Octopus Overlords

No.

coopasonic wrote:Where can I back up my KeePass database so I can find it when I need it? I think I'll start a new topic about KeePass smartphone apps...

Just gmail it to yourself!

Ok, so I also need to get onto the backing things up bandwagon. I have an external drive I want to use that I bought six months ago and haven't even opened, but I also am going to look into the online ones. Also, I need to start using KeePass since all of my financial transactions are on the internet and I get paranoid about someone hacking those passwords.

Can someone correct me if I'm missing something I should do?

• Start using KeePass.
  Backup pics / stuff to external drive.
  Pay some company to allow me to backup to their cloud.
  Store KeePass files on Dropbox / external cloud for easy access.

Anything else?

Emergency nuclear bunker.

In for CrashPlan+ for a year and finally put my terabyte external drive onto my system. I have several hundred gigs backing up to both right now. Some day I'll get around to KeePass.

Kelric wrote:In for CrashPlan+ for a year and finally put my terabyte external drive onto my system. I have several hundred gigs backing up to both right now. Some day I'll get around to KeePass.

My stash turned out to only be 134GB. The initial cloud backup should finish today, two weeks after signing up.

I lowered my amount down with a few things I don't think I need to backup right away, like some game files. That brought my total down to 270ish gigs, but 150 or so of that is simply music. I got about 4 gigs uploaded overnight and then started to backup to my external drive. I think it will switch back sometime this afternoon to the Crash servers.

I finally checked out CrashPlan more fully. Sold. This is not as user-friendly as BackBlaze, but it's so superior for a power user like me that it's not even funny.

Zaxxon wrote:I finally checked out CrashPlan more fully. Sold. This is not as user-friendly as BackBlaze, but it's so superior for a power user like me that it's not even funny.

I'm excited to get my data fully uploaded. Only at 23% right now, but I've been away the last few days with the system shut down. I'll get to 100% some day!

Too bad they don't give referral credits!

Glad people are liking it though. Giz or Lifehacker just rated it the best online backup service I saw.

The only issue I had (which I don't anymore) is that you can't easily exit out of the program, only put it to sleep for certain intervals. Turns out it's a good thing, since I would have turned it off during online gaming and never turned it back on. This way, it forces you to be online which is the reason they don't let you exit out of the program.

I'm having an issue on one of my PCs where it's not consistenly seeing CrashPlan Central or my other PCs as online, even though its internet connection seems to be fine. Not sure what's up with that. For the most part it's working well, though.

Check out the support forums. Very helpful.

Jag wrote:Check out the support forums. Very helpful.

I plan to spend some time in there today. I read up on their support articles yesterday and didn't see my issue described, so we'll see what the forums have in store for me.

30%! After never shutting her laptop down, my fiancee has started to use my desktop and decided to keep shutting it down. Stop shutting it down since it stops the uploads!

51%! We'll get there eventually.

Unlike apparently everyone else I went with Backblaze and I'm very happy so far. The initial backup completed this week.

Finally got there a few days back, but for some reason it was backing up Kelric / App Data folders despite those not being selected. I think I finally fixed though, so now the only thing it really needs to update every day or so is my iTunes folders. Even then, I'm not worried about those on a day to day basis but if I am paying for it, I may as well use it.

Kelric wrote:Finally got there a few days back, but for some reason it was backing up Kelric / App Data folders despite those not being selected. .

Weird! That happened to me too...though it was user error until I read your post.

I've got a slightly different question. I've been using Carbonite for years to backup my docs and all of my raw/processed photos, which is topping 200GB at this point. That's been going fine. I also have two internal 2TB drives as well as a 5TB capadity Drobo and a 3 TB single drive external. I want to back up specific things like movie files that I don't want to go to the cloud from one of the internal drives to either the Drobo or the standalone external. The key is I would like to set up a bunch of very specific backups - i.e., copy this directory from this drive to this external drive, copy a different directory to a different external. I'd probably need 5-10 different backup rules for different copy/sync actions. Does anyone know of a reasonably priced piece of software that could handle this?

gbasden wrote:I've got a slightly different question. I've been using Carbonite for years to backup my docs and all of my raw/processed photos, which is topping 200GB at this point. That's been going fine. I also have two internal 2TB drives as well as a 5TB capadity Drobo and a 3 TB single drive external. I want to back up specific things like movie files that I don't want to go to the cloud from one of the internal drives to either the Drobo or the standalone external. The key is I would like to set up a bunch of very specific backups - i.e., copy this directory from this drive to this external drive, copy a different directory to a different external. I'd probably need 5-10 different backup rules for different copy/sync actions. Does anyone know of a reasonably priced piece of software that could handle this?

Crashplan is perfect for that. It's free except for the cloud storage aspect, too.

