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jwz: Classic backup advice

Submitted by Merlin on January 21, 2008 - 8:18am.

jwz - PSA: backups

This forum question about a comment I made on the most recent MacBreak Weekly reminds me that I mention jwz’s advice on backup often enough that it’s worth reposting the URL (as well as making sure credit goes where it’s due). On the one hand, his advice could hardly be simpler (that’s one reason I like it), but how many of us have taken the time to put a mature backup regime in place?

If you value your data, can’t tolerate downtime, and are casting about for a thorough solution, consider giving this a try.

“OMG, three drives is so expensive! That sounds like a hassle!” Shut up. I know things. You will listen to me. Do it anyway.

 

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one more step: try a restore

Submitted by slothbear on January 21, 2008 - 9:59pm.

I liked the 2 conditions given on MacBreak Weekly for making a backup “real”: automated, and offsite rotation. And…

In the 1970s, I worked on mainframe computers, and a wise wise person checked the bug logs for IBM’s DDR backup utility. There were thousands of bug reports against the utility, most of which represented somebody not being able to restore their data.

So I’d like to add a 3rd condition: try restoring something. anything. regularly. The practice will be good for you, and if it fails … well, that’s good. that you know. and can fix it.