Searching for the appropriate online backup is not easy their are numerous companies to choose fro that offer different business models. I stuck with looking at some of the more popular backup services such as Dropbox, Mozy and humyo. These three offer a freemium model, where you get an intial 2-5 GB for free the after that you can pay a monthly or yearly fee for an unlimited amount of data to be backed up online.
After looking at and trying those backup service providers. I figure it could be cheaper and easier to find some good SW that will upload backup to my FTP site where I have unlimited space. There is a good article from Lifehacker that gave me some options to choose from for Windows 7.
http://lifehacker.com/398229/five-best-windows-backup-tools
After some initial research I settled on evaluating both SyncBack and Acronis. These both fit the type of application I was looking for. Options needed were:
- Ability to connect to my FTP site and upload backup data.
- Ability to schedule periodic backups and run in the background.
- Ability to restore backup data.
- Low cost to purchase.
I did some due diligence on these products by downloading the trail versions and going through the process of trying to backup my drive.
After downloading Acronis True Image I thought the user interface was very clean and straightforward. I was disappointed through when I setup a FTP site in the SW to use as a upload location. Acronis True Image kept crashing as the application as it was trying to establish a connection. Acronis True Image normally retails for $50 but it is on sale now for $30, making it the same price as SyncBack.
After installing SyncBack, I was able to establish a connection with my FTP site and upload files it created. SyncBack lets you configure many more options in the setup which can cause confusion to users. One feature I liked was the ability to enter different profiles in which you can create separate backups if you want. For example if I wanted to send a full copy of my HD to an external drive and want to backup just my documents to my FTP site I would create two profiles that could run simultaneously or in a queue.
One feature I like in both Acronis True Image and SyncBack is that they compare files in your backup with the time stamp of the same file on your local machine to check if it needs to be backed up again. Since most of my files don’t change much this will save a large amount of time when backing up files after the initial backup.
In the end I will be purchasing SyncBack. Although you will need to the software to restore you old files if your drive goes bad it is the best choice for backup that gives me a cheap reliable way to schedule my backup to both my external drive and FTP site.
As I start my new position this week I can’t help but wonder how using this triangle will change the way I approach my work. Maybe for the better or worse?
http://jackcheng.com/maxing-out-your-triangle
As I attempt to become more paperless I am starting to understanding the importance of having multiple backups in case the files become corrupted/deleted. I have yet to buy a quality scanner that I can transfer paper files to digital but I am looking to setup the foundation to backup all of my files reliably/redundantly.
My plan is to try the 3-2-1 storage rule on the cheap. According to the rules you need:
- 3 Backup copies of anything you want to keep.
- 2 different storage media.
- 1 offsite storage site.
I already have a secondary 500 GB external drive (Seagate Expansion™ Portable Drive) I use for weekly backups of my data. I bought this hard drive new off of craigslist for $60. The third backup copy I plan to be online storage, that will satisfy a different storage media and offsite storage.
I will not be backing up my entire drive because I can’t replace my personal files/pictures. The OS and applications are replaceable (I should be able to re-download those with my activation keys). My personal files take up the following amount of spaces uncompressed:
- 2.5 GB of documents (Word, PDF, etc.)
- 15.6 GB of pictures
- 6.8 GB worth of music
I’ll be looking at various online storage services and will write about which service I decided to use in a future post.
Posted in Backups, Storage
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Today Microsoft announced they will continue to support XP and computers can continue to be loaded/downgraded with it for another 10 years. Some practical questions come to mind: are businesses behind on technology by 9 years that continue to use XP? do businesses hinder the advancement of operating systems by staying in the past?
It is understandable that Microsoft is supporting corporations by continuing their support for windows XP. Many corporations have built their infrastructures on the XP platform. If they were forced to move into a new version of the Windows OS this would cause a lot of costs to update that infrastructure. These are costs the corporation don’t want to have regardless if they are profitable or not.
I think this is a good move for Microsoft regardless of the implications. While they do continue to lose market share, they still have 91% of all computers running their OS (http://marketshare.hitslink.com/os-market-share.aspx?qprid=9). They can continue to “lock-in” businesses using their products. This also drags out the decision businesses will have to make about whether they stay with windows or move into another platform (given that switching costs are minimal) when they are forced to upgrade. I would like to see businesses keep up with the latest technology but financially that doesn’t make sense for them.
Searching for ways to enhance productivity to either create more time for yourself or move your project forward has been a challenge for me. My approaches to increased productivity has changed over the years but the most important aspect I found is the discipline to focus on what needs to be done to continue to move forward. Also keeping 2-3 Most Important Tasks (MITs) for each day that need to compelted. The small list lets me focus on what is important through all the interruptions and changed priorities that occur on a daily basis.
The 99% is quickly becoming one of my favorite blogs because of posts just like this. The 10 laws of productivity article by 99% provides structure for what it takes to be successful in executing projects instead of hesitating.