Zaxxon wrote:

gbasden wrote:I've got a slightly different question. I've been using Carbonite for years to backup my docs and all of my raw/processed photos, which is topping 200GB at this point. That's been going fine. I also have two internal 2TB drives as well as a 5TB capadity Drobo and a 3 TB single drive external. I want to back up specific things like movie files that I don't want to go to the cloud from one of the internal drives to either the Drobo or the standalone external. The key is I would like to set up a bunch of very specific backups - i.e., copy this directory from this drive to this external drive, copy a different directory to a different external. I'd probably need 5-10 different backup rules for different copy/sync actions. Does anyone know of a reasonably priced piece of software that could handle this?

Crashplan is perfect for that. It's free except for the cloud storage aspect, too.

So Crashplan won't conflict with my current Carbonite online backup? Sweet.

Not sure. If it does you could just swap Carbonite for CrashPlan+.

Zaxxon wrote:Not sure. If it does you could just swap Carbonite for CrashPlan+.

Sadly, no. Carbonite only does backup to the cloud. I would change over if I didn't already have 500 GB of data and 10 months more prepaid with Carbonite.

gbasden wrote:

Zaxxon wrote:Not sure. If it does you could just swap Carbonite for CrashPlan+.

Sadly, no. Carbonite only does backup to the cloud. I would change over if I didn't already have 500 GB of data and 10 months more prepaid with Carbonite.

Yeah, 500 GB will put a damper on a switch. I'm only at around 110 GB, and I did make the switch from BackBlaze (similar to Carbonite) to CrashPlan because I like the one-product-does-it-all approach. My super-important stuff goes to the cloud and to another PC here and to a family member's PC across the country. Less important stuff just to another PC here. Etc.

So I'm finally getting off my lazy bottom and planning to eventually get off my lazy (etc etc) and anyway, -- I really need a backup solution.

Consensus here seems to be that Crashplan is good. Could someone describe in very simple, non-computery words how it works?

Does it basically create a copy of my hard drives somewhere else (somewhere high in the clouds, or maybe on the moon)? Does it update continually, or only when I tell it? Why does it take so long to get done (which I assume is what is happening when people post their percentage completions)? Is there a problem if I prefer to shut off my computer at night?

If all I really want to do is to back up various important documents (Word files, software installers, a not-very-large number of photographs), is there any reason not to go with just an external hard drive?

Thanks!

I think that you are confusing some things.

Crashplan is a backup program. Whether it backs up to the Cloud, or to an external hard drive, or to a hard drive stored off-site at a friend's house is irrelevant. It will backup wherever you tell it (in some cases, for a fee).

Crashplan can back up "continuously" (when you make a change, the diff is archived), or it can back up on a timed schedule (you might have to pay for anything more than the "once a day" backup, not sure).

Crashplan does NOT make copies of your hard drives. You tell it which files and folders you want backed up, and where you want them to be backed up to. Crashplan will the encrypt and compress the data to back it up. It will also store versions of files that you can selectively restore.

If all you really want to do is backup various important documents, just get an external hard drive. Install Crashplan and tell it what you want to backup, and tell it where the external drive is, and then it will do that. As long as you don't schedule it to run while your computer is off, that won't be a problem. If the computer is off, you aren't changing files, and thus no backup needs to be running anyway.

For those of us backing massive amounts of data up to the cloud, turning off the computer makes it take longer, but is otherwise harmless.

RunningMn9 wrote:For those of us backing massive amounts of data up to the cloud, turning off the computer makes it take longer, but is otherwise harmless.

Yeah, I was just backing up a TON. Now that it is all backed up, it runs for a few minutes every day to catch up and is good to go.

FYI, here's a good comparo and some recommendations of some of the various services available if anyone in this thread hasn't signed on for one already:

Linky

Anyone aware of an application similar to Crashplan that will backup to a network drive in addition to cloud storage?

Shinjin wrote:Anyone aware of an application similar to Crashplan that will backup to a network drive in addition to cloud storage?

Crashplan?

I'm not having much luck with that

I don't know if it related to my delayed network access (there is nothing until after I log on to a user account) or if it is something else. But even after logging on and running Crashplan manually, it can't write through the symbolic link to the destination folder. Maybe I need to work out a way to get the equivalent of 'LocalSystem' as an account on my NAS...

Backing stuff up on an external drive should be enough. You just need to re-backup every few years because HDDs don't last forever. Some people recommend a Russian Doll approach to backing up. A mirrored drive can prevent loss from a dead drive but wouldn't save you from accidental deletion or a fire.

If you're paranoid about EMP's (people joking about Nuclear basements) then just find an old microwave and store it in there.

Interestingly enough, IBM has developed a cassett tape that can store 35 TBs... that technology should be interesting for long term backups.

You know, once I had all my stuff backed up to the Crashplan server, I never bothered setting it up for a local backup. That sounds foolish, and I am sure there are reasons to have two copies, but I felt so much better (actually felt a little weight lifted from my shoulders), that I never did it.

