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Before I delve into my vision for a future of effortless backups, I'd like to cover some relatively inexpensive solutions that anybody can use right now to avoid dealing with accidental or unexpected data loss in the short term, which I'm defining as "less than 5 years".
I'm choosing my words and scope carefully, there are many ways to lose data . What I mean by "accidental or unexpected data loss" is what I think is the base case for most people: Those files you spent a lot of time creating are gone. Also known as: "I accidently ... the whole computer", "Why is my hard drive making grinding noises and where are my files?", etc. As I see the issue, this is the first step in keeping your data around for a long time. There are other things to consider, I'm going to try and cover them later.
In the course of my research, the following solutions have really stood out:
I only have a passing knowledge of these tools, so please take these as suggestions for the start of your own investigation rather than concrete advice. I'm not an expert. Not yet.
Let me cover each of these solutions briefly, discussing why each one interests me.
"Drobo"
Summary: Put two or more drives in the Drobo, put your data on the Drobo, replace the drives when they fail.
What impresses me about the Drobo is its simplicity of design. I like how it doesn't require any special configuration for it to work, just plug in the drives and go. I like how you don't need to use any special software to administer the Drobo: when the light changes next to a drive, just replace the drive. I like that it isn't using RAID - more on RAID later.
"Time Machine"
Summary: Free automatic backup software built in to Mac OS X. I pity the fool who doesn't use it.
Unlike a lot of other backups solutions that I've read about, the internals of Time Machine are truly impressive. It keeps track of what files to backup by taking advantage of the indexing service already built into Mac OS X, it uses directory hard links to make compact, full disk backups. And finally, the Mac OS X install disks give you the option to restore your system from a Time Machine backup.
"Mozy"
Summary: Online backup that "just works" backed by one the storage giants.
Mozy is an online backup service backed by EMC (EMC purchased the company the created Mozy in 2007). EMC is one of the storage heavyweights, they are such a big company that I feel safe saying that the "No one ever got fired for choosing x" snowclone applies to them.
Because of the EMC backing, dual platform support, and awesome pricing ($5 per month per computer, "unlimited" storage), I think that Mozy stands out above the rest.
I'm also really impressed and amused by the "Alternatives to MozyHome" that are listed on the MozyHome page.
"Jungle Disk"
Summary: Software that makes it easy to backup your data your Amazon S3 data store.
Jungle Disk is software that automatically backs up your data to your personal Amazon S3 "bucket". Their software costs $20, Amazon charges you $0.15 per Gigabyte per month for storage. My personal issue with Jungle Disk, is that every time I look at it, I convince myself not to buy it because "I could code it myself", and then nothing happens.
"vSafe"
Summary: Woah, online backup from a bank. What?
A "digital safe deposit box" from Wells Fargo. This offering is impressive only because it is offered by a bank. One would assume, and hope, that they are good at keeping data around and secure for more than a decade.
This offering is the most expensive of all the others, their pricing starts at $5 per Gigabyte per month.
Final thoughts: There are a lot of options for storage out there, most of them are unappealing to me for various reasons (which I'd be happy to discuss). All the solutions above either give you full control of your data or are backed by organizations that are unlikely to disappear overnight.
Remember kids: "there are only two types of disk drives: those that have failed, and those that are about to do so".
EDIT: Changed title.
I'm choosing my words and scope carefully, there are many ways to lose data . What I mean by "accidental or unexpected data loss" is what I think is the base case for most people: Those files you spent a lot of time creating are gone. Also known as: "I accidently ... the whole computer", "Why is my hard drive making grinding noises and where are my files?", etc. As I see the issue, this is the first step in keeping your data around for a long time. There are other things to consider, I'm going to try and cover them later.
In the course of my research, the following solutions have really stood out:
- "Drobo" by Data Robotics
- "Time Machine" by Apple Mac OS X 10.5 and above.
- "Mozy" by Decho (an EMC company)
- Jungle Disk, powered by Amazon's S3 service.
- "vSafe" by Wells Fargo
I only have a passing knowledge of these tools, so please take these as suggestions for the start of your own investigation rather than concrete advice. I'm not an expert. Not yet.
Let me cover each of these solutions briefly, discussing why each one interests me.
"Drobo"
Summary: Put two or more drives in the Drobo, put your data on the Drobo, replace the drives when they fail.
What impresses me about the Drobo is its simplicity of design. I like how it doesn't require any special configuration for it to work, just plug in the drives and go. I like how you don't need to use any special software to administer the Drobo: when the light changes next to a drive, just replace the drive. I like that it isn't using RAID - more on RAID later.
"Time Machine"
Summary: Free automatic backup software built in to Mac OS X. I pity the fool who doesn't use it.
Unlike a lot of other backups solutions that I've read about, the internals of Time Machine are truly impressive. It keeps track of what files to backup by taking advantage of the indexing service already built into Mac OS X, it uses directory hard links to make compact, full disk backups. And finally, the Mac OS X install disks give you the option to restore your system from a Time Machine backup.
"Mozy"
Summary: Online backup that "just works" backed by one the storage giants.
Mozy is an online backup service backed by EMC (EMC purchased the company the created Mozy in 2007). EMC is one of the storage heavyweights, they are such a big company that I feel safe saying that the "No one ever got fired for choosing x" snowclone applies to them.
Because of the EMC backing, dual platform support, and awesome pricing ($5 per month per computer, "unlimited" storage), I think that Mozy stands out above the rest.
I'm also really impressed and amused by the "Alternatives to MozyHome" that are listed on the MozyHome page.
"Jungle Disk"
Summary: Software that makes it easy to backup your data your Amazon S3 data store.
Jungle Disk is software that automatically backs up your data to your personal Amazon S3 "bucket". Their software costs $20, Amazon charges you $0.15 per Gigabyte per month for storage. My personal issue with Jungle Disk, is that every time I look at it, I convince myself not to buy it because "I could code it myself", and then nothing happens.
"vSafe"
Summary: Woah, online backup from a bank. What?
A "digital safe deposit box" from Wells Fargo. This offering is impressive only because it is offered by a bank. One would assume, and hope, that they are good at keeping data around and secure for more than a decade.
This offering is the most expensive of all the others, their pricing starts at $5 per Gigabyte per month.
Final thoughts: There are a lot of options for storage out there, most of them are unappealing to me for various reasons (which I'd be happy to discuss). All the solutions above either give you full control of your data or are backed by organizations that are unlikely to disappear overnight.
Remember kids: "there are only two types of disk drives: those that have failed, and those that are about to do so".
EDIT: Changed title.
