
Backup Awareness Week - nanch
https://backupweek.com
======
nakedrobot2
I know all about the importance of Backups.

Mirroring is not a backup.

Raid is not a backup.

Hard disks are not supposed to sit on a shelf unplugged for extended periods.

Fine. Now, how the hell do I backup my 5TB of photos? :-( :-(

Edit: Lots of fantastic information here
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7371725](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7371725)

Is there any service that can burn my terabytes of data onto multiple copies
on "made in japan taiyo yuden" CDR? :-)

~~~
rlpb
> Fine. Now, how the hell do I backup my 5TB of photos? :-( :-(

I use git-annex. It understands the concept of wanting multiple copies of
things, and keeps track of what is where (eg. S3, Glacier, some remote rsync
server, or which of my many external drives). When I want something, it gets
it for me (eg. by telling me which external drive to plug in).

Then, all I need to keep backed up is my git repository itself, which is tiny.
I use Tarsnap for this, which means that I can keep previous snapshots without
issue.

> Hard disks are not supposed to sit on a shelf unplugged for extended
> periods.

This works fine for me, when combined with some other method. Redundancy is
key. And "git-annex fsck" checks a drive's integrity for me.

~~~
nakedrobot2
thanks for the new possibility! Very interesting. from their page:
[https://git-annex.branchable.com/not/](https://git-annex.branchable.com/not/)

"git-annex is not a backup system. It may be a useful component of an archival
system, or a way to deliver files to a backup system. For a backup system that
uses git and that git-annex supports storing data in, see bup."

since you said you're using it effectively as a backup, could you please
clarify what they mean, and what you mean?

thanks!

~~~
rlpb
For context, I was originally answering "Fine. Now, how the hell do I backup
my 5TB of photos?". My answer is that you don't need to, since photos don't
usually change after they are taken. It is sufficient to simply archive them
safely (and redundantly).

I'm not using git-annex as a backup system. I use Tarsnap and my own tool ddar
for backups.

I _am_ using git-annex to archive specific large file collections that don't
ever change (eg. photos and videos). By storing these collections
appropriately in multiple redundant locations, and by also backing up my git-
annex repository (using the backup tools above), I have effectively "backed
up" my photos. They're as safe as any backup system can make them.

------
trebor
To underscore the importance of backups:

We've been aware that our data and backup policies were lacking, and have been
discussing ways to improve that. We have more than 500gb of work and client
data that is highly valuable, and thousands of dollars in stock photos to
boot.

Then one of our systems got hit by cryptodefense (the latest variant of
cryptolocker). It encrypted the NAS drives faster than we could notice, and
destroyed some 99% of our data. If it had been able to propagate to just 1
other system, which we did a nightly mirror of the NAS to, we'd have lost
_everything_. Since then, we've been trying to set up backups to Amazon
Glacier.

Don't underestimate the ease with which data loss can affect you. It could be
a malicious link in a phishing email, a malicious attachment, bit rot, a
natural disaster, or simple hardware failure. The cost of maintaining offsite
backups is cheaper than recovering from data loss.

------
biesnecker
This is like Tongue Awareness Month
[[http://xkcd.com/972/](http://xkcd.com/972/)] for me. Intellectually I always
know the state of my backups is pitiful, but now it's in the front of my mind
and I can't stop thinking about it. ;-)

~~~
mtford
I hate you.

~~~
huskyr
Enjoy the next four weeks.

------
KevinBongart
While this is a cool project, I unfortunately doubt it will convince the 90%
of people who don't back up their stuff.

I had an idea like that a few months ago after spending time with my family
and my girlfriend's family. We need a simple page that explains in big images
why:

1\. chances are, you will lose your data 2\. here's a one-click thing to make
sure it doesn't happen

For 1, we can't use the word "data" because people won't connect emotionally
with the concept. "Photos from your last summer vacation", "The video of your
kid's first step" etc. would be more powerful.

For 2, I was looking for solutions that provide _automatic_ , _continuous_ and
_off-site_ backup that is _easy to recover_. Without any of these criteria, a
backup strategy is effectively useless. (+ secure, affordable, etc. but these
are extras).

I personally use and always recommend Backblaze for these reasons (one click
install that just works and gets out of the way), but there might be other
solutions.

Anyway, I'd love to see this project get somewhere, probably a GitHub page
where people can contribute and provide 3-step tutorials for iCloud (so many
people don't back up there iPhone when it's right there, baked in) and other
platforms.

Interested? Get in touch: contact@kevinbongart.net

------
huhtenberg
So this is what stemmed from "World Backup Day" guy grabbing a trademark,
shutting everyone out and turning spontaneous reddit project into his personal
little cash cow?

Pissed masses countered with "Backup Week", which still appears to be thinly
veiled ad spread for backup companies.

What next? "Backup _Month_ "? This is getting ridiculous.

[0] [http://www.worldbackupday.com](http://www.worldbackupday.com)

~~~
nanch
What's ridiculous about it?

