Ronni, good post. There are clearly circumstances where a backup to disk matters. And the maturity of online backup is now at the point where - coupled with a fast broadband connection - where it has become very useful, particularly for those items that change frequently and where offsite backup is vital.
I've been using GetDropBox for online backup for a while now. Once you save/update files in dropbox folders on your Mac, the files are automatically replicated off to your Internet dropbox account. After the initial setup (which takes a while to upload all the files), the backups are almost immediate. You can also choose to share individual folders, so that provides a handy way of sharing large files. The dropbox applet runs on both Windows and Mac computers, and is easy for non technical users to get going. DropBox also has an archive option so you can keep a version history of files. If you use 1Password to secure your passwords, you can use GetDropBox to sync your passwords securely across multiple Macs. A 2Gb account from GetDropBox is free (and you can do a lot with 2Gb). A 50Gb account costs $10US/mth, and 100Gb costs $20US/mth. Data is stored on Amazon S3, which is about as secure and scalable as you can get. If you need to restore a complete system image in a hurry, nothing beats an up to date backup on disk. But the practicalities of keeping up to date backups - local and offsite - can be significant. Time Machine (for real time onsite backups of your system) and GetDropBox (for real time offsite backup for Documents/Home) is possibly a good combo. Glenn Nicholas OM4 :: 2009/9/24 Ronda Brown <ro...@mac.com>: > Hi Neil, > No particular reason really. > It's just that I have a purchased copy of SuperDuper, so seeing as I have > paid for it, I decided I should at least use it ;-) > I created the original clone on the off-site drive using SuperDuper before I > realised Déjà Vu could do a bootable clone as well as Archives. > Cheers, > Ronni > On 24/09/2009, at 2:44 PM, Neil Houghton wrote: > > Hi Ronni, > > Interesting that you use two different programs to clone to external FW > drives - Déjà Vu for your weekly clone and Superduper for your monthly > clone. Do you have a particular reason for this? - I can see the reason for > two different drives in two different locations with two different > schedules, I just wondered why two different cloning programs. > > Cheers > > > Neil > -- > Neil R. Houghton > Albany, Western Australia > Tel: +61 8 9841 6063 > Email: n...@possumology.com > > > > on 24/9/09 1:45 PM, Ronda Brown at ro...@mac.com wrote: > > Hello WAMUG people serious about protecting the Data on your Computer/s, > > Someone on WAMUG Mailing list some time ago asked if I would post how I > Backup and protect myself from loss of Data. > Here is a brief outline on my Backup Strategy: > **************** > BACKUP STRATEGY > > The computer I am regularly backing up is an Intel machine (17" MacBook Pro > Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz / 4GB / 800MHz / 500GB) > My External Firewire Drives are formatted: > Mac OS Extended (Journaled) > Partition Map Scheme: GUID Partition Table - (for bootability on Intel-based > Macs) > > If you are backing up a PowerPC (PPC) machine you would format your External > Firewire Drive/s: > Mac OS Extended (Journaled) > Partition Map Scheme: APM Partition Table - (for bootability on > PowerPC-based Macs) > > I have been using Déjà Vu since purchasing it in 2002 to perform my > scheduled daily backups of my Home Directory folder and scheduled weekly > Bootable Clone of my System Disk (Hard Drive). > Déjà Vu is a "preference pane" that lives in your System Preferences, and it > allows you to schedule unattended backups of important folders, and "Clone" > your entire system. > As it has never let me down I continue using it. > <http://www.propagandaprod.com/dejavu.html> > > You might prefer to use Time Machine (which is Free) for "Archives" and > another application like Carbon Copy Cloner <http://www.bombich.com/> or > SuperDuper > <http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html>. > Purchased & registered copy of these can do scheduled backups. > > I use SuperDuper (purchased copy) to "Clone" other peoples computer Systems > before I work on them, just in case something goes terribly wrong. > > NB: Backups are a MUST! Scheduled Backups are VITAL! > > It is too easy to forget to backup if you have not scheduled your backup > application to regularly backup. > The time you don't have a current backup, is the time most likely for > something to go wrong and "Yikes" you have lost important data. > That Video Project or Work Project you have been working on for weeks, or > all your photos, your music files. > I know this from experience! I was devastated when I had forgotten to backup > and lost very important Video files I had been working on. > After this happened I started using "Scheduled" daily backup of my Home > Directory (Folder). > "Peace of Mind" is far better then "Loss of Mind" due to "Loss of Data"! > > My Backup Strategy is: > > Déjà Vu backs up my Home folder to a Drobo which holds 4 - 1TB SATA drives > (every night …) > Déjà Vu backs up my Home folder to a 160GB SATA portable drive that lives > in my car (every night …) > For security this drive is password protected. > > Déjà Vu does a bootable Clone of my Startup Volume - [HD] to a 1TB External > Firewire Drive (every week …) > > I have an extra off-site backup (Bootable Cloned HD by SuperDuper) on a 1TB > External Firewire Drive at a relative's. > This is updated every 1-2 mths > > I have another 120GB SATA Portable Drive that I use to backup files on other > peoples computers before I work on them. > -------------------------------- > Basically a good Backup Strategy consists of three parts: > > 1. Use Time Machine or another backup application to store "Archives". > Use your backup application to update your "Archives" incrementally (copying > only new or changed files each time) at least Daily. > > 2. Create a Bootable backup Clone (Duplicate) of your Startup Volume. > Use your backup application to update the Clone weekly. > > 3. Store at least one backup copy (I prefer a Bootable Clone of my whole > system) off-site. > Somewhere other than your House in case of fire or burglary, and update it > regularly. > ============== > > I recommend purchasing and reading this eBook. It is well worth the purchase > price. > "Take Control of Mac OS X Backups, Fourth Edition" > <http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/backup-macosx?pt=TRK-0014-TCANNOUNCE> > > ************** > > Cheers, > Ronni > > 17" MacBook Pro Intel Core 2 Duo > 2.4 GHz / 4GB / 800MHz / 500GB > OS X 10.6.1 Snow Leopard > > > > ________________________________ > > > > ________________________________ > -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- > Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> > Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> > Unsubscribe - <mailto:wamug-unsubscr...@wamug.org.au> > -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> Unsubscribe - <mailto:wamug-unsubscr...@wamug.org.au>
