“You telling me you don’t have a backup plan? That these eight Boy Scouts right here, that is the world’s hope? That’s what you’re telling me?” -Bruce Willis (Harry S. Stamper) in Armageddon

“You don’t know what you got until you lose it.” -John Lennon

Everyone should have a backup plan for their data. Sooner or later a hard drive failure, a virus, or (ahem) user error will do a number on the bits and bytes which make up the information you hold dear. In the blink of an eye you can lose your documents, your bookmarks, important email correspondence, that music collection which you spent hours (or days) ripping to mp3, and everything else on your computer. Unfortunately, too many people don’t recognize the importance of regularly backing up their data until they have lost it all.

An example of a poor backup plan might be to rely on spending days or weeks scouring the Internet for all the files, drivers, bookmarks, etc, that you need to help make your computer a useful and efficient tool. A better bet would be to invest in a second hard drive and backup your data there, either through a RAID mirroring strategy or merely copying data over to it manually. Another option is to create backups on CD or DVD. The best plan is to use a combination of techniques to provide for any contingency. I have yet to meet anyone who was sorry that they had too many backups. Having your backup strategy be as automatic as possible to allow for occasional periods of negligence is definitely a good idea.

In this article I will try and provide a basic outline of a good backup strategy which should work for most home users, while also comparing two programs which can help to make your plan simple, comprehensive, efficient, and (largely) automatic.

TECHNIQUES

NOTE: This is intended as a basic overview only. There is a vast amount of information available for each of the following methods.

RAID Level 1 (Mirroring)

RAID 1 entails using two hard drives which are exact copies of each other. Every time you save a file on one drive it is also copied to the second “mirror” drive. If you have a RAID Controller which supports it, RAID 1 requires only a simple one-time setup, after which the rest is 100% automatic.

PROS: Everything gets backed up. If you mirror the drive with your Operating System on it you can be back up and running in no time (literally) should disaster strike one drive. Everything on the drive will be just as you left it with no data restoration required. Replace the dead drive and the mirror should automatically rebuild itself. Reading data from the array should be somewhat faster since both drives can pump out data simultaneously. Very simple to set up.

CONS: Since each drive is an exact copy of the other, you’ll need two drives to give you the same amount of space as one would provide if running independently. There is no net gain in write speeds since each drive has the same data written to it. A catastrophic failure like a lightning strike or dramatic Power Supply Unit failure could take out both drives – and all your data with it.

Manual Data Transfer

If you can copy-and-paste you have already mastered one backup technique. Copy your critical files over to another drive and you’ve provided yourself with a measure of insurance right there.

PROS: No RAID Controller or fancy software needed. Data is also easily accessible from it’s backup location. Data restoration is straightforward and simple.

CONS: Finding all the little bits and pieces of the data you would like to back up can be time-consuming. Do you know right off the top of your head where your Outlook Personal Folders, Archives, Rules Wizard settings, and email account settings are located? What about your Bookmarks and Cookies? You’ll have to hunt them down each and every time you update your backup if you choose to do things manually.

Removable Storage

Years ago, the backup method of choice for a lot of companies was a tape storage system. This seemed a fine idea, until the day you came in and found that the tape had broken and wound itself around the capstan. Besides often requiring that the drive itself be repaired, data recovery from the mangled tape could easily run into the thousands of dollars.

With the introduction of affordable CD and DVD burners it became possible to store your data on a medium with no moving parts which was also not subject to being destroyed by exposure to magnetic interference. Being removable also ensures that a power surge which might destroy your entire computer will not take all your backed up data with it. Though there is some debate over the long-term integrity of CD and DVD media, chances are that a properly recorded disc will last for years. Portability allows you to easily store your backups in a separate location, safeguarding against theft or a catastrophe such as a fire or flood.

PROS: Portability and a relatively secure form of data storage.

CONS: All of the drawbacks of the manual data transfer method apply, with the additional step of having to burn and catalog discs. Verifying the data after recording adds another hoop to jump through on your way to protecting your data.

The Killer Combination

The whole point of backing up your data to begin with is that you won’t have to rely on one device or technique to protect your valuable information. The same attitude should apply to your backups as well. If you are entirely dependent on a single method of preserving your files you will likely come to regret it at some point. A hardware malfunction or virus can wipe out your backup hard drive. Your CD/DVD backups could become unreadable over time, or fall prey to that cute little puppy you brought home for your kids. Your RAID Controller could fail and corrupt every last file on your computer. A fire or flood could take out everything.

It is extremely unlikely that all of these potential disasters would befall you simultaneously. Using a combination of tactics ensures that one glitch won’t cost you everything.

