Because in my experience it's not a question of "if" a hard disk will fail but "when". They all fail eventually, I must have had 6 or 7 let go over the last decade (no loss) and so discussions on this are almost always of interest.

 

These days I have two x raid 1's (= 4 HDD) 1 x SSD 1 x Laptop and 1 x External so with my data across 7 disks, I don't ever stand to lose much. Plus I use a full battery backup UPS 'cos of our dirty & unreliable power.

 

But I'm also intrigued by the cloud sync options to manage this data across these machines and also provide me with another off site backup. In this thread ... http://forums.cgarchitect.com/74821-struggling-figure-out-best-way-centralise-files-office-home-working-2.html .... there was mention of Sugarsync and BitTorrentsync etc for this end.

 

Could anyone explain these a bit more, whether they're potentially a backup solution in themselves and their implication on bandwith and traffic allowances, as Australia is still in the dark ages imposing fairly onerous usage limits and tariffs on ADSL contracts. I struggle to keep within my usage allowance as it is and would be concerned that moving gigabytes more up and down is going to kill this as possibility for me.

[paneli]

I use two external drives and a NAS.

Also GoodSync and Acronis TrueImage for backup and sync.

 

Personally I find RAID expensive.

[Devin Johnston]

I use the residential version of carbonite.com to back up my home computer, it works great as long as the total storage size is 10 or 20 GB. If you're looking to back up professional work that's 100's of Gigs then they have a business option that will allow you to do that. All you do is set up which folder you want backed up and let it go, everything is automatic.