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Author Topic: Requesting help in choosing a backup system  (Read 19300 times)

dwnelson

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Requesting help in choosing a backup system
« on: October 26, 2013, 05:28:14 pm »

I am looking for help choosing a back system, both the structure of the system as well as the specifics of each component (e.g. recommended drives and/or backup software).

I have about 2TB of photos in my Lightroom library attached to my mid-2011 iMac 27" (with Thunderbolt and Firewire 800 but only USB 2, not USB 3). I want three copies to cycle through the backups - one will be off-site, the other will be my on-site backup, and the third will be the actual drive on which I use my images. These will all be external drives. I have a Belkin Thunderbolt Dock which gives me USB 3 ports. I have a Time Machine drive that backs up my internal hard drive (which does not contain any images but does contain my LR catalog files).

I have been using Carbon Copy Cloner and I am happy with it.

All of my Lightroom images are stored on two 4TB Seagate Expansion Desktop drives set up in a RAID1 (mirrored) which was set up using Apple's Disk Utility (OS X 10.8.5). They are a few months old and one has already failed! I am now very nervous!

My main goals are a robust, reliable backup system. Speed of backup is lower priority in relation to security and peace of mind.

I think I want 4TB drives so that they about half full.

Based on Lloyd Chamber's suggestions (http://macperformanceguide.com/Mac-CostEffectiveBackup.html), I am considering using this bare drive dock: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/NewerTech/Voyager/Hard_Drive_Dock/

I would appreciate any recommendations or feedback.
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Vladimirovich

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Re: Requesting help in choosing a backup system
« Reply #1 on: October 26, 2013, 06:48:43 pm »

Speed of backup is lower priority in relation to security and peace of mind.

then just backup to www.crashplan.com
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Ken Bennett

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Re: Requesting help in choosing a backup system
« Reply #2 on: October 26, 2013, 08:34:40 pm »

Online backups are fine, but unless they allow you to send in a hard drive for the initial backup, it can take many months for the initial backup over common cable internet speeds. I tried Backblaze once and realized it would take about 7 months of full time uploading to back up my ~500GB of photos.

The Voyager works well -- I have two of them, one at the office and one at home. I keep my offsite work backups at home, and my offsite home backup at the office. I don't use multiple drives, though I might start doing so since I've been having major hard drive issues this week. But having three large drives that you cycle through should work well.
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Bruce MacNeil

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Re: Requesting help in choosing a backup system
« Reply #3 on: October 27, 2013, 05:21:36 pm »

The management of files is a serious drawback of Lightroom. I have some of the same questions.

I use Apple's Aperture for all of my cameras and files that are compatible and the file management and backup is seamless and has saved my bacon in the past. Wish Lightroom would adopt a similar structure.
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Jim Kasson

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Re: Requesting help in choosing a backup system
« Reply #4 on: October 27, 2013, 06:08:20 pm »

I am looking for help choosing a back[up] system, both the structure of the system as well as the specifics of each component (e.g. recommended drives and/or backup software).

I think you should have your data stored in at least three places locally, plus at least one off-site. I think that file and directory backup programs are a better way to go than disk image programs, since it's easier to look at your backed up data to verify it, and hardly anyone actually does trial restores. I favor NAS boxes for local backup, and like the Synology ones. I like disk docks for creating off-site backup disks, but have not found any that are bulletproof; they seem to be built to be sold for the lowest price. I have found compatibility problems with some docking stations and the 4TB disks.

The enterprise disks are more reliable, but they're a lot more expensive. I only use them in servers.

I use Vice-Versa and GoodSync. Since you're on a Mac, I recommend you try GoodSync.

Here's some general discussion on the subject that may be useful:

http://blog.kasson.com/?page_id=3060

Jim
« Last Edit: October 27, 2013, 06:12:59 pm by Jim Kasson »
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allegretto

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Re: Requesting help in choosing a backup system
« Reply #5 on: December 17, 2013, 04:42:27 pm »

Seagate Black Magic and LaCie were not robot enough and both have let me down

Use Drobo now and so far, so good

Use one local and one on my home network via ethernet in a remote part of the house. Have a Pegasus Promise via thunderbolt for my HD's on my iMac and that thing is blisteringly fast. So I have three copies as well

Configure your TimeMachine to alternate backups between the two others and you're pretty much set unless the whole house burns down.

