Backup problems... major cloud fail
Oct. 12th, 2009 08:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blatherskiteI'm a big-time backup evangelist, since the following statement has been proven beyond a shadow of doubt in my experience: "There are only two kinds of computer user: those who have lost data, and those who are about to lose data."
But reality is a bit more complicated than just saying "make a backup of your important data": many people rely on an external service such as Apple's MobileMe or the Carbonite service for such backups. Although it's important to have such an off-site backup in case the roof falls in and crushes your computer plus the backup disks stored in your desk, Microsoft just proved that you shouldn't rely exclusively on this strategy to protect your data. Full details are provided in the 11 October 2009 edition of the AppleInsider Web site; in case that link breaks, you can navigate there manually via the AppleInsider.com Web site.
The problem in this case is that the backup system relied on cloud computing in which information is distributed across a great many computers, spread over wide areas—potentially globally. If properly implemented, there should be a high degree of redundancy in the system so that if one or more nodes (computers) in the cloud disappear, it should still be possible to recover data that has been stored in the cloud. Apparently Microsoft didn't understand this point, and many of its customers lost data.
The moral is that although it's a good idea to have off-site backups, they shouldn't be your only form of backup. For details of a sound backup strategy, see Appendix I of my book on onscreen editing; you can see the longer and geekier version of this appendix free of charge on my Web site, or the really short summary in the free download of Chapter 3 of my book.
If you don't have a good backup plan in place, stop reading now and start thinking how you can create one.
But reality is a bit more complicated than just saying "make a backup of your important data": many people rely on an external service such as Apple's MobileMe or the Carbonite service for such backups. Although it's important to have such an off-site backup in case the roof falls in and crushes your computer plus the backup disks stored in your desk, Microsoft just proved that you shouldn't rely exclusively on this strategy to protect your data. Full details are provided in the 11 October 2009 edition of the AppleInsider Web site; in case that link breaks, you can navigate there manually via the AppleInsider.com Web site.
The problem in this case is that the backup system relied on cloud computing in which information is distributed across a great many computers, spread over wide areas—potentially globally. If properly implemented, there should be a high degree of redundancy in the system so that if one or more nodes (computers) in the cloud disappear, it should still be possible to recover data that has been stored in the cloud. Apparently Microsoft didn't understand this point, and many of its customers lost data.
The moral is that although it's a good idea to have off-site backups, they shouldn't be your only form of backup. For details of a sound backup strategy, see Appendix I of my book on onscreen editing; you can see the longer and geekier version of this appendix free of charge on my Web site, or the really short summary in the free download of Chapter 3 of my book.
If you don't have a good backup plan in place, stop reading now and start thinking how you can create one.
Backup strategy
Date: 2009-10-12 02:03 pm (UTC)Over the years, I have tried CDs and DVDs (too small, difficult to organize) and tape drives (expensive, slow, no random access). And I have explored the possibility of online backup (but I don't trust it).
I use hard disk drives exclusively. And I perform my backups in two stages.
First, I use Time Machine for an hourly back up to a drive inside my Mac Pro. It provides a few weeks' worth of redundancy. But if something happens to the computer, I lose both the primary drive and the backup. So it's not enough.
Secondly, I have a pair of bare drive mechanisms to which I perform a monthly backup. The two drives have identical backups for the sake of redundancy.
I connect these bare drives to my machine with this: http://bit.ly/F1LHs
I store the drives offsite in a watertight industrial-strength case filled with cubed foam: http://bit.ly/Tx8TY
This method is far cheaper than external FireWire or eSATA enclosures, and provides robust and expandable backup. If I need more capacity, I just buy another bare drive mechanism.
It seems counter-intuitive to backup a hard disk to other hard disks But after an exhaustive search, this is the only fast and convenient method I've found that won't break the bank.
Jim Royal
Re: Backup strategy
Date: 2009-10-12 04:10 pm (UTC)If not, the links you provided suggest that the external drives are attached to your computer by a long cable, but if it's a USB connection, it's limited to about 50 feet? If so, that's not sufficiently robust. What would happen if, say, your next-door neighbor falls asleep while smoking and burns down the building? Odds are good you'd lose the external drive in the fire (the specs at the Pelican Web site don't state that the case is fireproof or that it would protect its contents during a fire). Even if the drive survived the fire, you might not be able to retrieve it; the wreckage might be too unsafe to enter, and I've heard of at least one case where the insurance company claimed all the contents of the wreckage as a condition for providing reimbursement under a typical renter's insurance policy.
So unless I've misunderstood, you'd still need to find some kind of off-site server (e.g., Apple's MobileMe) where you could upload files. I've played a bit with using MobileMe for backups, since you can open it as a window on the Mac desktop, and it works—but the upload speed is slowwww. Since I'm using a cable modem, I assume the slowdown is at Apple's server. I'm looking into whether I can use FTP software to do this transfer faster, but haven't found a way to do this yet.
Re: Backup strategy
Date: 2009-10-14 02:09 am (UTC)I back up a couple hundred gigabytes of data each time, so a server-based backup is impractical. I calculate that the initial sync to such a backup service would take a solid month.
I've seen other photographers do something similar: They use filing cabinets with the drawers filled with cubed foam, and bare drives placed in there like pieces of toast in slots. Each drive represents a single major project.
At the moment, the Pelican case is kept in our storage locker on a different floor of the building. This safeguards against theft and flood, but possibly not fire, although our building is concrete, and an apartment fire would likely be contained. I am considering keeping the Pelican case at work.
At any rate, the backups are a duplicate of the content on the main drive. If either one is lost, then I'm still safe. Only if both are lost then I'm in trouble.
Jim