Short term backup question...

Hi, I've got about 1TB of data that I use regularly for my work that I need to backup more often than I do.

My plan is to install a second 2tb drive in the 'puter and install a switch on it's power line. So, I would turn the switch on when the 'puter is off, and copy my data to it, then turn the drive off again (naturally when the 'puter is off).

Is there any problem with doing this? I'm assuming not.

Longer term backups are done by external firewire hdd.

Thanks!

If you plan to switch it on only for backups, and switch it off otherwise, then it really sounds as if you simply want a second external USB/firewire drive..

Single file? Multiple files? How much of it changes over time?

My point: add another disk; use something like rsnapshot (if you're on Linux) or Time Machine (on a Mac) to ship the deltas to another disk.

Or, if it's multiple small files that change independantly, use source control (e.g. Subversion, Mercurial or Git).

I'm thinking I'll get greater speed out of the sata bus. Firewire is taking hours.

eSATA seems a more reasonable solution.

It's almost 300,000 files stretching back about 30 years. Of course, most of these don't change, but I've never found a backup software that I liked.

I use Time Machine, rsync and other rsync-based tools like Carbon Copy Cloner (and previously Super Duper) to do cumulative backups.

Time Machine is generally a no brainer as it runs on a schedule and only kicks off backups when I'm wired to the LAN.

This is going to make the bottle neck of the interface largely disappear because you will only be backing up a small percentage of the data each time. I asked about a Windows solution to this issue in another thread, but I haven't yet implemented it.

So is this a Mac we're talking about here or a Windows box?

Either way, perhaps something like CrashPlan?

I know I'm one of the few online backup proponents here, but I'm a firm believer in getting at least one backup OUT of the building. Putting a second drive in your machine only protects against single disk failure or things like accidental erasures. You aren't protected against things that could affect the entire computer like fire, flood, theft, power surge, etc. It sounds like I'm selling you insurance, and that's basically what I'm trying to do. Insure your data and get it the hell out of your home!

The primary knock on these services is usually how much time it takes to upload the data, and that's true. It does take a long while. In that case, figure out some other sort of off-site solution that's easy enough for you to do regularly. A Pogoplug is a pretty cool solution too, and while I don't know the specifics of how this might work, you could copy all your data on-site before you set it up remotely, thus eliminating the long initial backup and only doing differentials. The only thing you need is the Pogoplug, a hard drive, and a friend willing to let you use some bandwidth

Anyway, sorry to go off on this rant. It's just that you wouldn't believe the percentage of clients I have who turn down my offer to set them up with any sort of backup solution, and then they encounter a problem that results in lost data. I have a good success story of a customer who had me in to set up Mozy, and four months later a pipe burst directly above the computer, utterly destroying it down to the HDD. It took mere minutes to get it all back.

With regards to cloud-based backup... My upload rate is 640kilobits. Not going to be fun. I did it back in late 2009 for my photos and it took about a month. Now I have to rsync up the past year's worth.

Yeah, this is windoze. On a good week, we can generate half a gig of new data. As for off line backups, I do have a couple of external hdd that I store elsewhere. Online would take years...

I'll take a look at the suggested software. I like the files stored as they are in the wild, so I can just grab one.

Thanks!

Why not let is rsync more frequently?

That's why I was offering an alternative that wouldn't require the initial massive upload. Differentials, if done constantly, shouldn't take too much time, even with slow upload speeds. Bandwidth caps, however, ARE a concern.

I love Fios...

I just blow through my bandwidth caps without any concern. So far it appearsmy cap is only on paper. I'm a business customer, so that may be the difference. I know friends with residential service get charged extra for going over the cap and potentially get throttled at some point as well.