Having a Backup Plan
I finally got around to setting up a good backup strategy for our church computers. Over the Christmas holiday I found a great deal on the Netgear ReadyNAS Duo file server. I got one for the church for only $239, and it has worked flawlessly. This is a dual drive 1TB network storage device and works great for homes or small businesses. You simply plug it into your network and access it from any computer on the network. I’m using it with Apple time machine to backup my mac, and I’m also backing up our windows computers to it. It also functions as a great media server and file server.
Let me urge you to think through your backup plan. Eventually you will have a hard drive crash, so what will happen to your data? By having a regular plan in place, you can save yourself from all the despair of losing important files. I recommend having a network storage drive or an external hard drive as your primary backup, and also using an online backup service to protect your most important files. If something happens to your building or home, it is great to have a backup that is not at the same location.
At home, I’m using MozyPro, which is an online backup solution. My computer uploads any changes to their offsite servers during the night. It has worked great and is only $4.95 per month. Other good online solutions are BackBlaze and Carbonite.
Dropbox is also another great way to backup important files. It synchronizes files between different computers. It has been a great way to backup some important files and transfer files from my home computer and my laptop to the church computer.
Whatever you do, DO SOMETHING. Don’t wait until a failure, develop a plan and start backing up. You’ll thank me later. 🙂
If you’re interested in the Netgear ReadyNAS Duo, here is some more info.