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.
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