I was having a talk with a friend recently about computer backups. He asked me about my backup strategy.
My wife and I each have a Mac, and I told my friend that we each use Apple’s Time Machine to back up our laptops.
He was surprised to hear that we each have more than one backup disk.
He didn’t realize Time Machine could back up to more than one disk. He thought that once you set up a backup, that was it.
Not so, I said.
Backups are great. Everyone should have one — um, I mean, at least two.
I have my Mac backing up to a NAS (network attached storage) box with multiple drives and to a portable hard drive.
The networked backup happens every hour wirelessly, and the portable hard drive comes out once a week.
The first thing to realize about backups is they are not bulletproof — or fireproof, or theft proof.
Backups on single hard drives are subject to failure. Backups on NAS boxes from manufacturers like Drobo or Synology are safer. The data is stored across multiple drives, but those boxes can withstand a drive failure without losing data.
So having a backup protects your data, but what about protecting the backup?
If your only backup disk is sitting next to your computer, you run the risk of losing it if your home is hit by burglars or a fire.
So you’ll do good to have more than one backup, and keeping one of your backups offsite is ideal.
I have some friends that get together regularly for lunch and exchange offsite backup drives.
You can also use online backup services such as Carbonite, Backblaze or Mozy. Combined with a local backup, they can be a great choice, but the initial backup can take a while.
Pricing for online backup services vary. Backblaze charges by the computer. It offers unlimited storage for $50 per year per computer.
Be careful when choosing an online backup service. Popular backup service Crashplan recently announced it was exiting the consumer backup business.
Remember, it doesn’t matter what app you use to back up. Pick one you’ll actually use. Both Windows and Mac OS have built-in backup apps. I’d start with those.
The lesson is to back up regularly, back up to more than one source and keep a backup stored safely away from your computer.
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ABOUT THE WRITER
Jim Rossman writes for The Dallas Morning News. He may be reached at jrossman@dallasnews.com.