As some others have mentioned, off-site takes FOREVER… not terribly useful for me with conventional connections and 50Mb/sec connection. Any slow and you'll be dead by the time you're backed up.
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Phil Indeblanc

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Re: Requesting help in choosing a backup system
« Reply #6 on: December 17, 2013, 08:13:29 pm »

There are recent posts covering this in case you didn't take a look.
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phcorrigan

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Re: Requesting help in choosing a backup system
« Reply #7 on: December 31, 2013, 05:22:44 pm »

then just backup to www.crashplan.com

I use Crashplan as part of my backup plan, but it does have some downsides, the main one being that it is slow. I does allow you to back up to almost anywhere, including the CrashPlan cloud site, and it provides file versioning. I would suggest using at least one other form of backup as well.
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phcorrigan

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Re: Requesting help in choosing a backup system
« Reply #8 on: December 31, 2013, 05:27:48 pm »

The management of files is a serious drawback of Lightroom. I have some of the same questions.

I use Apple's Aperture for all of my cameras and files that are compatible and the file management and backup is seamless and has saved my bacon in the past. Wish Lightroom would adopt a similar structure.

Aperture is seamless because it is integrated with the Mac OS file system. For Lightroom to do the same it would have to be a Mac-only product or provide different, incompatible versions for Mac and Windows.

If you do not attempt to manage your images outside of Lightroom (by using Finder or Windows Explorer, for example) file management should not be a problem.
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Vladimirovich

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Re: Requesting help in choosing a backup system
« Reply #9 on: December 31, 2013, 07:14:06 pm »

Online backups are fine, but unless they allow you to send in a hard drive for the initial backup, it can take many months for the initial backup over common cable internet speeds. I tried Backblaze once and realized it would take about 7 months of full time uploading to back up my ~500GB of photos.
I dumped the about the same amount to crashplan in 2.5 weeks... I had ~500Kb/sec upload there almost all the time over a regular FIOS.
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Vladimirovich

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Re: Requesting help in choosing a backup system
« Reply #10 on: December 31, 2013, 07:21:29 pm »

I use Crashplan as part of my backup plan, but it does have some downsides, the main one being that it is slow.

YMMV, I had ~500Kb/s (kilobytes) during my initial upload (and I have a lowly FIOS 15/5)... plus crashplan allows you seamlessly backup to your own offsite (like another house/office, another city/state) location also...

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phcorrigan

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Re: Requesting help in choosing a backup system
« Reply #11 on: December 31, 2013, 07:32:40 pm »

YMMV, I had ~500Kb/s (kilobytes) during my initial upload (and I have a lowly FIOS 15/5)... plus crashplan allows you seamlessly backup to your own offsite (like another house/office, another city/state) location also...

Restore performance is also very poor, even when restoring from local backups and even when you increase the amount of memory available to the CrashPlan client (a parameter in a config file). Plus, even when idle CrashPlan tends to use most of the memory allocated, although it is not supposed to do this. Part of the problem is Java, but Code 42 says they are going to release new dedicated client software for Mac OS and Windows. However, they said this several months ago, so I'm not holding my breath.
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Patrick Corrigan
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BobShaw

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Re: Requesting help in choosing a backup system
« Reply #12 on: April 15, 2014, 10:00:42 pm »

Not sure why you need anything other than TimeMachine. You can allocate multiple drives and it just cycles through them. I never use Vault.
My data is actually on a server along with the Aperture database and it backs up each night at 1AM.
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phcorrigan

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Re: Requesting help in choosing a backup system
« Reply #13 on: April 16, 2014, 01:19:40 am »

Time Machine is great for short-term backups, but as your backup drive runs out of space it will delete older data. You also have little control over scheduling. It's great as part of a data protection plan, but I would not rely on it as my only backup.
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Patrick Corrigan
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BobShaw

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Re: Requesting help in choosing a backup system
« Reply #14 on: April 16, 2014, 07:33:12 am »

I have backups on TimeMachine that go back two years. As for the drive deleting old backups if it gets full, what is the alternative? Stop backing up? You can tell it to warn you or not delete old backups, but the solution is just get a bigger drive.
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phcorrigan

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Re: Requesting help in choosing a backup system
« Reply #15 on: April 16, 2014, 12:20:42 pm »

I didn't suggest not using time machine. I do suggest you consider a second method of backup or archiving that will maintain data for a longer term. I don't like putting all my backup eggs in a single basket.
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Patrick Corrigan
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BobShaw

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Re: Requesting help in choosing a backup system
« Reply #16 on: April 16, 2014, 05:44:31 pm »

I don't have one basket, I have 4 baskets. The storage drive plus three backup drives, one of which is off site. Also, I am not backing up just the data, I am backing up the operating system, the users, the settings and the data. If the computer dies or is stolen, how do some of these other systems works? I can migrate a Time Machine backup to a new Mac and new operating system and everything works as before. Also if you are using a system based on a third party what happens if they go broke, or if there Java / Sun / Oracle problem who do you call? Whatever you are comfortable with though.
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