My Backup Routine
Years ago, I sent my old desktop multimedia workstation to recycling because I'd gotten a new, more robust setup.
Before tossing it, naturally, I backed up my files and moved them to the new computer. Except, in my inexperience and inattention, I only backed up working/in-progress files. I missed the folder that contained my rather large collection of multi-GB complete projects. It was only weeks after I'd irreparably physically destroyed and thrown out the old hard drives that I realized what I'd done.
Since then, I've tried a few setups including dual drives, NAS, cloud, etc.
Nowadays, I have too many computing things. The things that need backing up are:
- 2 Android phones' photos (mine and my wife's)
- 3 laptops
- 1 desktop
The thing to which they back up is:
- 1 home server
Here's how it works:
- Each phone has syncthing-fork installed, which automatically backs up photos and videos to the server
- Computers get manually rsync'd to the server - either at the end of a session, or maybe a few times while working on something
The server, itself, isn't the true backup though. It also contains my music collection, all my photos and videos from through the years, etc. Here's the part that helps me sleep at night:
- I rsync to an external hard drive at the end of each session
- Around once per month, I swap that external drive with it's double from a safety deposit box and rsync it from the server
Shortcuts for everything: bkplap, bkpwork, bkpserver, etc.
The drive on the server is encrypted, as are the external drives.
Overkill to protect my work and my precious photos? Perhaps. But it's pretty low maintenance. The most cumbersome part is the safety deposit, but that's just a two-block walk from the office.
Some of this current setup was inspired by Derek Sivers. His setup is a bit more complex, but I like it.
How do you backup your stuff? Drop me a line and let me know.