Human nature being what it is, the easier it is for you to regularly do a comprehensive backup of your data the more likely it will be that you’ll do it. The next part of this article will explore two different programs which can automate the task to a large extent, increasing the odds that should misfortune strike it will be merely a nuisance – and not an unrecoverable calamity.

Note to our modem users: Our reviews of the software packages on pages 2-5 are image-intensive. If this is a problem, skip to page six to continue reading about backup strategies and which one might work best for you.

WinBackup Pro 2.0

http://www.liutilities.com/products/winbackup/

$79.95 (Download version of WinBackup 2.0 Standard $49.95; free trial available)

WinBackup has a tidy user interface with a simple step-by-step procedure for creating, configuring, and running your backup jobs:

Creating a job is as simple as clicking “Create New Job”, then renaming it so you can easily remember which specific task it will run should you need to modify it later:

Once you’ve created your job, the next step is to select which files you want to include in your backup job. A handy Explorer-like tree makes it easy:

A nice feature is the check boxes which make it easy to include your Internet and Email settings. This beats having to hunt them down manually:

Once you’ve selected the files you want, the next step is to choose a location to save them to:

You can also adjust the variables which will be inserted into the name of the folder where your backup will be saved, such as Date, Time, etc:

After that, there are numerous options for choosing the type of backup you wish to create. You can elect to perform a Total Backup (necessary for the first time the job is run), or an Incremental Backup (for subsequent backups). The Incremental Backup is much faster since it only backs up files which have been added or changed since the last Total Backup. There is a drawback, however.

One thing I didn’t like is that if you need to restore your data at some point you must first restore the latest Total Backup, then every subsequent Incremental Backup. WinBackup recommends that you do a Total Backup at least once a week to avoid having to wade through countless Incremental Backups on the way to restoring your files. You can also elect to omit files of certain types by adding their extension (e.g. .bmp) to the Exclude Filter and choose which method of file verification you would like:

Another option available is to decide on the level of compression you want your backup saved in. With four choices available (ranging from “None” to “Maximum”), there should be something for everyone here:

You can also password-protect your backup in the Security section:

WinBackup also automates certain tasks you might wish to perform both pre- and post-backup, such as closing Outlook to ensure that all of you files may be safely copied, or shutting down the computer after the backup process is complete. You can also script your own custom tasks with the help of the handy Syntax Editor:

Scheduling is quite easy using the on-screen calendar. Opting for a Daily, Weekly, Monthly is a simple matter of choosing the start date and then selecting the interval from a drop-down box. Choosing the time for the backup to begin is equally straightforward:

There are a few other settings available to the user, such as choosing the language (under UI Settings; language pack plugin required) and setting a Master Password:

There is also a section where the user can check the logs for backup jobs – a must for those running the task unattended. You don’t want to merely assume that everything will be there when you need it; if something goes amiss the log should clue you in before it’s too late:

The first time you use the program it would be a very good idea to run the task manually and keep an eye on the progress screen. This provides a lot of basic information about the job, like the number of files backed up, the data transfer rate, and an estimate of the time it will take for the backup to run its course:

WinBackup: Summary

While there are a great many features which make WinBackup quite useful, there are also a few things which left me feeling less than 100% happy with the overall package. One feature available in the program which I have not mentioned until now is the ability to split the job into pieces. This would be ideal if one were to follow my advice of creating multiple backups on different media. What could be easier than having the backup software automatically break the job into CD or DVD-sized pieces for easy burning to disc? The only problem was that this feature did not always work satisfactorily. My first few backups were of a huge collection of music I have accumulated over the years. My mp3 collection is now in the 25GB range. I decided to break the backup job into six pieces (referred to as “split size”) of approximately 4.2GB each, making it easy to burn the backups to DVD once I was finished. My first attempt resulted in five “splits” of 5GB each – just over the maximum for a single-layer DVD. I then tried a split size of 3.8GB with the same result. Rather than express the split size in GB terms I entered it as 4200MB. Still no luck. Growing frustrated, I then went for a 650MB CD-sized split, which worked perfectly. There was no way in the world that I was going to spend several hours burning nearly forty CD’s to finish the job off, though. Strike one.

Another feature of the program which I did not care for at all is the inability to save your backups in anything other than the default WinBackup file format (.wb2). This means that you would be dependent on this program alone to be able to restore your data at a later date. To point out how this could be quite problematic, consider the possibility that WinBackup 2.0 may not be compatible with a future version of Windows. The user may find themselves in the position of having to shell out even more money to upgrade to a future version of WinBackup just to restore the files they have already saved in the old version – assuming that backwards compatibility is built in to the new version at all. Having all of your data stored in a proprietary format is just asking for complications down the road. Strike two.

The last few quibbles I have with WinBackup may sound like small matters, but they reflects what I see as a major oversights on the part of the programmers.

