How do you backup?

[Barry]

Just use DVD's myself

[Clingy]

Home

DVD for permanent writing, CDRW for regular data and a USB memory stick most days fro my outlook.pst.

Work

SDLT 160/320GB

[unrealrocks]

I have two DAT drives on our fileserver which at 2AM and 2PM every day backs up various network resources (like the My Documents) on all the PCs and desktops etc. then there are various other backups taken like storage drives etc. although they are just mirrored onto other drives on the fileserver as its much too big to fit on DAT tapes.

[Ransom]

Basic Steps:
------------
1) I purchased a 2nd 160GB hard drive for $100 at Bestbuy.

2) I used Ghost to create a base-line image of my drives.

3) Then I cleared the archive attribute on all the files.

4) Next I scheduled Ahead's Nero Backup program to create a (Differential) archive of my drives files every 2 days. Differential archive backups don't clear the archive bit so each time it runs it backs up everything that was modified since the last time I cleared all the archive attributes, i.e. created a Ghost baseline image.

What should backup what?
--------------------------
I use Symantec's Ghost to create an image file of my entire drive. It is fast. Ghost will backup everything, unless you tell it not to. You cannot backup individual files or folders. You must backup an entire drive or one or more partitions on a drive. It only backs up one drive at a time unless you create a batch file to automate it. Symantec has done a good job of creating menus and wizards to make the process easy for you. There is a lot of application help and Symantec has provided a lot of web-based help. Ghost is great because all I have to do to restore my baseline hard drive files is to boot from my PC from the Ghost Boot CD/DVD or Floppy and point Ghost at the baseline ghost image and tell it to restore.

I use Ahead Nero Backup to create a backup of everything that has changed in specific folders, "C:\Documents and Settings" and some application folders, since the last Ghost backup image was created. I use the Differential backup for two reasons.

The first reason is so I don't have to restore each backup incrementally. This is a pain and you can have problems with it. I like to be able to just restore the latest archive or a recent one and not 10-20 individual ones. That way I can restore the Ghost baseline image and then the latest Differential archive set and I'm done. A full system restore of 120GB drive can be done in less than 2 hours and I only lost what I did in the last 48 hours or less. It's great of recovering from viruses and spy ware.

The second reason to use a Differential backup is so I can go back in time and get a file I changed recently, before I changed it. Many times I or (?) will screw something up and I wish I could go back to what I had before. This gives me the option.

The drawback of using Differential backups is that they keep getting bigger and multiplying. Every time one is created it, it has a different date-time file name and thus a different archive set is created. If you never delete them you will run out of hard drive space. I suggest you create a scheduler message to pop up and remind you to clean out your old archives periodically, every 14 days. I usually keep the last 5 archive sets and delete the others. Hard disk space will be the determining factor though. After a while you will decide to redo your Ghost baseline image and clear all the file archive attributes. Then the Differential archive will be small again. You could also, write a small program to delete all files but the last 5 in your Differential archive folder and have the scheduler execute it every night.

Backup Logic:
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It takes Many Many hours to get back to where you were after you loose your hard drive. And Yes, it probably is about time you redo things, but I rather do it in a planned fashion not when fait decides I need to. Fait has a strange way of picking inconvenient times. If you don't save it, you will loose it. Many people only backup certain files. What about all the time you spent changing/tweaking or having someone else tweak the settings in Windows and different applications so they work the way you want them to. Tweaking is time consuming and you will not remember all the tweaks until you notice they are missing. Then you have to remember how they were done. This doesn't touch on the time it takes to research your hardware and download and install the latest drivers. But remember, the latest driver is not always the fastest, most compatible or safest driver to use.

I like to plan ahead and automate the process as much as possible. Let the computer do most of the work. Document the procedure and have the scheduler program display reminder messages and run batch files to perform routine procedures.

Backup Tools:
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I buy Symantec System Works 2003 Pro. It comes with Norton Utilities, Anti-Virus, Ghost and updates for 1 year. If you buy a $5 mouse, you can legally get the OEM version for about $9. Ghost will put everything (all partitions) in one bootable image file and compress it. It even has the option to create multiple image files so they can each be stored on a DVD. With high compression, multi-layer DVDs holding 8.5GB each and 16x writers for $150, it is an attractive option. You can use Ghost Explorer to extract individual files. You can test the integrity of the Ghost image file. It has an automated utility to create Ghost Boot disk for standalone, mapped drive network connections or TCP/IP network drive connections and others.

