Backup-Solutions

[Helltech]

Not sure if this belongs here, but I think it may. I'm in the middle of getting an SSD, a storage drive and a backup drive. Right now I have 2 usb backup drives, and 2 internal storage drives, they are loud, messy, and I'm not a fan anymore.

The reason I've been holding off so long is the fail rate on 3/4TB drives seems high and I was expecting it to go down, but it doesn't seem like it will.

So that means I need to buy a decent USB drive for backup. Ok so I've never done proper backups, I'm not sure how and I could never be bothered to learn. I plan on using a USB drive as backup, both it and the internal drive will be 3TB or 4TB.

I know there is like system image backup, disk image, incremental and differential, I just don't know what's the best/fastest way to go about it. I really don't want it to be a hassle ya' know? Is there good free-ware, or just use Windows? Should it be automated or is it something I should be aware of?

Appreciate the help.

Also I was looking at the WD Green vs Barracuda and Seagate Expansion vs 3TB My Book Essential. The internal Seagate is 7200 RPM and cheaper, and the Expansion seems to have better reviews, but I've always used WD for the last 10 years so it's kinda hard for me to pull away.

 

[Hawkeye22]

I prefer automated backups when possible. I also like backup software that provides a rescue disk so that you don't have to install an OS and backup software before you can restore.

Depending on how often your data changes will help determine your backup scheme. I image (full backup) my OS drive once a week, keeping my 2 latest backups. It might be overkill, but that's the way I like it. For my data drive, I'll do a full file backup (not an image) on saturday and run a differential backup sunday - friday and start over with a new full backup on saturday. If you data doesn't change often, you can probably do a differential every other day or so.

Basically, a full backup is what it sounds like. It backs up everything and can be restored in one swoop. A differential backup only backs up files that have changed since the last full backup. In order to restore these, you need to restore your main backup file plus every differential since then.

In the end, if the data is important to you, back it up any way you can. Verify the backups to make sure they were written out properly.

 

[Helltech]

Yeah I've just been copying and pasting files I need for so long because I wasn't sure how to go about it the right way. =/