New .Mac Backup & Strategy

We have learned the very very hard way, make sure you backup early, often and in multiple different ways. Since Apple upgraded the .Mac to 10GB worth of space, we thought it a good time to review a backup strategy.

Different Backups For Different Data

No one backup solution is going to save you from anything.

Time Machine will backup your stuff as it happens and it will get it onto another disk. This protects you from local hardware disk failure of your main drive but DOES NOT protect you from theft, fire, flood or other big damages.

.Mac Backup is more a daily/weekly solution for a smaller set of files and will protect you from hardware failure and from theft, fire, flood but since it is only limited in space can only protect your smallest and most important things. Example it can't protect your 20GB iPhoto library.

DVD Backup is again a timed thing and can backup everything. It can protect a lot of stuff over a great amount of time but since it is a manual process fails when it comes to daily/weekly changes to your most important files. Also remember to take your DVDs OFF SITE (out of your house) so if you have a fire they are protected.

Backup Strategy

Here is our suggestion and practice:

• iSync of Address/iCal automatically (automatic/daily)
  
• iDisk for important documents (automatic/daily)
  
.Mac backup for a set of files that change frequently and are important like Quicken/Quickbooks (automatic/daily)
Timemachine (when released) of entire drive to an external, away from your machine if you can hack it (hang it off your network) (automatic/daily)

• Weekly .Mac backup of bigger files (word/excel etc) (automatic/weekly)
  
• Monthly DVD backup of Mail/Photos/Documents/iTunes (manual/monthly)
  
• Quarterly backup of your Home folder (manual/quarterly)
  

That and replace your hard drive every 2 years. Yeah, it might last longer but do you want to test it? I just take out my old drive and swap it into my backup drive. Sell the backup one on Ebay or give it to a friend.