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Realtime backups

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oblivion:
I don't backup enough.

I upgraded my desktop machine's internal HD to a terabyte beast a while back and I now use the old drive in an external case, connected via USB, to make the occasional image (I use Paragon. It's okay, but the current version seems to have abandoned incremental backups, so I'm stuck making the occasional image and I don't use it for file-based backups.)

The old drive isn't big enough for more than one image, and when I picked up a deal on eBay for an Iomega 500Gb Prestige USB drive with their backup software thrown into the deal, I thought it was a Good Plan.

The drive works fine.

Their realtime backup software -- QuikProtect -- works if I install it on my netbook (Win7 Starter) but the install to my desktop (Vista, 32-bit, 4Gb RAM) didn't just not work, it caused the first bluescreen I've had on the system.

I used to like Iomega.

I had to use System Restore, via Safe Mode, to get the system to boot normally again.

I posted a query on their forum and the only response so far is a suggestion that I might like to try the most recent version of the software, here's the download link. (Since I downloaded it on Tuesday, I can't imagine that I was that far behind the times. Easy response, for sure, but it assumes that I'm stupid and I'd FAR rather they assumed intelligence first.)

So I have two questions:

1. Does anyone with any experience with Iomega's QuikProtect have any suggestions as to whether I should put my system back in the firing line again or just give up with it?

2. If I wanted something that did a similar job -- effectively backing up a configurable number of generations of a configurable set of files and folders, in realtime on a "set and forget" basis -- to a USB-connected HD, would I have to hand over serious quantities of money? (Hint: I felt guilty enough about the new HD. Please don't make me hand over more extra cash than I have to!)

I guess if I forget the "realtime" bit, I could probably do the job for free with something like Toucan... it's just that I'll forget. :)

Stoic Joker:
I've always felt that a real-time backup, really isn't a backup at all. It's a second copy of what just happened.

Here at the office I have too much data on my workstation to run through the rest of the offices nightly backup. So I use the built-in Win 7 backup to do nightly backups to one on the servers temporary storage RAID volumes. I don't remember if Vista has the newer Win7 style backup options...But it's worth exploring if it does.

40hz:



As Stoic noted, with the size of today's hard drives, the big problem with "overnight backups" is we're now running out of "night." ;D

The most important thing to protect is your files. Everything else can be reinstalled from DVD media or download if you have to. So put your primary emphasis on data first.

For user files your best bet would be to use a file synchronization utility that has a "synchronize on shutdown" option.

There's dozens of paid and free apps to choose from. Do a Google or visit a reputable software aggregation site like FileHippo, Snapfiles or Tucows and nose around. (Tip: Also make it a point to read the user reviews. Not all utilities are created equal.  :mrgreen:)

Configure your sync utility for which directories you want to 'backup' and point it to the external drive. Then tell it to sync whenever you shut down.

Now, every time you issue a shutdown command, you can walk away, empty coffee cup in hand, fairly secure in the knowledge that the most recent versions of your files will be copied over to your external drive.

Note: first time you do this will take some time since all the files will need to be put on the external drive and have a sync database created for them. But after that it should go pretty quickly unless you've added and/or updated thousands of files between your last synchronization. Then it might take something like 15-20 minutes.

I'm a big fan of synchronization. Most of my daily "backing up" gets done that way.

Note: there's also free and inexpensive remote online "backup" services (like SpiderOak, iDrive, etc) that will basically do the same thing. All such services have provisions for automatic (i.e. scheduled) as well as ad hoc backups. This wouldn't be workable for massive collections of...uh... 'archived' movies or...um... porn photo galleries. But it might be a very good place to store that computer code or draft of the report your boss is waiting for. It's also good for any other collection of files you'd hate to loose if your house or office burned down. :tellme:

For bigger or periodic or 'versioned' backups I'll either use Microsoft's included backup utility (if I'm in Windows7) - or a copy of Cobain Backup.

System images and restoration snapshots can be handled by Microsoft's backup in Windows7 - or using a copy of Macrium Reflect or Clonezilla (if you're feeling adventurous!).

Note: I never use an "automatic" or "scheduled" feature to create disk or partition images. For some odd reason, they've always been unreliable for me. If I need to create one, I do it explicitly. Don't know what to suggest to you if you're forgetful about things like that. Maybe a calendar/reminder might help?

Fortunately, you don't really need to image drives all that often if your data is already backed up. I'll usually create an image immediately after I've setup and tricked out a new machine. But after that I'll only reimage following major software updates (like Windows or MS Office service packs) or after an important new software installation.

Hope this was helpful! :Thmbsup:

oblivion:
(see attachment in previous post)
For user files your best bet would be to use a file synchronization utility that has a "synchronize on shutdown" option.
-40hz (August 04, 2011, 12:24 PM)
--- End quote ---

That really hadn't occurred to me. Brilliant -- exactly what I want, with a side benefit of not slowing the system down in use.

I shall research. Thanks!  :)

wraith808:
AJC Active Backup.  I set it up for my wife, and it's saved her several times with her schoolwork!  I purchased the standard edition on Bits du Jour for less, but it's only $29 normally.  Apparently Super Flexible File Synchronizer does something similar, and I've seen folks on DC rave over it, but I've never used it.

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