When is a back-up not a back-up?
I was reading this article over at The Apple Blog about the worrying number of Apple Time Capsules that go to heaven after only about 18 months and it got me thinking about what really constitutes a back-up.
The author of the piece was using a Time Capsule to back up all his data, and suddenly it dies because of a known fault with the power system. The hard drive is fine, and could be used to recover the data if Apple would allow it (the basis of the article is control of the user’s data).
But has he really got a back-up of his data? Well, on one hand yes he has because he’s taken the data off of his main machine and put it onto another machine in case the first one fails. But on the other hand, no he hasn’t because his equipment is faulty and he can’t access the data.
Having more than one copy of your irreplaceable data is A Good Thing ™. It means that you recognise that technology is not infallible and you’re taking steps to plan for the day when something breaks. Think about the things that you keep on your computer – how much of it can you afford to lose? Your contacts? Yeah, you can probably re-create those from your phone or PDA but it’s a pain. The pictures from Junior’s last birthday party? Nope, those you can’t get back. So you need to protect what you can’t afford to lose.
Apple’s Time Machine and Time Capsule combination offers Mac OS X users a simple way to do this; the Time Capsule is permanently plugged in and the Time Machine software automatically backs up the data every hour. For most people, I think that’s a little excessive – my data doesn’t change on an hourly basis, that’s for sure.
But this convenience is also its downfall. First, it’s always on. Therefore it will be prone to things like overheating power systems. Second, it’s automatic. This, to me, is not as good as it sounds. Taking a back-up of your data should be something that you make a positive action to achieve. Yes, automatic back-ups don’t get forgotten but if you think you’re going to forget to back-up your data regularly, set yourself a reminder. You need to think about what data you’re backing up, why you’re backing it up, and whether you can afford to over-write the previous data set or whether you need to keep it – not just let the computer decide. And then, once it’s backed-up, you need to test that it is usable.
You also need to plan for catastrophe. An external hard drive that stays plugged into your main machine all the time is going to be subject to the same dangers that your main system is – fire, flood, power surge, theft. Ideally, you want them separated – in different buildings if possible. If that’s not possible, then find a nice secure place for your back-up drive. Keep it unplugged when you’re not using it. And, preferably, have two that you alternate.
As a guide, this is my ideal back-up scenario:
Main computer: iMac with 250Gb hard drive, approximately 60Gb of data that needs to be backed up. Plenty of music files (which I could rip from CD again, but who wants to spend all that time?), loads of photos that are irreplaceable and a bunch of other documents that need to be kept.
Frequency of data change: when I add new music or pictures, or when new documents are created. None of this happens very often, so a once-a-fortnight back-up is probably enough. Interspersed with one-off transfers of new sets of pictures as they are taken.
Back up solution: two 250Gb external USB hard drives. Powered from the computer – so no separate power unit to fail and take the whole piece of kit out – they’re small and convenient. One time, use drive A to take a copy of the necessary folders. The next time, use drive B. Only overwrite a data set when the drive becomes full. And yes, I do mean take a copy; just drag and drop folders. I prefer not to use back-up software, as while that will save space, it also adds another layer of complexity to the mix.
Storage: drive A at the office, drive B at my girlfriends house. Convenient for the frequency that I need them, and safer than having them all in the same building.
With two 250Gb drives and 60Gb of data to back up once a fortnight I’ve got space to have four months of back-ups available. With two drives, I’m not totally sunk if one fails. And storing them in two separate places – neither of which is in the same building as the computer they’re backing up – means I’m covered for acts of God, thieves, and so on.
To me, Apple’s Time Capsule / Time Machine combination isn’t a credible back-up solution and if your data is important to you, you won’t rely on it to be one.
Wolfs Helpers