Any horror stories about backing up solely to cloud servers, that someone wants to share, in order to prompt me to back up locally as well as to the cloud?

Carpet_pissr wrote:Any horror stories about backing up solely to cloud servers, that someone wants to share, in order to prompt me to back up locally as well as to the cloud?

The only thing to be concerned about is the remote server being taken down by their ineptitude or the business going under in what has become a newer market space with significant competition. Also, if your data is valuable, being too low security on their end can mean you lose personal information.

Other than that, it's ideal except the amount of time it may take to retrieve it in a full recovery situation.

Likewise, if the regularity of your backups were to suffer from not just having one there in person, then that could be a problem.

Personally, I just like to have it in my personal control. It's why I'm slightly wary of Steam despite being in love with it...

Gavin wrote:Likewise, if the regularity of your backups were to suffer from not just having one there in person, then that could be a problem.

This is the main reason I went with such a full service solution. As anal retentive as I am about stuff running in the background, and even the little icons in my system tray (probably a holdover from the days when every bit of available memory was precious, not so true today), I gladly allow Crashplan to run in the background, silently doing its thing, backing up pretty much in real time.

Again, I cannot stress how much of a relief it's been. I tried so many different solutions over the years, from manual backups, both local, then even doing off site, or backing up to my work laptop, etc. As many iterations as I went through, I never once had a fool-proof, always on system, that worked without my input. This is the beauty of the backup to cloud services, IMO, and even with the drawbacks, I will never go back to my manual systems.

Just finished shoveling 350GB of data up to the Crashplan servers the other day. I still maintain a local copy, mainly because I have other stuff that is less critical that I don't need to backup to the cloud, and given that it took several months to upload that data, I wouldn't want to wait several months to get it all back.

I would be ok with that if the local copy was lost as well as part of some disaster, but if it's something simple, if rather have the backup data right there.

Carpet_pissr wrote:This is the main reason I went with such a full service solution. As anal retentive as I am about stuff running in the background, and even the little icons in my system tray (probably a holdover from the days when every bit of available memory was precious, not so true today), I gladly allow Crashplan to run in the background, silently doing its thing, backing up pretty much in real time.

Again, I cannot stress how much of a relief it's been. I tried so many different solutions over the years, from manual backups, both local, then even doing off site, or backing up to my work laptop, etc. As many iterations as I went through, I never once had a fool-proof, always on system, that worked without my input. This is the beauty of the backup to cloud services, IMO, and even with the drawbacks, I will never go back to my manual systems.

Sounds nice, just keep in mind that live mirroring (which is sounds like crashplan does, very cool) has its own draw backs if you don't have restore points.

I'm on the fortunate side, I don't keep video on my computer so my space consumption is almost all application based. This means that backing up my entire machine on a few different drives is remarkably good. I'm also looking at the 3 TB external drive from Costco ($119 is a decent deal if it's reliable). If your machine is less than 500GB then backup solutions are remarkably easy. If you're like my brother and own every show and movie you can on HD then you have to have multiple TB drives and online storage to have any hope of maintaining it.

Gavin wrote:Sounds nice, just keep in mind that live mirroring (which is sounds like crashplan does, very cool) has its own draw backs if you don't have restore points.

I have no idea...and I should probably find out. In fact, I just deleted a crap ton of photos from my local drive the other night...hopefully the way Crashplan is set up, it will also delete those photos from the Cloud drive. I would hate to have to do a restore one day and have years of deleted files restored as well (esp. WRT photos - other files don't require eyeballing before deleting).

Carpet_pissr wrote:I have no idea...and I should probably find out. In fact, I just deleted a crap ton of photos from my local drive the other night...hopefully the way Crashplan is set up, it will also delete those photos from the Cloud drive. I would hate to have to do a restore one day and have years of deleted files restored as well (esp. WRT photos - other files don't require eyeballing before deleting).

I would think the things you delete will also be deleted. I can't think of any scenario where they wouldn't be except in old restore points. If it's set up anything like DFS then your machine basically compares a changeset and items are removed or added if anything is different. This would be faster than running full backups every so often.

The thing is, it can be nice to have restore points here and there. I manage some firms that keep 52 restore points, one for every week.

I'm looking at BackBlaze and Crashplan myself, but have a slightly different question.

I also need a (preferably free) utility to back up a few files to a thumb drive by click. This isn't "in case of fire" backup, just "in case something gets corrupted, I want a backup to restore from."
I'm currently doing it by copy-pasting, which works, but the files are in a half a dozen different spots, so it is tedious, which leads me to doing it less often than I'd like.

Yes, I know that the premium services probably have this functionality, but I'm not subscribing to the premium services yet. I need something as a filler in the meantime.