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I lost my data trying to back it up

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Re: I lost my data trying to back it up

#121

Post by magicalhippo »

NKosmatos wrote: post #27

Sorry for your loss. Here are my two cents... For complete system backup on Windows use Acronis [0], on MacOS use Carbon Copy Cloner [1] and on Linux Clonezilla [2]. Also never forget the 3-2-1 rule of backups [3], 3 copies, 2 local copies on different mediums and 1 copy offsite (cloud, remote) :-) [0] https://www.acronis.com/en-us/personal/computer-backup/ [1] https://bombich.com/ [2] https://clonezilla.org/ [3] htt…

I've used Acronis for about 10 years now. Got one set going to the cloud, one to the NAS, and once in a while a third to an external HDD I keep elsewhere.

It has saved me a few times. In particular it saved my ass when my brand new OCZ SSD died on me on day 2. Due to being full-disk backups, I was back up and running in 30 minutes on a spare HDD with no essential data loss.

Re: I lost my data trying to back it up

#122

Post by vagab0nd »

Slightly off topic, but I've learned (the hard way) that the most important thing in a backup/restore process is the restore part.

It doesn't matter how reliable your backup is. If you can't restore it you've done nothing. So far I've managed to:

- Backup encrypted content without saving the decryption key

- Backup everything to a remote server without backing up the ssh key to that server

So do yourself a favor, don't just backup. Try restoring some of your content from time to time (or at least imagine how you would do it).

Another scenario I've been recently thinking is, if the house burns down tonight, and you lose everything, phones/computers/etc., would you be able to get your data back?

EDIT: formatting

Re: I lost my data trying to back it up

#123

Post by _emacsomancer_ »

jrockway wrote: post #106
et-al wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Two is one; one is none is more of a military slogan. Backups should follow the 3-2-1 mantra, fullstop: 3 copies, on 2 different media, and 1 offsite.

I generalize this to saying "have N+1 replicas, where N is the number of simultaneous failures you want to survive". I'm perfectly happy having my .emacs backed up in 1 place, GitHub. If all my computers and GitHub lose data at the exact same time, I will just make new key bindings. The same might not hold true for your family heirlooms or company's invoices or whatever. Just make the right decision for your applicat…

I treat my .emacs as being as valuable as family photos etc.

I've found ZFS 'software' RAID to be very good (RAID isn't a back-up, of course). I think data-integrity is another important component - earlier I had multiple versioned backups in different places etc. and still suffered data-loss due to bitrot (which my backups faithfully propagated).

Re: I lost my data trying to back it up

#125

Post by tracker1 »

arghwhat wrote: post #116
tracker1 wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand... by 3 full copies, that can include the active in-use copy. I just don't consider something backed up short of having the data in a separate device and location.

It has to be on a separate device to be a backup indeed, just like a spare wheel isn't a spare if you're driving on it. The location thing is trickier, and while you can't have a any backup on the same device, you can have a bad backup on the same location. A bad backup is better than no backup by a long shot.

I'm fine with a backup on-site... I just feel that data isn't safely backed up unless it's off-site too. Not that everything needs to go that far. But it's usually useful to think in those terms imho.

Re: I lost my data trying to back it up

#126

Post by anon4lol »

RAID is not a backup strategy.

I've lost data with the Intel onboard raid, several times, so I refused to use the Intel raid implementations; if you are going to utilize RAID, I've learned the hard way to pay for a proper RAID card and cage (or use the tried and true software raid setups).

If you loose the RAID array, take a break before you start fixing it. A client had their subversion repositories with over a decade of work on a Windows server, depending on a RAID setup. It fell down and turns out they didn't have any good backups. The IT guy tried to fix it and nuked the super block and did who knows what else.

They ended up packing up and sending the entire server to some firm that specialized in data recovery and spending a small fortune.

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