Getting people to backup their files is important.

What's the problem?

~~~
eps
The problem is your motivation, which is disingenious - "You should be backing
up, we are worried for you, ah, oh, use these products (from random people who
just won a bid for our ad spots)".

Ever seen those "hosting provider ranking" sites that rank top entries purely
based on the fees paid to them? That's you.

You want to fix this perception? Remove Sponsors, add complete listings of all
notable backup products, invest time in reviewing them and allow ranking and
comments. Then you will have something that would start to justify your
preachy stance. Until then you are in just for a quick money grab and it's
pretty damn obvious.

~~~
Leovinis
There is a link to Wikipedia's exhaustive list of providers right by Step 2 in
the Quick Start Guide.

Also, providers have a legitimate incentive to help people. They may even like
_why_ they do what they do.

------
diggan
So what would be a good, affordable backup solution that doesn't get in my way
on my linux machine?

~~~
r12e
I simply rsync my entire server (over ssh) to a large disk on another box.
Super easy to set up and the backed up data doesn't need any special software
to read/restore, beyond standard 'nix tools.

~~~
nodata
Except if your files get corrupted, then you're screwed.

~~~
r12e
Of course, and the same is true of every backup solution. The way to mitigate
that problem is with a decent backup rotation scheme:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backup_rotation_scheme](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backup_rotation_scheme)

~~~
nodata
> the same is true of every backup solution.

Rubbish.

A proper backup involves copies that cannot be modified after they are made
(i.e. a snapshot after the backup has run if using disk, or for free on tape).

~~~
r12e
As it was ambiguous, I figured you must have been talking about the more
likely scenario whereby files become corrupt on the live server, unknown to
the either users or admins. Over time, these corrupt files then make their way
through all generations of backup until no good copies remain.

There's nothing special about an rsync/ssh solution that precludes the backup
server from creating a read-only copy of each and any backup.

------
mynegation
Is there any good site out there where people showcase their backup setups,
similar in spirit to [http://macmenubars.com/](http://macmenubars.com/) or
[http://usesthis.com/](http://usesthis.com/) ?

------
Springtime
As many have found first-hand for most people there is too much additional
research/knowledge required for them to consider the effort worthwhile,
although I like the idea of an awareness week for backups.

Having a video I could point people to, or even simple instructions for a
specific way of backing up using Windows or OSX would be a more effective way
of reminding people.

There are all kinds of local and cloud backup solutions out there that having
a site which filtered through them would actually be great, but obviously
outside the scope of the site which is more a friendly reminder to be aware
and prepare.

------
austinpray
What do you guys think of [http://tarsnap.com](http://tarsnap.com) ? I need to
backup some sensitive client data off-location and the concept seems pretty
good.

------
mkempe
What is your experience in educating non-tech people about the need and
adequate methods for backups? I've found that they'll listen, but not act if
it takes several steps and new routines.

~~~
mkempe
Another problem I've noticed: many people have no idea how fragile hard drives
are, and they keep old ones around for years -- with a precious, unique copy
of their early photo libraries... Not only is the hard-drive unused for years,
but they sometimes no longer have the necessary connections available (e.g.
FireWire) on their latest laptop.

~~~
TenDnal
Yeah, I know what you are talking about, I d wish tech giants started having
backward compatibility as a rule when creating any new gadget or a means to
store data. Probably there's no ultimate means to save the data now.

------
nodata
Is this linked to Reddit's World Backup Day on 31st March?
[http://www.worldbackupday.com/en/](http://www.worldbackupday.com/en/)

~~~
nanch
Hey nodata! Actually we tried to get in touch with the creator of World Backup
Day but regretfully we didn't get a response.

So Backup Awareness Week is not associated with World Backup Day, but we
support each other's goals of increasing awareness of the importance of
regular backups.

------
jve
Good thing that today, thanks to Dropbox/Google Drive/OneDrive etc., its more
easy to get free backups up and running.

