Tag Archive - mozy

Failsafe Backup (The 321 System)

April 20, 2010 in Featured, HouseKeeping, Mac, pc, Software, Web with 0 Comments

Peter Krough has written an excellent article on backup in which he suggests the 321 system.  It says that you should have three copies (one primary and two backups) on two different media with one off-site.  Not only is this incredibly easy to remember, it really helps me sift through the myriad of backup solutions to get what I need and not a lot more.

For my on-site backup, I have mentioned before that I like to use Chronosync to automatically backup selected files whenever I mount a specific hard disc or thumb drive though Apple’s Backup (free with Mobile Me) or Time Machine will meet most mac user’s needs.  On the PC side of things, I have heard good things about Paragon Drive Backup and NovaBackup.

For offsite backup, I use and am really satisfied with Carbonite while Chris has written a bit about his preferred offsite backup service: Mozy.  Both are great and both support Mac and Windows.  The point is that you need to have your mission critical files and irreplaceable memories (photos, videos) stored somewhere that fire or flood will not cause you to lose money or memories.

I think Peter Krough said it best in his article, “There are two types of people, those who have experienced hard drive failure and those who will.”  Do yourself a favor and get your 321 system in place today.

My Favorites from 2009

December 31, 2009 in Gadgets, Resources, Software, Web with 0 Comments

Well 2009 is officially over, and I was thinking about some of the tech that made it’s way into my world during the year. Here’s some of my favorites:

Software:
Mozy – I committed to online backup this year having deciding that my time machine wasn’t enough.  Mostly because if something happened at my house the chances of losing both were pretty high.  I went with Mozy, and after having a harddrive crash while on a trip and I was still able to access my data, I’m sold.  It’s definitely worth the $5 a month it costs.

Dropbox – This has become a tool I use daily.  Great for online storage and sharing.  And it’s FREE!

Teleport – This little bit of software allows you to share one keyboard and mouse between 2 macs without any extra hardware.  It’s really cleaned up my desk and I love the way it works.  Price: FREE

Hardware:
iPhone 3gs – This is so much more than a phone to me. It allows me to be away from the office but still take care of quite a bit of my daily tasks.  I love it.

MacBook Pro Uni-body – My old Macbook Pro was great for almost 3 years, but my recent upgrade to one of the new Uni-body models has been a great one.  The power is awesome.  To compare, my old machine took 90 minutes to export the SYM podcast that I produce each week, and the new laptop does the same video in 35.  I love it.  Although if you are thinking about upgrading, I would wait to see if there are any upgrades early in the year.

Flip MinoHD Camcorder – This is such a great little camera.  So easy to use and a great picture for what it costs.  You aren’t going to produce a major motion picture with this, but to capture camp memory, quick event highlights, and fun family moments, I love it.  Read my full review here: review-flip-minohd.

Kindle 2 -I upgraded my ebook reader to the Kindle this year.  I really enjoy reading on it.  A few things that make it great:

  1. Battery life
  2. Amazon Store – so many titles, and great prices.
  3. Always connected – I can download books where ever I am, and it doesn’t cost any extra

Web:
Gdgt.com: Great new gadget site.  I do a lot of my gadget research here.  I also really enjoy their podcast.

LIVE Curriculum: I think most of you know, I am the web manager for Simply Youth Ministry, and one of the big projects I worked on this year was this online curriculum. I am really proud of what we put together, and when I think of 2009 it was a huge part of it.

New Product - Live Curriculum - Doug Fields' 4-Yea

Now on to 2010.

My Best of 2008

December 30, 2008 in Administration, Featured, For Fun, Gadgets, Software, Web with 0 Comments

2008 was a big year for me and tech. It seems like a lot of the tools that I use everyday were not part of my workflow a year ago. Not all of them were new in 2008, but they became part of my everyday life this year. Maybe they can help you too.

  • Twitter – Love it or hate it, this has become a great tool for communicating, building community, and having fun. It’s by far my favorite social network.
  • Skype - Definitely not new, but I have started using it more than ever.  Communicating with co-workers, or family when I’m away from home it’s great.  I think it has one of the best video chats out there.
  • iPhone – This is another one you either love or hate, but I love it.  I didn’t jump on the bandwagon when they first came out because it didn’t work with my exchange email, but now that it does, I think it’s one of the best smartphones I’ve used, and I’ve had a lot of them.  
  • Evernote – This has become an indispensable for me when it comes to gathering information and keeping synced to all my devices.
  • WordPress – Another one that wasn’t new in 2008, but I really starting digging into it, and I think it’s the best blogging platform out there.  It powers this blog and it’s definitely part of my everyday life now.
  • YouVersion – I just love having the versions of the Bible I like to read with me where ever I go.  I still haven’t found myself using a lot of the tools it offers, but maybe in 2009.
  • Hulu – This one doesn’t really have anything to do with work, but I have found there are many shows that I enjoy watching that I just catch on Hulu whenever it works for me.  There are a number of these tv streaming sites popping up, but Hulu is still my favorite.
  • Dropbox – I almost didn’t put this one on, but when I stop and think about it, I use it everyday to share files or keep them synced over multiple computers.
  • Mozy – Nothing about backup is exciting, but I feel a lot better about my data since I started using it.

What was your best from 2008?

Chris

Backup

September 24, 2008 in Administration, Featured, Software with 0 Comments

I know this isn’t one of those exciting topics.  Listening to people talk about backing up your data is about exciting as listening to your mom tell you to eat your vegetables, but recently I was reminded about how important it is.

My wife had planned a night out to go scrap-booking with one of her friends, and really wanted to work on our sons baby book (he’s 4 now, so we are a little behind here).  It was my job show her where I keep the pictures on the computer so she could upload them to Costco to get printed.  Problem, the folder with the pictures from the month my son was born had disappeared.  No problem I thought, just go to my backup.  Now where are those back-up disks I made so long.  Not in my desk…not in our fire-safe…not in the box of random disks I cleaned out of my desk because I didn’t have room.  My heart sank, I couldn’t believe that I lost those pictures.  This really made me evaluate my backup strategy.

So what did I come up with to make sure this didn’t happen again?

  1. Time Machine – I’m a Mac user, so luckily I have this as an option.  I picked up a cheap external drive plugged it in and told it what I wanted to back-up.  It does it automatically, and I don’t have to worry about it.  Recently I’ve heard of some people saying their time machine backups hadn’t ran in a while, so if you’re using Time Machine just watch the date of your last backup from time to time to make sure it’s running.  PC users, don’t have this built in, but many of the external drives now come with backup software that work similarly.  So that may be a good solution.
  2. Mozy – Time Machine works great, until your house burns down or your external drive dies (this happens more often that you think) so it’s always good to have a backup that not at the same place as your computer.  Think of it as a backup for your backup.  I’ve chosen to use Mozy for this.  It’s a great solution in the “cloud” (meaning you backup across the Internet to Mozy’s servers).  Their software works great, and you set it up and it runs automatically. They have a PC and a Mac version so they have you covered.  Super Easy and secure.  Unlimited backup is only $4.95 a month, or they have a  free version that gives you 2 GBs of space.  I would recommend the free version just to try it out and backup your ultra critical data, and it’s free. Try it HERE.

Bottom-line, is that really protecting your data is going to cost you, but it’s better than loosing it.  And I did find my backup disk by the way and recovered the pictures, but I feel a lot better now that I have a better plan in place.

How do you backup your data?