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Do you have any suggestions for backing up my hard drive?
Posted 07/31/2007 at 12:27:49pm | by
Niko Coucouvanis
We know, this is another gimme, but seriously (and not for the last time): Do you have a regular backup regimen? So many of us have grand intentions of setting up an elaborate, Myslewskian, nine-drive backup solution, but such good intentions only pave the road to lost data - like your entire iTunes library and all the photos from your digital camera. Just open your wallet and protect your memories with one of the backup-specific hard drives listed here.
Maxtor One Touch III 500GB FireWire 400/USB 2.0 Drive ($329.95). It doesn’t get any easier than this: Turn on the drive, and your whole system and/or whatever you specify is automatically backed up.
CMS 500GB FireWire ABSplus for Mac ($479). Like Maxtor’s drive, the ABSplus comes with software that you can configure for automatic backups. And yes, if disaster strikes, both the ABSplus and the One Touch III create bootable backups, so you can get back to work without breaking a sweat.
Of course, you can always MacGyver it. For budget backups, pick up a bare SATA drive from OWC or WiebeTech and mount it in your Mac Pro or Power Mac G5, G4, or G3. Download one of the many fine free backup utilities available online, such as LaCie’s SilverKeeper, or roll up your sleeves and do it the granola way: rsync in the Terminal. Use this command for no-frills, incremental backups, and study up on the rsync manual (in the Terminal, type “man rsync” and then press Return).
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Easy
Submitted by Rob (not verified) on Tue, 2007-07-31 11:47
Buy SuperDuper (I think it's under $30) and an external Hard Drive. That's all you need to make backing up so ridiculously easy you'll be wondering why you haven't been doing it for years.
Everything on my Mac gets backed up daily without me needing to lift a finger.
Submitted by Rob (not verified) on Tue, 2007-07-31 12:01
... and my name is Rob too.
Submitted by Paul (not verified) on Wed, 2007-08-01 09:43
The guys above are right. All you need is SuperDuper and an external hard drive and you are set. Easy as pie.
Submitted by Paulshot12 (not verified) on Wed, 2007-08-01 16:31
Am I being naive in thinking that my daily backup with .mac gives me adequate protection?
Submitted by Adeodatis (not verified) on Fri, 2008-01-11 23:08
Am I correct that SuperDuper, as a cloning device, is not a real backup of one's internal hard disk? My internal HD was erased but I thought I was safe, having everything backed up on my external HD via SuperDuper. When I tried to restore my internal HD from my external HD the Operating System was there, it booted up the external HD, but all the files were like aliases reflecting the actual files which had been in the internal HD. In essence, nothing was there!
Submitted by richard m (not verified) on Tue, 2008-02-05 10:26
I share this concern! Is it real or is it not?
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