HD sounds like a lawnmower mowing sticks.

[kirkmc]

Backups should be taken automatically.

Where do you automatically backup? The Cloud?

I store all data on a mirrored network disk. From that I take backups to a couple of external disks. In a perfect world at least one of a disks would be in a different physical location, but unfortunately that is not the case for me.

I make backups, and backups of backups, and have a safe where I store additional backups (it's not off-site, but it protects in case of fire or other problem). I also back some data up to a client's server; the files I have for that client. I have some that are automatic, others that are manual (with external disks), and my calendar reminds me when to run the latter. I once lost data, a very long time ago, and now haven't lost data in ages because I back up regularly.

[CarlJung]

My latest worry is that I corrupt an important file without noticing and then backup the corrupted file. That way the backup is unusable. Version control is the next step I need to take

[tj86430]

Version control is the next step I need to take

Yes, version control is important. I take daily incremental backups and keep three latest increments and weekly full backups and keep three latest of those as well.

[topazg]

Ah, but do you also have a proper disaster recover plan that you test on a regular basis as well?

Wow, I'm glad I don't even try to do my work backup procedures at home, I just don't have time!

[kirkmc]

My latest worry is that I corrupt an important file without noticing and then backup the corrupted file. That way the backup is unusable. Version control is the next step I need to take

Us Mac users have a feature called Time Machine, that saves files every hour, then stores the backups once a day (past the latest 24 hours), then once a week (past the last week). This means that whenever I have files that I find are corrupted, there's a fair chance that one of the backups will not be corrupted. I use this only for my home folder, but it has helped me get back files that I either accidentally deleted, or were corrupted.

Going beyond that, though, there are plenty of backup programs that let you keep every version of a file. I find that to be overkill.

[tj86430]

Ah, but do you also have a proper disaster recover plan that you test on a regular basis as well?

If this was directed to me: no. See my earlier post:

it's not even close to real "business best practices".

[CarlJung]

Us Mac users have a feature called Time Machine, that saves files every hour, then stores the backups once a day (past the latest 24 hours), then once a week (past the last week). This means that whenever I have files that I find are corrupted, there's a fair chance that one of the backups will not be corrupted. I use this only for my home folder, but it has helped me get back files that I either accidentally deleted, or were corrupted.

Going beyond that, though, there are plenty of backup programs that let you keep every version of a file. I find that to be overkill.

From the little I have read about Time Machine it sounds like a fantastic peace of software. There are a ton of backup software for Windows and I bet some of them have something similar. It's on my todo list to research that.

[topazg]

Us Mac users have a feature called Time Machine, that saves files every hour, then stores the backups once a day (past the latest 24 hours), then once a week (past the last week). This means that whenever I have files that I find are corrupted, there's a fair chance that one of the backups will not be corrupted. I use this only for my home folder, but it has helped me get back files that I either accidentally deleted, or were corrupted.

Going beyond that, though, there are plenty of backup programs that let you keep every version of a file. I find that to be overkill.

From the little I have read about Time Machine it sounds like a fantastic peace of software. There are a ton of backup software for Windows and I bet some of them have something similar. It's on my todo list to research that.

If you have a few machines at home that you'd want to backup, Veritas used do some good software, but Symantec now own it, so I don't know if it is the same, better, or worse: http://www.symantec.com/business/produc ... backupexec

There are definitely cheaper options for the single home user though.

[daal]

My latest worry is that I corrupt an important file without noticing and then backup the corrupted file. That way the backup is unusable. Version control is the next step I need to take

Since my backup system could obviously use some tweaking, I googled version control, and found this nice explanation, for the less technically inclined among us:

http://betterexplained.com/articles/a-v ... n-control/

I'm also interested in learning how to automate backups. Can anyone point me in a good direction?

[topazg]

Ah, but do you also have a proper disaster recover plan that you test on a regular basis as well?

If this was directed to me: no. See my earlier post:

it's not even close to real "business best practices".

Sorry, it was a slightly tongue in cheek comment

I'm impressed at the backup that a lot of people seem to do at home.

My procedure is basically a secure FTP upload (not publicly HTTP accessible) of my important documents (which are generally pretty small when compressed), and an external 750 GB HDD for everything else, which I update maybe once a month.

[topazg]

I'm also interested in learning how to automate backups. Can anyone point me in a good direction?

If you are a Windows user, you can get a licensed copy of Winrar or Winzip with command line utilities, and then write a batch file that automatically zips up and archives the zip files using Windows Scheduled Tasks.

It's about $40 or something I think for a lifetime licence, then the cost of external storage, then you should be set...

[tj86430]

I've used GFI Backup on Windows (http://www.gfi.com/backup-hm). It's not perfect, but it has a lot of good features. The Home Edition is free.

Time Machine is good, but the annoying thing is that it takes over the whole drive (IIRC).

[kirkmc]

I've used GFI Backup on Windows (http://www.gfi.com/backup-hm). It's not perfect, but it has a lot of good features. The Home Edition is free.

Time Machine is good, but the annoying thing is that it takes over the whole drive (IIRC).

Time Machine requires a partition; I have it using a partition of a drive on which I store other backups.

[tj86430]

I've used GFI Backup on Windows (http://www.gfi.com/backup-hm). It's not perfect, but it has a lot of good features. The Home Edition is free.

Time Machine is good, but the annoying thing is that it takes over the whole drive (IIRC).

Time Machine requires a partition; I have it using a partition of a drive on which I store other backups.

If I want to have an USB disk partitioned into two, and use one partition for Time Machine and another partition for Windows on VirtualBox, should I use OS/X or Windows to do the partitioning?

Will Time Machine also be able back up the stuff on my network drive (or rather parts of it), i.e. I want to back up up stuff from my OS/X formatted internal drive as well as network drive (SMB)?

[kirkmc]

I've used GFI Backup on Windows (http://www.gfi.com/backup-hm). It's not perfect, but it has a lot of good features. The Home Edition is free.

Time Machine is good, but the annoying thing is that it takes over the whole drive (IIRC).

Time Machine requires a partition; I have it using a partition of a drive on which I store other backups.

If I want to have an USB disk partitioned into two, and use one partition for Time Machine and another partition for Windows on VirtualBox, should I use OS/X or Windows to do the partitioning?

Will Time Machine also be able back up the stuff on my network drive (or rather parts of it), i.e. I want to back up up stuff from my OS/X formatted internal drive as well as network drive (SMB)?

I'm pretty sure that Time Machine requires HFS+. It works using hard links so the disk doesn't fill up quickly, and my guess is that Windows formatting doesn't allow for hard links (or if it does, they probably aren't the right kind). This said, you can choose FAT formatting for partitions from Disk Utility, so for this to work, you'd have to do it on the Mac side.

Time Machine can work on a local or a network drive.