How do you back up your files?

[wizardfromoz]

Just remove the poll and let's have a friendly chat about the subject.

I have done just that.

Wizard

BTW

If the admins say no "what if" discussions then no "what if" discussions it is.

I did not say that, if you read what I said you may grasp the point.

Please forgive @wizardfromoz , he's sometimes grumpy ole man lol

Thanks, when you have been here as long as I have, you might be in a better position to be a judge of that.

 

[CaffeineAddict]

Thanks, when you have been here as long as I have, you might be in a better position to be a judge of that.

Sorry if the joke was not appropriate, I couldn't resist.

 

[gvisoc]

Someone posts about backups. Someone else thinks about Timeshift.

@wizardfromoz:

A third one types "timeshift".

 

[gvisoc]

In all seriousness, threads like this are good to reflect. Each one needs to find their own risk posture when it comes to how many and where to keep the backups.

One thing is the bare minimum, which is the 3:2:1 rule:

• Three data sets, one the working copy and
• Two back ups,
• at least one of them in a separate media.

There are many variants and the most common one is that that "one" of the last bullet is often understood to be also in a separate physical location.

However, depending on what is your risk exposure and what is your working copy circumstances, it may not be for you. Consider the following scenarios as mitigations or things to have in mind in your favour:

• How likely is your house to burn?
  • Does a waterproof, fireproof box or chest of drawers work for you?
  • If that ever happens, how likely it'd be you would have your working copy with you (e.g.: in your laptop)?
• Is your working copy synchronised across different devices?
  • If so, you have a Many:2:1 variation of the rule
• etc.

 

[Tritone]

I did not say that, if you read what I said you may grasp the point.

Really? I read something like that:

... but it is also important to not counter other people's methods with "what if" which is more likely to be seen as argumentative.

If your point is not what you write then it's impossible to get it from what you write. Sorry, I'm not a mind reader.

There is nothing wrong with being "argumentative" as long as there are no insults and off topic arguments involved (BTW isn't that what you did with your sarcastic comment about my ability to read?) TBH, isn't being "argumentative" heart of the discussion? Is this discusion forum an army of yes men? Or is it one of those where everyone posts their stuff, but nobody reads, pay attention or engage with other peoples' posts?

 

[Terminal Velocity]

You seem very cautious, I don't care for the bulk of my data to remain secret, so I don't use encryption for the most part, that makes things easier. I use old fashioned spinning HDD for the long term storage and I keep 2 copies of them one in my daily machine and one in external drive. That's enough for my use case

 

[Tritone]

I use old fashioned spinning HDD for the long term storage and I keep 2 copies of them one in my daily machine and one in external drive.

I had even better set-up (a laptop, an external HDD and a copy of my files on my son's machine) and I... lost all my programming projects. Laptop stopped working, HDD refused to cooperate and my son got rid of my files without telling me. That the same will happen to you is very unlikely, but these things do happen.

 

[kc1di]

I keep it simple here USB sticks and cloud storage. I don't worry too much about system files as it easy to reinstall these days as long as I have my important home files backed up.

 

[909mjolnir]

I'm using TimeShift and a USB3 drive.
It's already saved me about 3 times.
Although, I'm still not entirely sure how to use it! LOL

During the restore process, I sometimes have to run it more than once, but each time it does something until it actually boots up and I get my files back. I find that nerve wracking, but at least I get back my files.

For some specific files, I also use a DVD-RW drive to save to DVD+R or DVD-R.
That's how I used to do my backups a long time ago, and I'm finding that it still works if I'm patient.
However, I really wish DVD's came with a chassis like VHS and cassette because all it takes is a finger smudge to mess up the data!

Last but not least, I keep a specific local "Archives" folder on my partitions. It contains *.txz, *.tlz, *.zip archives of programs and DLL's. I don't like to have to always go to the internet for replacements. This tends to work well, and these archives get replicated by default by TimeShift as well.

I have file-roller, xarchiver, and engrampa installed. Engrampa is the default for Caja (file manager), but it fails on some compound archives. It looks pretty, so I keep it. Xarchiver seems to be the most powerful of the three, and I don't mind how it looks, so I use it the most for decompressing. File-roller is there in case either of the other two break.

Even though archive technology is pretty mundane, I find it fascinating how helpful it can be.

 

[Mike-BTU]

I'm using TimeShift and a USB3 drive.
It's already saved me about 3 times.
Although, I'm still not entirely sure how to use it! LOL

During the restore process, I sometimes have to run it more than once, but each time it does something until it actually boots up and I get my files back. I find that nerve wracking, but at least I get back my files.

For some specific files, I also use a DVD-RW drive to save to DVD+R or DVD-R.
That's how I used to do my backups a long time ago, and I'm finding that it still works if I'm patient.
However, I really wish DVD's came with a chassis like VHS and cassette because all it takes is a finger smudge to mess up the data!

Last but not least, I keep a specific local "Archives" folder on my partitions. It contains *.txz, *.tlz, *.zip archives of programs and DLL's. I don't like to have to always go to the internet for replacements. This tends to work well, and these archives get replicated by default by TimeShift as well.

I have file-roller, xarchiver, and engrampa installed. Engrampa is the default for Caja (file manager), but it fails on some compound archives. It looks pretty, so I keep it. Xarchiver seems to be the most powerful of the three, and I don't mind how it looks, so I use it the most for decompressing. File-roller is there in case either of the other two break.

