A further explanation...
I use iBackup daily, either with my file server at home or with a 2.5" portable drive. I use SuperDuper weekly. SuperDuper creates a disk clone in the form of a file and can incrementally update it. I also have a smaller 2.5" portable drive that I clone the primary drive to on a monthly basis; that way I have a hot spare in case my primary disk has a problem. Lastly, I use Mozy for remote backup. It's automatic, it's online, and it's cheap. Works great in the background when you're not using the computer.
My backup scheme provides me with the following:
1. Daily file backup: I use iBackup's manual mode. If I'm at home, I just backup across the network to my file server. If I'm on the road, I backup to an external portable hard drive. It's as simple as pressing a button before I go to bed. I alternate my backups - I have an "A" folder and a "B" folder, so just in case I lose a recent file I have one from a day ago.
2. Hot spare: If my primary disk dies, I can just boot off Firewire. I don't update this too often because SuperDuper can't incrementally update a cloned drive, only a cloned image (file). I'm debating just using a fresh install of OS X instead of a full clone so that I can have a clean Firewire boot drive to use for #3.
3. Clone image: Updated weekly on my backup drive; if my boot drive dies I can boot off my hot spare from #2 and then load the cloned image onto the primary drive. I should probably do this daily, but my files change a lot so I don't. It's a hassle to reinstall and reactivate all my programs though, so I should do this more often so that I can get back up and running quickly. I've only had to do this a few times so it doesn't seem like a huge deal, but it's a lifesaver when you really need it. Why keep a clone image in addition to backup files and not just the image? Because it's easier and faster to find a lost file in a folder backup than digging through an image.
4. Online backup: Mozy provides me with remote, off-site backup that I can access pretty much anywhere. Zero work after installation. Love it!
I'm really looking forward to the
Time Machine feature in Leopard; I won't even have to bother with iBackup. My plan for Leopard is Time Machine + Firewire boot drive with a fresh install of OS X + daily clone to file using SuperDuper + Mozy. MCE Tech offers a secondary hard drive to replace the optical bay in the Mac laptops, so you can have everything be automatic.
edit: Reading through the SuperDuper documentation, looks like you can simply mount the cloned image as a drive, browse the files, and copy over the ones you want. Ooo...gotta try that!
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