A quick List of backup tools for creative types

The Background

My good friend recently got married!  Yes well its personal and professional  in this instant.His significant other is a marvelous designer and of course a fellow geek!

I was asked today as a matter of fact about my favorite backups tools that professional would use. As everyone knows i am almost obsessed by this subject and especially when professional data backups are concerned.

Assumptions

My guess is that i don’t really need to reiterate any approach like ideas before laying down what it is i quickly would recommend.

• This is assuming we are talking about Apple machines (windows users can follow the same approach -the TimeMachine)
• You already have a clear and concise filing system and workflow in your day-to-day
• Your will to invest some serious time and effort in planning your backups accordingly

The Tools

Straight out of the Geek-dom dome of insanity, the following is the gear that every freelancer / designer  and everyone in between should have in their data protection arsenal :

1. Data Robotics Drobo 4-Bay USB 2.0/FireWire 800 SATA Storage Array DR04DD10 (only the drive enclosure)
2. Data Robotics Drobo 4 Bay Storage Array with Four 1 TB Western Digital Green Power Drives, FireWire 800 & USB 2.0 Interface for Mac & Windows. (with 4 WD 1TB Drives and the enclosure)
3. Western Digital 750 GB My Book Studio Edition USB 2.0 Esata FW400 FW800
4. LG 8X Blu-ray Reader/Writer + Super-MultiDrive DVD-DL/CDRW Burner – Mac Pro Kit with of course TDK Blu-ray Disc – 25 x BD-R – 25 GB 4x – white – ink jet printable surface, printable inner hub – storage media
5. LaCie 301226U FireWire d2 DVD±RW with Lightscribe USB2.0 and Double Layer with of course TDK – 50 x DVD+R DL – 8.5 GB 8x – spindle – storage media
6. Lastly a software tool add on to the already popular TimeMachine — “pay for version” of   SuperDuper or the FREE Carbon Copy
7. I have not messed with Roxio Toast 10 Titanium for Mac but here is a helpful video which may elaborate more on TOAST

• Note:   If you have a super Internet connection with a superb UPLOAD Speed i suggest also consider Carbonite and Mozy online backups (minimum upload speed should be no less than 5Mbps)

The semi-automated Process

1. Hook up the Data Robotics Drobo to your Mac and enable TimeMachine to start backing up everything (preferably via the Firewire Port 800 which can almost move 25GB of data from your internal drive to the Data Robotics Drobo in about 4 minutes)
2. Have the Western Digital 750 GB My Book ready and partitioned to about 350 GB as your main boot-up drive (we will use SuperDuper or Carbon Copy for this backup)
3. Within SuperDuper or Carbon Copy after installation of either, set the targeted Western Digital to backup every so often. (this time duration is linked to how often you change your data and expect to take it on the go–easy fix just plan it)
4. For Optical backup sets (your either Blu-ray Reader/Writer or the traditional Double Layer DVD burner) you will need to sort through your data and have a plan of what it is that absolutely needs backing up –why– lets see if i can do some quick math:

• on Blu-ray Reader/Writer for backing up a hard drive of a 232GB Capacity you would need about  10 TDK Blu-ray Discs. (thats about 176 USD)
• On a DVD±RW for backing up a hard drive of a 232GB Capacity you would need about 29 DVD-DL 8.5 GB 8x (thats about 30 US)

• Note: that either way there is a strenuous manual labor  associated with backing up to optical media (some people and companies got creative with this

The Off Site Off Loading!

Ok i can’t stress this one enough: (all this investment and effort is worthless if you don’t follow these critical steps)

1. You need to move those 29 or 10 optical discs and store them in a safe place at a friends place or at the office where you work
2. The Western Digital bootable disk also needs to be rotated and kept in places besides your home or primary workstation at the office or friends place in a safe fireproof place.
3. Make a plan on your way to the data locations either weekly or by-weekly so you may update and archive your backups accordingly to your needs

Concluding thoughts

As you could all appreciate that this sort of backup strategy is absolutely imprative for the working freelancer who relies ultimiately on their digital life and would not shy away from investing:

1. time
2. money
3. administrative effort
4. physical effort
5. hefty backup strategy

To protect his/her likelihood for digital media on all facets of a business. Finally i would say and I quote Alex Lindsey from Pixel Corp:

“As Alex Lindsay says “if you don’t have two copies, one off site” it doesn’t exist. ” Leo Laporte Quoting Alex –

Arabic version

المتاعرف عليه في حقول النسخ الاحتياطية الزائدة عن الحاجة :
إذا لم يكن لديك نسختين من شيء ما

(الملفات الرقمية /الPDF   / ملفات صوتية او الفيديو / ملفات لبرنامج لمعالجة النصوص الخ)
في مكانين مختلفين وعلى وسيلتين مختلفتين  للحفظ الرقمي

(مثل الدي في دي ، سي دي ،
Bluray ، تخزين البيانات في الية النسخ الاحتياطي المتكررة  او على أنظمة التخزين الاحتياطي على شبكة الانترنت)

!لم يتحقق الحفاظ التام لهذه المستندات الرقمية

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