Your home backup strategy [closed]

Question

What is your recommended backup strategy for home computers? I have two computers - desktop and notebook. All the important data is store on the desktop computer. I am currently using Mozy to backup my data from desktop computer to Mozy servers. What do you use?

Answer 1

I use Dropbox, they have clients for Windows, Linux, and Mac. What the service does is that it automatically syncs a folder to their servers and to whichever other clients you want.

It's one of those services that "just" work. Check them out, they're awesome, and they offer 2 GB for free.

Answer 2

I use Windows Home Server, offsite backups (sometimes) and Amazon S3.

Answer 3

Here is the most important advice about backups, whether at home or at work:

Test your backups!

Whichever technical solution and policy you use is secondary. In my case, I use a combination of automated and manual exports into a folder, with rsyncing my colo server (assuming that they won't both crash together). But the key thing is that I have a text file with step-by-step instructions of how to restore a full system from the backup. Periodically I reinstall and restore, thereby testing my backup to confirm that it works.

My personal policy is to always buy a replacement computer every January 1. I always shoot for the mid price range because I know that I will be replacing the system after only one year, so I stick to the sweet spot.

The second advantage is that I can make sure that my backups are working since I am restoring my data to a new system

• Frequently, since the maximum restore duration is 1 year (usually less if I upgrade the OS); and
• In a situation where the source data is still available. If I missed something or if a restore fails, I can I can update my backup procedure

Answer 4

I think it depends on how much you want to get your hands dirty or have to remember things, versus wanting to have something that just works and you don't have to think much about. On the high-maintenance side, a big USB drive from Costco that you make backups on and store off-site somewhere is a cheap way to go. There are a LOT better options, though...

For ease of use and seamlessness, it's hard to beat Windows Home Server. To add off-site capabilities, you can still back it up to an external drive that you take somewhere or go with something like the JungleDisk add-in for Amazon S3.

There's no shortage of purely-online backup options, such as Mozy or Carbonite. But then you lose the ability to serve things up from the server as you can with WHS. For example, all our music, photos, and movies are on the server and get played back via Media Center, iTunes, Winamp, or whatever.

And there's no shortage of "home server" options, from a DIY Linux box to a NAS-in-a-box solution. But then you lose (or make difficult) both the off-site possibilities and flexibility, and the ease-of-use factor. WHS lets you configure Remote Access so that you can to http://something.homeserver.com and access all your files. If you've got a non-technical significant other who may want to get at things that are backed up (from within the network or remotely), that ease-of-use is key to the "Wife Acceptance Factor".

It doesn't take much in the way of hardware... I picked up a Dell Dimension desktop for about $230 on the Dell Outlet and then added an additional SATA drive for more storage. It's run 24/7 for just about a year now and it just plain works.

Answer 5

I'm using Amazon S3 combined with JungleDisk. I'm however looking for an alternative solution as JungleDisk hates it when I suspend my laptop, it seems to get stuck in a loop that never actually results in anything getting backed up.

Answer 6

Mozy for both of my computers. $4.95/month each and I don't have to worry about fires or theft.

Keith

Answer 7

I use an Apple TimeCapsule. For the Mac's in the house it "just works" and the windows PC's use it like a network drive using the built in backup software. Every so often I make a copy of the data on that to an external and take it to the office. Really need to automate the offsite part with S3 or something though.

Answer 8

I use a external HD.

Answer 9

As a duplicate of my answer to this question...

I'm using a NAS running Linux (Dlink DNS-323, equipped with 2x 1TB drives in RAID1) in combination with BackupPc. The NAS is placed in a remote location.

BackupPc is a GUI around RSync and I have configured it so all my personal stuff is backed up every day. (Not complete images, just the important data.)

Answer 10

I once almost lost my laptop containing a bunch of newly written code - left it on a train so it was missing for a few days, though it eventually turned up. So I'm pretty paranoid about this now and I have a number of different strategies.

For my home folders, I use crashplan (crashplan.com) to automatically back up offsite and to my other computers (gives the option to restore locally if I still have access to the other computers, and it's automatic so I don't need to think about it). I also know this works because it saved my neck at the time my laptop went missing for a few days above.

Code is backed up under my home folder but it also tends to get naturally backed up as it's in a code repository and checked out on different computers. In fact this works so well for backup and synch, that I'm thinking of switching to it for my home folder on different pcs as well (currently backed up but not synched across the different machines).

I also have a time capsule for my macs - again this is automatic.

For stuff that is currently too big for TC or crashplan (movies and music etc) I have a drobo and also a pair of USB disks configured as a RAID mirror. Unfortunately this means I have no offsite backup for this stuff. I also have to run a home grown rsync script to keep this stuff synchronised.

Stuff that's out on the net, mysql DBs etc, I dump to S3.

Answer 11

I have a similar situation for my personal stuff.

My strategy is:

1- I don't worry about the OS or programs. These are changing so quickly that I don't bother, and if I have a failure I will rebuild anyway.

2- I have a robocopy batch file that backs up the documents and settings from the computer to an external USB drive. Robocopy has settings to not copy unchanged files. I leave the drive plugged into the desktop, and the job runs on the task scheduler. I move the USB drive to the laptop once a week or so and run the job manually.

I don't like the on-site only aspect of this, so I am planning to implement JungleDisk/S3 next month.

For non-tech users (i.e. the family I end up supporting), I recommend Carbonite.

Answer 12

I use Bacula, which allows me to automatically back up multiple systems over my home network. I also use it to back up one remote system (over an SSL encrypted link).

