Why Back Up?

Stuff breaks. It’s a fact of life, and there’s nothing we can do to stop it. Without a suitable backup, a hard drive failure could cost you months of work and lose you valuable data. We store so much of our digital lives on our computers that they need to be protected from data loss.

Take it to the Macs has put together a simple and cost effective Backup Strategy to help it’s clients perform this task with ease.

When considering your backup strategy, you need:

• to pin point where critical data is stored
• the backup to fit your budget
• to test that the procedure works on a regular basis (we suggest monthly), and
• as your needs change, adapt your strategy appropriately

Backup Strategy Overview for people without Leopard and Time Machine

Have a server where all networked computers store critical data. The server should then be mirrored to protect from hard drive failure during regular daily use. There should be a spare server set up with a clone of the server operating system to protect from CPU failure.

Backups need to be performed every day, in a way that is not too time consuming. Archive backups are not recommended. This is because of the time consuming scanning and high level of user knowledge required to retrieve the data when disaster occurs. Also, another machine has to be set up with the software used in the archiving to retrieve the data, and this is not usually done.

Daily backups should be kept on more than one media. Two firewire hard drive backups should be used daily. This also enables one backup to be removed from the premises to protect from fire and theft. The use of firewire hard drives (as opposed to cheaper USB drives) allows the backups to be utilised immediately as boot drives. CDs and DVDs should be used monthly, and a removable hard drive in a case can be used quarterly and stored off-site to maintain a permanent record of your data.

A shareware utility called “SuperDuper” is recommended as the software component of the backup strategy, as it is inexpensive and very simple to use. The software does, however, clone the user’s operating system, so this does not protect against user error. The use of two alternating drives provides some protection against this, by effectively providing two days of backup.

It should be noted that SuperDuper uses Smartupdate, which allows clones to be updated rather than replaced, vastly reducing the time required to make the backup clone.

A UPS should be used on the main server to protect from power failure.

An optional extra would be to use an on-line backup system, such as. Mac provided by Apple, to store critical data off-site.

Any or all of the above components can be implemented in a backup strategy.

Instructions for non Leopard users who dont have time machine

1. Purchase two portable, large capacity firewire hard drives.

Take it to the Macs can supply mobile bus powered hard drives formatted ready for use with SuperDuper software as follows:

80GB (USB)

$110.00 plus GST

80GB (firewire)

$160.00 plus GST

120GB (firewire)

$190.00 plus GST

(prices subject to change without notice and are a guide only)

2. Purchase SuperDuper from the Shirt Pocket website (approximately AU$34.00)

3. Install & Prepare

This will download a disc icon. Double-click the icon. A window will open containing the SuperDuper application and user’s guide. Drag these to the application folder on your Mac, open the applications folder, and drag the SuperDuper icon to the dock, ready for use.

Plug in hard drive number 1.

Open disc utility (which resides Macintosh HD/Applications/Utilities).

You will then see a firewire hard drive in the left column. Click on the hard drive to highlight it, go to the erase tab, select Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as the format. Name the hard drive “Backup” (Please Note: Both hard drives MUST have identical names) and click Erase. To eject the disc, drag it’s icon on the desktop to the trash.

4. Repeat

Repeat the procedure from step 3 for hard drive number 2, but do not eject the drive.

5. Register SuperDuper

Launch SuperDuper. Register and pay for on-line. You will receive an e-mail shortly containing a serial number. Enter this serial number, then click the lock to authenticate your copy of SuperDuper (You will need to type in your MacOSX Administrator password).

6. Configure SuperDuper

Configure SuperDuper as follows:

• In the “Copy” pull-down menu, select your hard drive
• In the “To” pull-down menu, select your backup hard drive
• In the “Using” pull-down menu, select “Backup – All Files”
• Click the Option button, and tick “Repair Permissions” on Macintosh HD
• In the “During Copy” pull-down menu, select “Smart Update Backup from Macintosh HD”
• On the “Successful Completion” pull-down menu, select “Do Nothing” (The advanced tab does not need to be configured)
• Click “OK” (This returns you to the main window)
  
• Click the “Schedule” button
• Tick the box which says “Automatically copy Macintosh HD to backup”
• At the box which says “Copy every”, select 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th week of the month
• At the box which says “On”, select Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday
• At the box which says “Start copying at”, select a time that suits you for backup (eg. 9:30pm)
  
• Click “OK”
• Close the window by clicking the red traffic light.
• Quit SuperDuper
• Your backup has now been scheduled to run at the designated time.
  

7. The 'Off-site' Process

After your first backup, eject hard drive number 2 and mount hard drive number 1. Take hard drive number 2 off the premises when you leave. After your second backup, eject hard drive number 1, and mount hard drive number 2. Take hard drive number 2 off the premises when you leave. This process continues through the week.

8. Checking Your Back-Ups

On a weekly basis, open either hard drive and check that your data is current and uncorrupted to verify successful backups.

9. CD/DVD Archiving

As jobs are completed successfully, burn the data to CDs or DVDs, name and file.

10. Long-Term Archiving

To keep a permanent record of your data (if required), purchase a firewire hard drive case. Each quarter, purchase a hard drive of adequate capacity (3.5 inch hard drives should cost you about $50.00) to perform a quarterly backup. Format the new hard drive with disc utility (refer to step 3). Manually run a SuperDuper backup to your quarterly backup drive, then date and file it. Instructions for Leopard users who will use Time Machine

Instructions for Leopard users who will use Time Machine