Mac OS X: Backups
Backups
by dkknj - 10/18/06 8:50 AMAny suggestions for backing up a macintosh system? I have a Imac G5 running OS X 10.4.8. I'm not sure the size the size of the drive; it's one of the Apple standard ones, I'm guessing 400 MB. Thanks.
(NT) At 400 MB why not put it all on a CDR?
by R. Proffitt
- 10/18/06 8:58 AM
In reply to: Backups by dkknj
Re: CDRs
by dkknj - 10/18/06 9:20 AM In reply to: (NT) At 400 MB why not put it all on a CDR? by R. Proffitt
Thanks for the reply. It spawns more (6) questions:
1. How much data is stored on a CDR?
2. How long would it take to backup 400MB to a CDR?
3. What macintosh program is used to copy from the hard drive to the CDRs?
4. Is a compression program available on macintoshs?
5. Would it make sense to use compression while creating the backup?
6. How do you figure out exactly how much data is on the system disk? The free space is displayed, not the used space.
Thanks.
CDRs
by qwerty655 - 10/18/06 9:51 AM In reply to: Re: CDRs by dkknj1: 650-100 MB
2: Size of data(MB) x 1024 ÷ 150(KB) ÷ (write speed) = ?s
For 400 MB at 16x, you get 2.8 mins. Add a few for lead-in/lead-out and you will be at 4 mins or so.
3: Not sure.
4: Yes
5: No, because 400 MB of data does not need to be compressed to fit on a 700MB disk.
6: Used space = drive size - used space
also, you don't need to back up the system or
by boya84 - 10/18/06 11:34 AM In reply to: CDRs by qwerty655applications. You need to back up only your documents. Preferences files if you are into that. And your hard drive won't be full. When your internal drive crashes, you will have to reload the OS and apps, anyway onto a new drive. Keep the original disks in a fireproof and waterproof safe on site, or at an offsite service provider (they are expensive - and drive around in unmarked trucks that look like refrigeration trucks - typically used by businesses for data-contingency)...
Dantz (now EMC) makes a good back-up with compression. Retrospect is the product name.
Consider using an external hard drive - Chances that internal and external will fail at the same time are very slim. This could come in the form of being directly connected via FireWire or USB or even as an ethernet connected network drive... If you are feeling that paranoid, get a couple of them. The one on-site is active, the off site would get cycled in... probably swap them weekly.
Reply to question #4
by mrmacfixit - 10/18/06 12:07 PM
In reply to: Re: CDRs by dkknj
The OS has a built-in burning program. Insert the blank CD-R, answer "Finder" to the question, wait until the disk mounts on the desktop, drag what you need onto the CD icon, eject the CD.
System will ask if you want to burn this disk, choose your answer. When disk is done, it will eject.
You can only burn once to that CD. Once used, no matter how little data you have burned onto it, the disk is closed. There are ways around it but at 10c apiece, why bother?
To find the size of your documents folder, or any other folder for that matter, highlight the folder, single click, hold down the Apple Key and press "I"
(Get Info) That will show you all sorts of information about the folder, including its size
P
If you have a .Mac (dotMac) account
by mrmacfixit - 10/18/06 12:08 PM
In reply to: Backups by dkknj
you can use the free Backup program that is available to members.
Sign up for a 90 day trial and you get all the goodies for keeps too!
P
and when Leopard is delivered...
by boya84 - 10/18/06 6:50 PM In reply to: If you have a .Mac (dotMac) account by mrmacfixit
backup
by Steve Davis - 10/20/06 3:55 AM In reply to: Backups by dkknjOne word answer: Retrospect
Unlikely to be 400MB
by ffarg.cram - 10/20/06 4:13 AM In reply to: Backups by dkknjI'm guessing that you're probably mistaken about the size of the harddrive - most modern machines have drives measured in gigabytes, not megabytes. Even if you only have OSX and a few applications installed on your machine, the installed stuff is probably a lot more than two-thirds of a CD.
400MB not likely
by mrmacfixit - 10/20/06 5:54 AM
In reply to: Unlikely to be 400MB by ffarg.cram
As you say, he is probably mistaken about the size of the drive. The iMac G5 was shipped with HD's ranging from 80GB to 250GB depending on what model and what series of iMac G5 he purchased. There were three series of iMac G5.
