Backup !!!!!!!!
- Thread starter findtim
- Start date
Cooper Mills DomainLawyer
Top Contributor
the biggest mistake people make in these situations is to stuff around with the drive.
I would recommend sending the drive to a recovery expert. I once had a drive that died in a flood, I sent it off to a specialist company who were able to recover everything from the drive that no longer powered up, they took the spindles out etc
I would recommend sending the drive to a recovery expert. I once had a drive that died in a flood, I sent it off to a specialist company who were able to recover everything from the drive that no longer powered up, they took the spindles out etc
FirstPageResults
Top Contributor
A friend if mine called me in a panic the other day after he knocked over, and subsequently broke his girlfriend's portable hdd.
The drive had photos of the girls father who passed a away a few years ago.
Sending to a data recovery firm is the only real way to go, but it's pricey.
Portable hdds are also notorious for becoming corrupt. I wouldn't be relying on one, or even two.
Once I accidentally deleted a virtual partion on a dedicated server and lost a heap of files that wern't backed up. Managed the get a lot of data back using open source forensic software, but it took about a week to run and the data was displaced/fragmented. Basically you can get deleted data back from a disk providing you don't write anything over the top it it.
The drive had photos of the girls father who passed a away a few years ago.
Sending to a data recovery firm is the only real way to go, but it's pricey.
Portable hdds are also notorious for becoming corrupt. I wouldn't be relying on one, or even two.
Once I accidentally deleted a virtual partion on a dedicated server and lost a heap of files that wern't backed up. Managed the get a lot of data back using open source forensic software, but it took about a week to run and the data was displaced/fragmented. Basically you can get deleted data back from a disk providing you don't write anything over the top it it.
Simon Johnson
Top Contributor
Given my background in Security & Fraud, I thought I'd chime in.
Look for a good recovery firm that uses products like Encase to recover the data. There are a handful in Aust - ask them about turnaround time given that its Christmas.
Look for a good recovery firm that uses products like Encase to recover the data. There are a handful in Aust - ask them about turnaround time given that its Christmas.
Shane
Top Contributor
What would be a better option? I use a couple of portable HDDs for my backups, I'd hate to lose them!
findtim
Top Contributor
first thing I told was to NOT hunt the internet for software to fix it, DO NOT TOUCH it I said.
then I told him to ring the data centre I used when I lost all my sons new born to 3yrs + dead grandmother images with the "click of death"
I used " on track data recovery " in Brisbane, the drive ended up in their USA centre and cost me $1300.
he was quoted $2500 from a data centre here in Melbourne but price isn't the issue as all his newborn to 7 years kids images on this drive.
FPR interesting you say
I think this will be a HUGE problem now as everything is digital, MOST people believe these things do not die.
what we need are terabyte DVD's
tim
then I told him to ring the data centre I used when I lost all my sons new born to 3yrs + dead grandmother images with the "click of death"
I used " on track data recovery " in Brisbane, the drive ended up in their USA centre and cost me $1300.
he was quoted $2500 from a data centre here in Melbourne but price isn't the issue as all his newborn to 7 years kids images on this drive.
FPR interesting you say
you would have to be unlucky for both to die at the same time?
I think this will be a HUGE problem now as everything is digital, MOST people believe these things do not die.
what we need are terabyte DVD's
tim
petermeadit
Top Contributor
Painful lessons to learn from. Funny thing is, people forget after a while and still loose everything again.
I think it is one of those human nature things.
I think it is one of those human nature things.
findtim
Top Contributor
so true
Simple answer is keep multiple copies of everything important, and in physically separated locations.
The "click of death" is often recoverable in spindle drives.
One thing I'm not familiar with... is what happens with SSD's?
Do they just up and die when they hit their MTBF date?
Backups are essential for pretty much everyone with a computer nowadays.
And what about phones? Some people's only copies of photos exist on their phones
On Android, the Google sync photo backup works well enough (or dropbox if you prefer).
There are dozens if not hundreds of ways to figure out some kind of onsite + offsite backups.
Just create a system that works for you and stick with it. The more automated the better!
The "click of death" is often recoverable in spindle drives.
One thing I'm not familiar with... is what happens with SSD's?
Do they just up and die when they hit their MTBF date?
Backups are essential for pretty much everyone with a computer nowadays.
And what about phones? Some people's only copies of photos exist on their phones
On Android, the Google sync photo backup works well enough (or dropbox if you prefer).
There are dozens if not hundreds of ways to figure out some kind of onsite + offsite backups.