The most important thing is to automate your backups. Manual systems (like copying all files to an external hard drive) usually get forgotten after a while. Regularly testing if you can restore your files also applies for the home user by the way.

Answer 13

I'm not sure this is my recommended scheme, but this is what I do.

I have one laptop with lots of important data, and daily use. One further laptop with no important data, with weekly use. One desktop desktop with lots of important but infrequently changing data, with around monthly use. These three machines are backed-up as follows:

For "daily incremental backups": The two laptops have Memeo Autobackup running constantly to store data on a Buffalo NAS device configured with RAID 1. This stores the last three versions of all files. I also have a partition on there where I've stored the installers for all the useful software I regularly use to aid set-up of a new machine.

For "off-site" storage: The desktop and the NAS device are manually copied to a large USB disk every two-to-three months. This is my main "off-site" storage, but here "off-site" just means a different room. My plan is to build a server cupboard in my garage this summer, and a second NAS will sit in there. Work-related files are transferred to a remote server, daily or weekly depending on what they are. Source code and some documents are stored in version control systems.

For "archival": I have a stack of hard-drives that are manual clones of my systems at specific times in my life. The later ones would allow me to resurrect my desktop and one of the laptops in a hurry, if I needed to. The earlier ones are just of historical interest. There are currently 13 drives in the pile.

Answer 14

I use OS X Leopard's Time Machine with a custom schedule to backup to an external drive every 4 hours.

For remote backups, I use Apple's MobileMe and Backup application to backup important files weekly.

Answer 15

Just for discussion's sake .. how about backing each of the computers up across your network to the other computer?

Has advantages .. no cost, easy to manage ...

What do you all think?

Answer 16

Using a combination Windows Home Server and Live Mesh

Answer 17

I have an external hard drive, and use Cobian Backup to automate the backup each night.

Answer 18

I use Microsoft Live Mesh for important files and to keep files in synchronization across multiple computers. I also put important files onto one of several USB drives that I have for just that purpose.

Answer 19

I use Retrospect Backup for daily incremental backups, onto a second internal HD on my system. I take a monthly full backup using TrueImage, again onto that second internal HD. I use ViceVersa Pro to copy those backups onto a removable HD, and I do this manually whenever a backup has occurred... and that removable HD pretty much goes with me where-ever I go. It's a 400GB thing about the size of my ipod which I just put in my laptop bag and take to work. Big enough for TrueImage images of both my desktop and laptop, and incremental backups of my desktop.

Answer 20

What ever backup solution you select, make sure it can (and will be) automated.

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I have finally set up a RAID6 server together with rsnapshot (which is using rsync) which gives me automated full/incremental rotated backups on disk. I back up everything on my disks.

For offline backup I have just bought a SAS LTO4 tape streamer which I just have received but not installed yet, but I plan then store some of the rsnapshot backups from time to time and store the tapes at my office.

Answer 21

An alternative (or addition) to full backups is to duplicate the files you consider important on both the desktop and the laptop. Unison is an excellent tool for this (free, cross platform, command line and GUI). I used this successfully when I was studying. When I was at home I tended to work on my desktop and at the university on my laptop. Without unison I would have had a mess with some files here and some files there, possibly in different versions. With unison I had everything available both places, I just had to sync them from time to time. And as a bonus I also then always had a backup of all my important files.

Answer 22

Jungle disk and Dropbox

Answer 23

On my work-from-home laptop, I use fullsync to copy most documents to a work share over VPN twice a day (I copy anything on my desktop, and anything in My Documents\Synched-Files. I also synch important (but not critical) files that are huge to my local LAN server.

My local LAN server (Mac OS X) uses retrospect to copy its local file systems to a 750GB external HD. I have two of these drives and I physically swap them out once a week and take the not-in-use one to a family member's house in one of those money-boxes with a combo lock on it.

My personal laptops get backed up whenever I think about it, I make a point not to store critical stuff on them.

Answer 24

I use the Dell Datasafe service that came with my notebook. Any online service ought to do the trick, though.

If you have a large quantity of photos, videos, or music, I would back those up on an external drive.

Answer 25

I use JungleDisk on my home computer and Mozy for personal stuff on my work computer. Mozy is free but you are limited in how much you can back up. JungleDisk is cheap and backs up as much as you need. Both are easy to configure and both support strong encryption of the data.

Answer 26

I back everything up onto a Windows Home Server (highly recommended) on a daily basis (automated).

I back the Windows home Server onto a USB HD on a weekly basis.

I backup my Documents folder using Mesh.

Answer 27

Have an Ubuntu server with a bunch of hard drives set up with software RAID5. Backup the individual machines up onto that. The copy the backups onto a USB hard drive which I take to work.

Answer 28

I only use unison to make some kind of peer to peer distributed synchronization.

I have Mac and Windows laptops and PCs.

Answer 29

Version control for files I author. rdiff-backup incremental cron job for my notes file, email, firefox folder. Rsync to external hard drive all data including big medial. Install instructions and scripts for operating systems.

Answer 30

I have one computer and one laptop to backup.
I have two external USB harddisks (500 GB each) to store my backups.

Basically, I do something similar to what Jeff posted here (actually, this is where I got the idea from):
http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/001045.html

One of the disks is in my desk at the office. The other one is here at home and gets updated frequently (but I do it manually every few days, not automatically. That's enough for me).
I have a batch file on each machine that robocopys everything important to the backup disk.

Once a month, I take my "home" disk to the office, leave it there and bring the other disk home. Then this one becomes my "home" disk for the next month.