My mother and friend each lost computer data recently, so I’ve been thankful for having a comprehensive backup and recovery set-up for the office. I outlined it for my friend after he asked, so thought I would share it here as well. It’s inexpensive, efficient, and covers me for incremental file versioning, immediate system recovery with no reinstallation downtime, and offsite backups for full contingency. This is based on our primarily Macintosh network, but the principles apply to any computer system.
For many years I’ve used Retrospect software, which is especially great for multiple machines on a network (Mac/PC). But even if you are just backing up the files on your local machine, it’s nice because you can script it very precisely (more efficient) and it’s incremental, so you can recover a version of a file from, say, 30 days ago. Apple’s Time Machine is a slicker interface, but incremental backups work fine through Retrospect. And darn the timing, I just got an email from EMC that Retrospect 8 for the Mac is out. I’m still on 6.2, so I think they skipped a version, but it works fine with Leopard.
Retrospect:
http://www.emcinsignia.com/products/software/retroformac/
I have many layers of backup myself. My main file server has RAID mirrored drives for sensitive company data (RAID means if one drive fails the machine will keep running until you replace the other drive. Both drives must fail to take down the machine). This data is then backed up to Retrospect software running on a trusty 1st gen Mac Mini with 2TB of storage hanging off it that doubles as music server for the office.
Another layer of backup strategy addresses the issue of getting you back up and running quickly in the case of catastrophic failure. Retrospect and Time Machine are great for incremental file backups, but there is an application called Super Duper that clones your entire hard drive. In the case of drive failure, you can easily boot off that external USB drive and start with all your data and apps right where you left off, even from another computer. After replacing the defective drive or fixing the computer, you can hit one button and it will dupe everything back to the new destination. Never skip a beat. We have this on everyone’s laptop to complement Retrospect’s incremental backup.
SuperDuper:
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html
Now this leads to the final layer of contingency, which is off-site backups. We’d still be up a creek in the event of a fire, etc. Extreme and rare, but it’s still a possibility. I finally got MobileMe last year, mainly for photo sharing, but also for remote backup. I’ve been less than thrilled with the backup performance, but it’s okay. It almost seems like an afterthought, as you have to download a separate Backup application and configure it. It’s also not very efficient as it zips up all your files into a single file which is uploaded every day, or whatever your schedule is, rather than uploading only the files you changed. It works, just slowly. You can also set up backups to local drives and devices if off-site isn’t a priority for you.
For off-site backups, I would give this a serious look:
Mozy:
http://mozy.com/
Unlimited remote backups for $4.95/month. Pretty insane deal, though you might consider using it for smaller files and do music/photos/videos locally. I’m going to start using it to offsite all the Retrospect backups from the network, then I think I’ll finally be covered! Unless, of course, aliens attack or Bush pushes the WWIII button on the way out of office.
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