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Newbie
User of semicolons.



Registered: 07/18/04
Posts: 24,710
Loc: SoCal
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How often are you backing files up?
#7846739 - 01/08/08 02:34 AM (16 years, 25 days ago) |
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I find myself changing my computer every day, adding more files to various libraries mostly. I have a external HDD I made from an old 250 GB EIDE drive and a cheapo external enclosure. Every 2 weeks or so I'll make a full backup of my Users folder (Documents and Settings for you XP users). I've had my PC's crash so many times in the past that I've finally learned. I highly recommend you all do the same! It's a small, yet powerful way to prevent data loss. Remember OS's can be reloaded, private data often times can't.
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Asante
Mage


Registered: 02/06/02
Posts: 86,795
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Re: How often are you backing files up? [Re: Newbie]
#7846758 - 01/08/08 02:48 AM (16 years, 25 days ago) |
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Every few minutes.
I have a RAID 1 configuration of two harddisks that back up to one another in realtime. The peace of mind just can't be beat.
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero



Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 23,480
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Re: How often are you backing files up? [Re: Asante]
#7846822 - 01/08/08 03:53 AM (16 years, 24 days ago) |
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Quote:
Every few minutes.
I have a RAID 1 configuration of two harddisks that back up to one another in realtime. The peace of mind just can't be beat.
Thinking of any RAID configuration as a backup solution is a misleading peace of mind. Using RAID is a great way to generate redundancy in the hardware, but it does nothing to protect against data loss from anything beyond hardware failure. If I delete a file by mistake, or if my OS gets corrupt with spyware, then RAID does nothing for me at all.
> How often are you backing files up?
I use an rsync script to backup my important files once an hour to an external hard drive. I have two external drives for backups. I keep one at work and one at home and swap them once a week. If somebody breaks into either location and takes all the computer stuff, I still have an offsite backup as well.
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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Diploid
Cuban



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Posts: 19,274
Loc: Rabbit Hole
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Re: How often are you backing files up? [Re: Newbie]
#7847023 - 01/08/08 07:52 AM (16 years, 24 days ago) |
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First, what Seuss said.
Next, I bought two 750gb drives about a year ago. I set one up with a 30gb partition for the OS and applications the rest for data. The other 750gb drive I set up as one big partition and dedicated it to backup use only.
I use Acronis True Image to manage backups. The OS partition I backup before I install anything, especially drivers. Yikes! Then, if I don't like what I installed, I boot off the Acronis CD (which actually boots Linux under the covers) and I restore the OS partition. This guarantees a clean uninstall with no registry or file system pollution left over. (Rant: what the fuck is wrong with software developers that their uninstall always leaves shit behind?)
Anyway, this works well for frequent OS partition backups because it only takes a few minutes to do 30gb. The big data partition (~700gb) takes a few hours, so that one runs once a week or so overnight.
I have a few other machines on my network, but those don't have any data that I couldn't reconstruct, so those backup over Ethernet once in a while.
-------------------- Republican Values: 1) You can't get married to your spouse who is the same sex as you. 2) You can't have an abortion no matter how much you don't want a child. 3) You can't have a certain plant in your possession or you'll get locked up with a rapist and a murderer. 4) We need a smaller, less-intrusive government.
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Annom
※※※※※※




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Re: How often are you backing files up? [Re: Newbie]
#7847179 - 01/08/08 09:26 AM (16 years, 24 days ago) |
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I use MS SyncToy (free) to contribute or synchronize my important files over 3 different HDDs, every day. I upload my pictures to Google albums.
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kotik
fuckingsuperhero


Registered: 06/29/04
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Re: How often are you backing files up? [Re: Annom]
#7849297 - 01/08/08 05:37 PM (16 years, 24 days ago) |
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ever since I got mozy (www.mozy.com) backing up is automatic, seamless, and foolproof (at least moreso than external drives). I also have 2 externals as backup, and burn all important files to DVD every month.
-------------------- No statements made in any post or message by myself should be construed to mean that I am now, or have ever been, participating in or considering participation in any activities in violation of any local, state, or federal laws. All posts are works of fiction.
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Newbie
User of semicolons.



Registered: 07/18/04
Posts: 24,710
Loc: SoCal
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Re: How often are you backing files up? [Re: kotik]
#7849328 - 01/08/08 05:42 PM (16 years, 24 days ago) |
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Acronis is great because you can just image the drive, then it kind of adds newer data to the image to avoid redundancy. Very useful in backing up indeed. My next step is a 1 TB network capable drive. I want to be able to do a full backup from my laptop as well, no matter where I am in my house.
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero



Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 23,480
Loc: Caribbean
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Re: How often are you backing files up? [Re: kotik]
#7852380 - 01/09/08 04:43 AM (16 years, 23 days ago) |
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> and burn all important files to DVD every month.
Be careful with optical media for long term offline storage. Perhaps things have changed, but back when I was looking into this as an option, the dye in the media had a limited shelf life after burning. Sometimes as short as a few years, but usually in the 20-year. Again, this was long ago when burnable optical media was first coming out.
Bad memories... I used to be responsible for backing up several terabytes worth of disk back in the day when typical disk drives were being measured in the low hundreds of megs. I used massive, room sized, tape silos that held thousands upon thousands of DLT tapes, seven tape drives, and a robot arm to move things around. Each silo held 5-petabytes and could access any stored data in under 40-seconds assuming a free tape drive.
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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kotik
fuckingsuperhero


Registered: 06/29/04
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Re: How often are you backing files up? [Re: Seuss]
#7852408 - 01/09/08 05:13 AM (16 years, 23 days ago) |
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ya, DVD/CD is not my main choice, it's mostly for convenience. I think the shelf life for a DVD is still higher than the shelf life of an HD.
-------------------- No statements made in any post or message by myself should be construed to mean that I am now, or have ever been, participating in or considering participation in any activities in violation of any local, state, or federal laws. All posts are works of fiction.
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automan
blasted chipmunk


Registered: 09/18/03
Posts: 8,272
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Re: How often are you backing files up? [Re: kotik]
#7852465 - 01/09/08 06:00 AM (16 years, 23 days ago) |
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it would take me 140+ DVDs to backup my /media directory, alone.
right now, i am taunting fate. i have a massive media collection, but am running out of hdd space. i backup the most precious things like my son's pictures (he is now 4.5 months old to google's picasa and flickr. as long as those are safe, i could cope with the loss of everything else.
hopefully, by summer time, i will be able to set up the raid 5 that i want in 2 locations and rsync between them... even if one is just in the crawl space under the house. i know that wouldnt protect against something like a house fire, but it would provide more security than i have now.
-------------------- No, no, you're not thinking, you're just being logical. ~ Niels Bohr
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kotik
fuckingsuperhero


Registered: 06/29/04
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Re: How often are you backing files up? [Re: automan]
#7857730 - 01/10/08 04:44 AM (16 years, 22 days ago) |
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Quote:
automan said: it would take me 140+ DVDs to backup my /media directory, alone.
yup, im almost at 500, not even counting doubles. when Blu-Ray is as cheap as DVD, it will be much easier to maintain backups.
-------------------- No statements made in any post or message by myself should be construed to mean that I am now, or have ever been, participating in or considering participation in any activities in violation of any local, state, or federal laws. All posts are works of fiction.
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