Even though archive technology is pretty mundane, I find it fascinating how helpful it can be.

Did you enable backup of your /home/[your-username] directory?

If not, your personal files, photos, data, etc are not being backed up. Timeshift's default settings only back up your OS.

 

[909mjolnir]

Thanks Mike. Yep, I enabled backup of my home directory.
The odd thing is, during restore, those settings aren't the same in reverse.
I think that's why it takes more than one restore sometimes to get everything back to normal.
But thanks for looking out for us.

 

[Mike-BTU]

Thanks Mike. Yep, I enabled backup of my home directory.
The odd thing is, during restore, those settings aren't the same in reverse.
I think that's why it takes more than one restore sometimes to get everything back to normal.
But thanks for looking out for us.

Really?! I didn't know that. Timeshift users, take note!

I just read an article about Timeshift, which stated "Timeshift is not a backup solution.".

 

[909mjolnir]

Hmm, okay.... I'm screwed. LOL
Dang. I'll look into it.

 

[KGIII]

However, I really wish DVD's came with a chassis like VHS and cassette because all it takes is a finger smudge to mess up the data!

Hmm... You may want to replace your DVD drive if a smudge messes it up. A DVD has error correction, which means it should even survive quite a bit of light scratching before it gets to the point where it can't be read.

I've tested this a couple of times. I once tested just to see what would happen and I'd later test to show others that it was repeatable. In both cases, we used a fork to gouge lines into the plastic and in both cases the DVD could be read until there were a surprising amount of scratches.

And, yes, this even works on CDs. Just don't use a disk you care about.

It's CIRC for CDs and RSPC is what is used by DVDs. I'm sure BluRay has similar but I've never intentionally scratched up a BR disk so I can't actually vouch for it nor can I make any claims about its effectiveness. I suspect it's probably better than CD and DVD, but I just don't know.

 

[KGIII]

The page is seeking donations but scroll down a bit to see what the author of Timeshift has to say:

Timeshift Donation – TeejeeTech

store.teejeetech.com

 

[909mjolnir]

Thanks for the explanation about ECC's and finger smudges and scratches.
That helps me to relax a bit.

About TimeShift...
I don't mind that it's a system backup NOT a personal file backup system.
That's okay with me. It still works for getting me up and running if I seriously mess up my system.
I'd rather have it back up too much than not enough.

EDIT: Okay, I read the TimeShift entry and it contradicts what I just said. But whatever... it's rescued my erased or hosed system partition and drive at least 3 times, so I'm not going to worry about what it's called. LOL

 

[Mike-BTU]

Hmm... You may want to replace your DVD drive if a smudge messes it up. A DVD has error correction, which means it should even survive quite a bit of light scratching before it gets to the point where it can't be read.

I've tested this a couple of times. I once tested just to see what would happen and I'd later test to show others that it was repeatable. In both cases, we used a fork to gouge lines into the plastic and in both cases the DVD could be read until there were a surprising amount of scratches.

And, yes, this even works on CDs. Just don't use a disk you care about.

It's CIRC for CDs and RSPC is what is used by DVDs. I'm sure BluRay has similar but I've never intentionally scratched up a BR disk so I can't actually vouch for it nor can I make any claims about its effectiveness. I suspect it's probably better than CD and DVD, but I just don't know.

The thin shimmering layer with the data is on the label side. Even a ball point pen writing on that side can trash the data.

Don't ask me how I know that.

 

[Mike-BTU]

The page is seeking donations but scroll down a bit to see what the author of Timeshift has to say:

Timeshift Donation – TeejeeTech

store.teejeetech.com

Yeah! "If you need a tool to backup your documents and files; take a look at Baqpaq which is more configurable and provides options for saving personal files and data."

 

[KGIII]

The thin shimmering layer with the data is on the label side. Even a ball point pen writing on that side can trash the data.

Don't ask me how I know that.

That shouldn't happen. The data is stored in an inner layer of the disk, not directly on the back. So, you either had a very weird disk or a pen that was quite sharp. The storage layer is sandwiched between the front and back layers.

See:

3. Disc Structure • CLIR

CDs and DVDs consist of the same basic materials and layers but are manufactured differently. A DVD is actually like two thin CDs glued together. A CD is read from and written to (by laser) on one side only; a DVD can be read from or written to on one or both sides, depending on Read More

www.clir.org

Yeah! "If you need a tool to backup your documents and files; take a look at Baqpaq which is more configurable and provides options for saving personal files and data."

Yup. I have Timeshift enabled on my Mint system but it's storing that data on the same drive the OS is on. It's only on because it was the path of least resistance while updating to a new version. It kept prompting me to turn it on before it would continue upgrading to the newest version. I haven't turned it off.

It's a viable tool for restoring your system and I'm glad it exists.

I just take care of my own backups with a few rsync commands or just manually using cut and paste. I remember to do so frequently. I also automatically store important data elsewhere on the network, where that storage is itself automatically backed up. That data is recorded locally, as in my house. Data is also stored on a disk array set up in my garage.

My absolutely essential data is further backed up to external drives and I semi-regularly move those drives off-site to a friend's house. In return, I have a copy of his data. When my bandwidth improves, I'll resume sending that data to a remote computer over the network. For now, I use sneakernet.

 

[909mjolnir]

I suppose I could go back to using Clonezilla if needed, but last time I tried it I got some wierd error that I couldn't resolve on my own.