Just create a system that works for you and stick with it. The more automated the better!
FirstPageResults
Top Contributor
Depends on the type of files, but generally cloud storage is where possible.
A lot of computers these days ship with backup software (i.e. Dell, Apple), but there are alternatives such as Google Drive, Dropbox and Amazon S3.
Ideally you want backing up to be an automated background task, or integrated into your work flow.
FirstPageResults
Top Contributor
Well yeah, the chances of having two faulty units are low, but it does happen... and so do fires are floods!
Off site, cloud storage has to be the safest and most convenient option.
Ideally all of your websites are in version control like SVN or GIT, but I'm guessing they are not?
Blue Wren
Top Contributor
A Backup is ONLY a backup when there is TWO copies (or more) of the data.
I see this a lot. People buy external/portable HDD's for the purpose of backing up. They soon decide to free space off their computer and move it to the "backup drive". Right at this point it is NO LONGER A BACKUP.
Quote - Blue Wren. "There will be many 21st Birthday's where no photos are shown." (lost in a HDD crash in 19XX or 20XX).
Shane. Two HDD's (rotated daily. One on-premise the other taken off-premise), is okay but I'd throw in an automated cloud backup in the mix too. These automated backup can get very elaborate in how you can backup and when, too.
I see this a lot. People buy external/portable HDD's for the purpose of backing up. They soon decide to free space off their computer and move it to the "backup drive". Right at this point it is NO LONGER A BACKUP.
Quote - Blue Wren. "There will be many 21st Birthday's where no photos are shown." (lost in a HDD crash in 19XX or 20XX).
Shane. Two HDD's (rotated daily. One on-premise the other taken off-premise), is okay but I'd throw in an automated cloud backup in the mix too. These automated backup can get very elaborate in how you can backup and when, too.
StuartB
Regular Member
I use a combo of TimeMachine and Dropbox with PackRat.
PackRat on Dropbox saves the last 5 versions of every file, so you can go and back and restore any of them.
This has saved me in a dozen instances - when I have accidentally saved over a previous version of a work file. Best $40 annual investment I make!!
PackRat on Dropbox saves the last 5 versions of every file, so you can go and back and restore any of them.
This has saved me in a dozen instances - when I have accidentally saved over a previous version of a work file. Best $40 annual investment I make!!
findtim
Top Contributor
well a good time to remind people about backups. end of financial year is a good time to buy an external drive.
my main computer decided not to open this morning ! , when it finally did after a "hard restart" i put it into to safe mode, safe mode failed so i had to turn the power off ( geez i hate that ! )
then tried starting it again and it gave me a horrible failure message and said " p1$$ off, i'm checking everything now"
so it did, an hour later it restarted perfectly
its all backed up but its still a heart jumper when that happens, if only for the time to put it all back together, EVEN with split internal harddrives.
SOOOO, don't have that heart JUMP, backup
and remember " a backup is not a backup unless THE backup is backed up" , so 2 $99 terabytes should save most people.
tim
my main computer decided not to open this morning ! , when it finally did after a "hard restart" i put it into to safe mode, safe mode failed so i had to turn the power off ( geez i hate that ! )
then tried starting it again and it gave me a horrible failure message and said " p1$$ off, i'm checking everything now"
so it did, an hour later it restarted perfectly
its all backed up but its still a heart jumper when that happens, if only for the time to put it all back together, EVEN with split internal harddrives.
SOOOO, don't have that heart JUMP, backup
and remember " a backup is not a backup unless THE backup is backed up" , so 2 $99 terabytes should save most people.
tim
eBranding.com.au
Top Contributor
Completely agree Tim, backups are essential.
I'll also add that people should not rely solely on hosting providers for backups. I've heard too many horror stories (backup wasn't done as site was too large under T&Cs, backup was done but is corrupted etc).
I'll also add that people should not rely solely on hosting providers for backups. I've heard too many horror stories (backup wasn't done as site was too large under T&Cs, backup was done but is corrupted etc).
findtim
Top Contributor
i also recently found that my favourite " backupbuddy" will backup your site but if it finds a problem file its stops and doesn't tell you !!!
so if you download it and think " hey i have a backup" when you need it and unzip, whole folders can be missing !
the infinateWP looks good, but once again......... trust nothing.
was it godaddy or hostgator that had that major backup failure a while ago?
tim
so if you download it and think " hey i have a backup" when you need it and unzip, whole folders can be missing !
the infinateWP looks good, but once again......... trust nothing.
was it godaddy or hostgator that had that major backup failure a while ago?
tim
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