The Ahead Nero Backup program is a good but not optimal archive utility. I'm looking for a better solution. It does a good job of scheduling and archiving the files. A big plus is that it uses the ZIP file format. There is nothing like being able to use your favorite ZIP file manager application to access your archived files. Nero Backup sets up a parent folder for the archive. It then builds a tree structure under the parent folder mirroring the original location of the files. This allows you to get to your files easily. A big negative is the individual ZIP file archives don't' contain the file's path name, data, time or file attribute information. It stores that information in a separate file that is located in the same folder as the archive's parent folder.

I'm looking for a better backup program that:
1) Supports Full, Differential and Incremental backups (like Nero Backup).
2) Has a good file selecting utility (like Nero Backup).
3) Supports the ZIP format (like Nero Backup).
4) Stores the entire backup in one ZIP file.
5) The files in the ZIP file include the file name, path, date, time and file attribute, basically a standard ZIP file.

I'm sure it is already out there and I just need to look around for it. ( Any suggestions? )

Comments about DOS Bootable Restore:
--------------------------------------
I recommend a DOS boot disk and application for the baseline image restore process. If you don't have Windows to boot from, it is easier to get DOS OS and restore application up and running. The combined space for the DOS OS and the restore application is a lot less than a windows app. Your floppy or CD/DVD can be a DOS bootable restore disk that may even contain your baseline backup image file.

Closing:
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This concept can be applied to other applications like Ghost and Nero Backup. Find a program that can create a bootable image file of your hard drive. Make sure it can create a bootable CD/DVD or Floppy with all the required tools on it. Find a program to create Differential archives of your files. Schedule a message to monitor and cleanup the Differential archive folder files.

Have fun and feel confident that you have protection.

9/10/2004
Ransom Jones, Sr.
Sr. Programming Analysis
Hexus-Ransom@JonesPCs.com

[Butuz]

Very impressive.

Please, post more!!!!!

Butuz

[bsodmike]

Back home in Sri Lanka I've got a linux server setup. It has a 200GB Boot HDD and another 120GB HDD (both PATA). I mainly have my Anime mirrored on these 2 HDDs with alot of other data.

My main workstation is my Shuttle that has 2x 120GB SATA HDDs. Again critical data + Anime is mirrored to the second HDD (all by hand) but it works!

Every week or so I burn off data to DVD via my Shuttle and Powerbook and keep stuff nicely backed up. So far it has not failed me!

[rory1984]

RAID 1 array with 2 x 200GB Seagate drives. Also burn the very important stuff (Photos etc.) to DVD-R every few months... just in case the RAID card died and killed the two drives... also, currently, looking into some form of NAS.

[BenW]

backup onto another pc on the network and work kept at home onto a 512MB Memory key

[0iD]

Documents & e-mails once a week & HDD's monthly using Acronis true Image & storing on Backup drive or DVD

[poolking]

I don't back up and after reading this thread, I think I should.

I might use CDs to back up onto.

[Jon-E-Durex]

I got a 200Gig Drive which I back-up to an external drive, I also copy anything important to DVD and am planning to store them all my DVD's to my mum's house, incase anything happens to my place (fire, theft).

The only thing I remeber from my Back-Up Techniques from Uni. Grandfather, Father, Son Technique ??

[Capt Doufos]

Raid 5 SATA controllers are only £70 now. Well worth a thought. Raid 0 with Pariity so you get your drives striped (2-3 of them) with 1 as parity. As long as no more than one fails at once your data is safe.

[Flibb]

Bit of a combo solution. Main backup is to my little file server, this has a tape drive on it that auto backs up documents and pics. I also use Gmail drive to backup my most important docs, as theres no point in having your important stuff backed up in the same house as your computer lives. Bigger stuff I cant put in the gmail drive is on dvd and gets dropped off at my parents when I can be arsed.

[Lee H]

2 x 80 drives for my drivers and patches and other misc large files.

If I can be bothered I backup to DVD as well and with 25 discs being 4.99 its better than CD and just as good

[Rcb]

DVD or another pc on the network.

[rajagra]

Thinking about it, it's a little over the top, but computers and data don't like me, so I don't take any chances...

But... have you ever done a test restore???

I have separate drives for OS/Apps/Data/Archived data.
I make Ghost images of OS and/or Apps whenever I see fit.
I do full backups weekly to SDLT320 tape, and daily differential backups to DLT40/80.

But if I was starting from scratch I'd backup to multiple removable or external USB2 hard drives. So cheap, so fast.

P.S. If you're wondering why I need to backup so often: Be afraid, be very afraid. Not safe, but very fast. I make no apologies and expect no sympathy.
(The System & Program disks are 15K U320 SCSIs. The mirrored IDEs are Seagate 7200.7 Pluses.)