I've got my laptop and a hard drive attached to my router that I have data on that I would like to backup. I don't know much about backup best practices (other than keeping one offsite). What should I do for a backup solution? How often should I backup and how many copies should I keep? How can I test the backups to make sure they work in case of disaster? Please share any other tips/info you think is needed.
Talk to me about backups
- Thread starter Bird222
- Start date
- Oct 25, 1999
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Data loss in general but ransomware in particular. This is my personal data. It's not like I'm running a business or anything but there are definitely files I don't want to lose.
- Mar 20, 2000
- 102,354
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2 local copies - one online, one offline - and 1 cloud copy (i need to find a new one with crashplan going away)
dave_the_nerd
Lifer
- Feb 25, 2011
- 16,895
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Crashplan did that reduced price offer for the first year on their Small Business plan. I took them up on it.
Between the nice Linux GUI client and the multiple devices (not having to back up to my server and then run crashplan on the server) I may just pay the higher rate next year.
- Mar 20, 2000
- 102,354
- 8,444
- 126
i use windows 10's built in "File History" and a big seagate or WD usb 3 external. keep one plugged in basically all the time, plug the other one in once a week or two, or any time you generate a big new chunk of data.
for cloud i would use a proper cloud backup system rather than just a file storage/sharing system (i.e. google drive/one drive/dropbox). as i said above, i've been using crashplan for cloud backup, but they're getting out of the "home" backup business. carbonite is a big player.
@dave_the_nerd i'll probably go that route since it won't bump me up against comcast's data cap :grr:
dave_the_nerd
Lifer
- Feb 25, 2011
- 16,895
- 1,542
- 126
Ugh. Yeah.
If I ever have to _download_ all this stuff, Comcast is going to send men in suits to my house.
Agreed. With the cheap storage available today you may as well keep three copies locally. One in use, one hot backup (f.x. a NAS) and one as a cold backup. So even if the hot copy gets hosed, you still have a fresh copy within reach.
In that case I'd advise to keep an additional (encrypted) copy at another location. If you have family or friends in another city, that's a good place. This will protect against fire, flood or whatever else life can come up with. The encryption is purely a matter of how far you trust them to not poke around your private stuff. You can use an external HDD for that purpose. Or if it's not a lot of data, burn it to a DVD/bluray and simply mail it to them. In the latter case, make sure it is heavily encrypted.
Software wise is a matter of personal preference. I just make a copy of whatever folder I want using a robocopy script. Its simple and easy to automate. Helps with file availability too, since its just a straight file copy without a specific format.
I don't see much reason for something more exotic. Bitrot should not be a problem if you keep multiple copies.
Also, always test your backup strategy. Its not fun to find out the hard way it doesn't work like you expect. Or, worse, the data is unrecoverable.
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