Panic!!

[hidden]

Yes, panic!   That was what I felt yesterday when I was almost a day without line due to causes attributable to my provider. That made me think seriously about how computer-dependent I am in case of a completely computer crash. Could do nothing all day! Emails to answer, customers waiting for quotes, info, Invoices, dispatch papers, not to mention fun, news, unable to connect to Samisite…   etc, etc. etc. and worst: unable to inform everybody about your situation!!

If we take in mind that my job depends completely on the computer and Internet connection, this means a tragedy for me!   Now, when the waters have calmed down, I wonder: what could I do to prevent this situation in case of a total crash? All my files, emails, addresses, templates, images, programs, applications, important dates, etc. etc. inevitably LOST?  and the most important problem would be: the time down!!

OK, I know, must have copy of everything, but have you been thinking about how difficult and tedious is to backup EVERYTHING you daily do at work? how can I keep track of each movement made to easily backup EVERYDAY? Ideally would be to have a clone of the own computer automatically updated daily with everything made on the original, but… how? Any suggestions?

One thing is for sure: soon or later It will happen!! there is no computer that last forever…  

[hidden]

Tony, I totally understand your panic! While my situation would not be so critical, I still rely on my PC and internet every day, and rarely have a day without it.

I think you can easily backup all your important data every day. Schedule it at night while you are not using the PC. There are many backup programs around.

The one I use is a free software called Comodo Backup. It works fine. If you only have one PC, you should backup to an external media. But the best thing is to back up to another completely separate PC. I usually buy a new PC or laptop before the old one is at the end of its life (usually want something better, faster!), so the old one is ideal as a place to keep your backups, and can be used for basic things in the event you have a computer crash with your primary PC. I have both a previous desktop, and a previous laptop both in good working order (the laptop is now dedicated to controlling my model trains, but can still be used for general work in an emergency).

The issue of internet is a more difficult one. If your provider has an outage, you have no connection. If your connection is ADSL, some providers (in Australia) offer a free, or inexpensive dial-up service when you are not using the ADSL. Maybe you also have this possibility. The other option (which I use myself), is to have a separate wireless/3G internet service. Of course this is an added expense, but may be worth it for you. I use the 3G service (3GB per month) on my iPhone (which can be tethered to the laptop/pc as a modem) when I am away from home, but it can also be used as a backup at home, if there is an outage of the ADSL.

Tony, hope that helps.

[hidden]

...
You have been through that already Tony!  You should be fully aware what to do!

Remember this thread:  http://samisite.com/forum/index.php?topic=644.0 that discussed pros and cons for different solutions.

Yesterday SAMISITE.com and all TotalChoiceHosting sites were down due to Denial of Service attack on the host. They have great backups and everything was brought back to normal.  I DO know what you mean about not being able to connect to ANYTHING.  Banking, forums, income, helping, shopping, entertainment are ALL tied up in online access now. I have been in withdrawal for MONTHS because of slow or non-existent connections from both houses!  

Most backup software has the ability to do backups at the end of the day, identifying only the files that have changed.
In that thread, Rick mentioned a backup software: http://allwaysync.com/.
I used it at the office with nice results.  Did not backup my operating system, just files/folders and had it set to backup only changes once original files were backed up. Worked well for that.
If that hard drive had gone, I would have bought a cheap laptop and installed programs (from backed up installation files) and transferred my data over and kept going.

Mirrored drives are lovely when possible. One dies, move it over. But YOU had the experience that your pc tech wiped the mirror instead of using it.


HEY RICK...why did you switch from allwaysync?

Yes, until the recent changes, I also had a backup internet connection (dialup then MIFI 3g connection) in case ISP went down.  They offer 3g and 4g broadband mobile devices that create hotspots, eithr part of a phone or separate (like MIFI or overdrive)

[hidden]

Thank you guys.

Yes we have talked about it in the past, but for my part, I have not done anything yet  
I think the best option is what Rick suggested: another PC mirror-configured and tested on line and COMODO Backup. I didn't know about it, I downloaded and seems to be perfect for this purpose, and it's freeware.
I will give it a read until I can buy another PC.
There is an offer of a small HP laptop 160 Gb HD (same as mine) , 1 G Ram for a little more than €200,00
What do you think?

[hidden]

It depends what you want to do with the laptop. It should be fine if your idea is to use mainly for backup: a place to keep a backup of your critical data with backup software, and to also use it for basic things such as email if your main PC has a crash. It would also be OK for those basic uses when you are travelling.

But all those small laptops (or netbooks) with only 1GB of RAM are quite slow in operation. Depending what you do on your PC, I would not like it for use as a general laptop. For example, my laptop has 6GB RAM, and a fast processor.

So as usual, it is horses for courses. But as this post is about backup, I think it would be quite OK for this purpose, and double as a handy netbook to take with you when you travel, to check email and Samisite forum! 

[hidden]

Yes, the idea is to use it ONLY in an emergency situation, those two or three day that could last a crash event.
But, I must first understand how to keep it updated daily, fast an easy, (otherwise I wouldn't do...) with the main desktop.
 

[hidden]

Tony, it is easy to keep it updated daily, using Comodo Backup or similar, such as Allways Sync which Sami mentioned. But it may not be fast, depending how much you want to backup. However that does not matter, as you can set it up to run at night. Some backup software will turn off your PC after the backup is finished. Easy!

[hidden]

I guess that only the first backup will take time, but subsequent backups of only new files or those that have been changed, won't be so long...

[hidden]

Yes, correct. Usually only a few minutes.

[hidden]

My laptop has an esata port (much much faster than USB port), so I got an esata dock from amazon. I can plug any standard internal drive into the dock and use it as backup for laptop and The little free agent USB backups.  Transfer is FAST. And has ability to run slower on USB port too so it is portable to any computer.  Would not be up and running quickly like a mirrored drive, but data would be safe.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001A4HAFS/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1296352226&sr=8-1