I often find myself in the situation where there are too many simultaneous data transfers going on over my Wi-Fi at home: I’ll be watching a TV show on my Apple TV (which streams from the Drobo, see this post for details), transferring media to the Drobo, doing a large svn or git checkout, all of this while Time Machine is wirelessly backing up the Mac.

At this point I’ll often decide to stop the ongoing backup, knowing it will start again an hour later when there is less going on. So far so good. What’s less good is that when Time Machine is doing a very large backup, say 20 gigs, I know I will need to stop it every hour for a while and I’ll sometimes disable it with the intent of re-enabling it once all of the data transfers are done. Read the rest of this entry »
©2008-2009, Gallop Services, Inc. All rights reserved.

Now that you’ve learned about formulating a home data backup strategy, and shopped for hardware to support the local storage component of that strategy, let’s talk about the software you’ll need to make backing up your data a painless, automatic operation.  The goal is to use something that you won’t give a second thought until you need it someday.  As with any technology choice, options range from the simple and free to the elaborate and expensive.  Don’t worry though – there is plenty of middle ground, and this area probably meets the needs of most consumers.  In all cases below, we’re talking about backing up the files on your computer to a storage device somewhere in your home or otherwise in the same location as the computer itself. Read the rest of this entry »

©2008-2009, Gallop Services, Inc. All rights reserved.

Hopefully, you’ve had a chance to consider an overall backup strategy for your data. Now let’s get started on actually implementing it!

This article, the second of four, will look into the hardware available for use in establishing a local backup of your data.  That is, a backup or series of backups that are stored at the same location as your primary computer.  For sake of argument, we’ll say this is “in-house” storage, meaning that it resides somewhere within your home.  We’ll compare and contrast three of the most common options, giving you the background needed to establish your own set of requirements and to select a suitable solution.

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©2008-2009, Gallop Services, Inc. All rights reserved.

We all have one of two “backup stories.”  Hopefully, you saved the day (and your own bacon) by recovering a file from a backup created by a long-forgotten backup process.  Otherwise… Well…  Obviously there are a lot of really bad situations that can come from lost data.

This article is the first of three four on the subject.  This edition will focus on the considerations needed to form a complete backup strategy.  In those that will follow, we’ll review the hardware, software, and online services that can be used to implement a complete strategy.

As our lives grow increasingly more digital, the problem of backing up our vast data will become more and more critical.  When is the last time you had physical negatives for your photos?  How much of your music or video collection exists only on your hard drive?  Do you capture and store digital video of one-time-only events with family and friends?  Are your financial files stored on your system?  What would happen to this data if you had a fatal, irrecoverable hard drive crash right now?

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©2008-2009, Gallop Services, Inc. All rights reserved.