While my primary backup system is unchanged, I’m experimenting with adding another “extra layer” of protection to my backups that y’all might be interested in. Carbonite is an on-line backup service, your backups are mirrored over time to Carbonite’s servers, “all you can eat” for well under $100/year. I’m testing this under Windows XP.
Now, “all you can eat” appears to be true, limited to some extent by upload speed and server speed on their end. Over the past two months, I have been able to mirror about 105 GB of data onto their servers using my DSL (1.5/384) line. That has included some moderate periods where I turned off uploading, it wouldn’t surprise me if I’d kept everything on that I’d be looking more at 120-150GB. The client software does not appear to have a significant impact on desktop performance.
You can just say “do it all” or select specific folders, in Windows XP Carbonite hooks into the right-click menu for folders so you can add/remove “please backup” through the file browser. I believe Carbonite prioritizes smaller files over larger files to determine what order to back things up in, I’ve been prioritizing my initial backup by selecting directories a few at a time.
As I shoot more and more, and as the files get bigger (that lovely Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III is giving me files anywhere from 20 to 35 megabytes in size each), I have to think more and more about backup options, and you should too. My first glance suggests that for some folks, Carbonite might be one part of a balanced backup strategy. It’s *NOT*, however, a substitute for taking regular full backups and keeping them in perpetuity, it won’t save you from that file you deleted yourself and then realized you NEEDED two years later.