Given that it is not necessary to backup the application folder and the system itself, the size of the backup now depends on what he has been using their machine for.
A full backup of the Home folder will cover the iLife suite and the Mail program. If the user is an avid music collector who takes lots of photographs which they turn into movies and burns them to DVD, then just the Home folder is likely to be in the high double digits, if not triple.
The Firewire external option is good and I note that Intego has come a long way with their Backup software. If it is as good as it looks, it should be fine. I found Retrospect to have slightly confusing terminology but once set, it works well. Apple Backup, free with a dot Mac account, also works well.
All of them will backup to an external drive or CD/DVD's.
However, I have not yet found one backup program that will wake the machine up, do the backup and then quit. They all used to do it in OS 9 but that was back in the day.
P
Personal backup x4
by sunsale - 10/20/06 4:51 AM In reply to: Backups by dkknjThis is the best i found and use reguarly, i back up to a external firewire drive, It makes a perfect bootable backup. I have had better luck with this than retrospect.
http://www.intego.com/personalbackup/
External Drive Backup Is the Best Way
by jmish - 10/20/06 7:27 AM In reply to: Backups by dkknjBack up to an external hard drive which is at least large enough to duplicate your internal drive completely. If your internal drive fails at any time, you can then boot up from the external drive. You can also take the external drive to another computer and access your data. Recommendation: Get an external drive which is larger than the internal drive so that you can partition it, having one partition for the complete duplicate and other partitions for subvolume backups--say, just photos or just music or just blank space for special storage needs, etc. I have used RETROSPECT with success, but I like LaCie's SILVERKEEPER better. It's very easy to use, is straightforward, and is full featured. It does incremental backups, compares data between source and backup, and the like. You do not have to have a LaCie drive for the program, though it comes on the LaCie CD. To my knowledge, it's a free program. I like it better than any other backup program I've used.
Backup or archive
by chinajon6 - 10/20/06 7:43 AM In reply to: Backups by dkknjWe have been told for years that you need to back up. But stay in focus...
There is the working backup set, and there is the archival set. These systems were the result of experience with drives sensitive to everything from to power fluctuations to virus infections of the computer, including human error.
So, here are my points
1. Really important stuff that you want to keep forever should be burned to CD or DVD and kept in a different place than your computer, in case of accident, fire or theft. If you are making really important stuff frequently, then burn to a re-writable until you want to burn to an archive disk.
2. Working backups are for recovering from human error, drive failure, or other problem which leaves you in the lurch. You can go back and get your stuff from the working backup. In order for this to work, you have to make regular backups, or when something bad happens, oops, you hadn't backed that up yet, right? The frequency of working backups is totally up to what you can afford to loose since your last backup. I was told by a disk recovery article - which is obviously biased - the it is not if a drive will fail, but when. Put some salt on it, but who knows.
So, decide why you are backing up. Do what you need to do. The new OSX 10.5 has a built in backup system - for the rest of us - and will make backing up an automatic part of the system. Good for them. Good for us. BUT, you still need to back up for archival purposes. The Apple auto backup that is built into the system should be considered a working back up, not an archival backup. If the drive fails, is stolen, or ruined by fire or accident, then the only recourse will be to recover from the archive. The archive must be in a safe place, not in a desk drawer someplace. How about a fire safe, hmmm?
Apple Backup
by onemoremile - 10/20/06 8:10 AM In reply to: Backups by dkknjI use Apple's Backup software and backup to an external hard drive. The Backup software comes free with a .Mac membership. I think that you can sign up for a .Mac trial membership for free and get a copy of Backup. This software is easy to use, configurable and can be set up to run incremental backups automatically.
I believe that an external hard drive is the best hardware to use when backing up a modern hard drive: there is very little liklihood that both your internal drive and your external drive will fail at the same time.
| Forum legend: | |
 |
Locked thread |
 |
Moderator |
 |
CNET staff |
 |
Samsung staff |
 |
Norton Authorized Support team |
 |
AVG staff |
 |
Windows Outreach team |
 |
Dell staff |
 |
Intel staff |