The first is that it is impossible to select a folder as your backup destination unless it is either on your local computer or on a mapped drive over your network. Since Windows XP incorporated the “My Network Places” feature into Windows Explorer I have not felt the need to be faced with an alphabet soup of drive letters to get to a drive on another computer. Having to set up a mapped network drive for one simple task is a bit of a nuisance.

The second is that when I created my first backup job I scheduled it to run at 3:00am, expecting to wake up the next day to a completed job.

There was nothing there.

I re-ran the settings and configuration options, only to have another night pass with no backup being performed. On the third day I deleted all of my existing jobs and started from scratch. Still no luck. At this point I had clicked on every last thing I could possibly find in the program window.

At that point I almost accidentally turned my attention to the icon in the Notification Area. A simple right-click brought up a menu with one of the choices being “Enable Scheduler”. Would it have been too much trouble to include this as an option in the main screen? Strike three.

WinBackup does what it is supposed to do pretty well (except for the split size oddities), but the things it does not do make it less than ideal in my estimation.

Next, let’s look at Cobian Backup.

Cobian Backup

http://www.educ.umu.se/~cobian/cobianbackup.htm

In the Challenger’s corner, we have the freeware/shareware Cobian Backup. Like WinBackup, it features a user-friendly interface with a simple to configure step-by-step setup screen.

Clicking the “Gear” icon takes you to the Options section where every aspect of your backup job can be easily configured. On the General tab the program can be run either as a service or as an application. You can also set the program to run either for a single user or all users of the computer, have the program automatically check for updates, adjust the copying priority, set the Temp directory, and choose from any of over twenty different languages. If the language you would prefer to use isn’t among this impressive number of choices, there is a tool available at Cobian’s website which generates a couple of files which you can email to the author of the program who will then try and add it to the list.

The Log tab allows you to set different parameters of how Cobian reports the status of its completed jobs and includes a wonderful feature which will automatically email a copy of the log at preset intervals. If you need to monitor remote computers, or (like me) find that you aren’t always as diligent in checking up on things on your own as you should be, an email alerting you of any glitches in your backup job(s) can save you from major disappointment when the day arrives that you need to recover from a data loss on your computer.

The SMTP tab makes it easy to configure the email account where you want the log to be sent.

The FTP tab allows you to have your log uploaded to a web page – a godsend for Network Administrators who need to monitor numerous machines remotely.

The Security tab enables you to password protect the program to prevent meddlers from hacking into the program and compromising your backup protection.

Moving along to the Plugins tab you can see which plugins you have installed to support a variety of program options.

The Interface tab makes it easy to tweak the program for a pleasing visual appearance, plus adjust various functionality settings.

Under the Compression tab it is easy to modify the type and level of compression in which your backups will be stored. If you would prefer that your backups take up somewhat less room than the original files, this is quite handy indeed.

In the Engine/Settings area there are even more options available to allow the user to get the program to fit nearly any conceivable need.

Clicking over to the Engine/Advanced tab you will discover a final set of items which can me modified. If you haven’t managed to customize the program to suit you perfectly by this point you will likely need to write a backup program of your own.

Now that you have tweaked Cobian to your exact needs, it is easy to click through a few tabs on the Task Properties screen to set up the details of a specific job and ensure that everything is the way you want it to be.

Continue to read the last part of the Cobian interface and summary.

Under the General tab you can choose whether or not to include subdirectories, overwrite existing backups, and more. One great feature is the ability to choose between “Full”, “Incremental” or “Differential” backups. A Full backup is exactly what it sounds like – everything you have included in your job will be backed up each and every time the program runs. “Incremental” means that only newly-added files and folders will be backed up, which is quite a timesaver if you have a lot of data you want to protect. “Differential” functions just like the Incremental task, with the exception that it will remove files and folders from the backup directory if they have been deleted from their original location. This is a great space-saver for those who might rename or move files as they are sorted on their hard drive. A good example would be those folks who take a lot of digital pictures. You might not always get around to changing the camera-generated file name (for example: DCP02623.JPG) to something more user-friendly like “Nikki’s Birthday Cake” right away, but you would still like to have it backed up in a secure location. Once you find the time to sort through your pictures and change the file name, a Differential backup will automatically add the newly-named file and delete the one saved under the old name. It would also be quite useful if you have a large mp3 collection and run a batch name-change program. It will save a lot of space for your backups if they aren’t clogged with scads of duplicate files under different names – not to mention keeping things much tidier when the moment arrives when you need to restore things.

Under the Files tab you get to select the files you want to include in you backup job and the destination where the backups will be stored. The handy icons on the right side of the screen make setting these options a snap.

As you can see, I have chosen to backup “My Documents” to a Network drive. If my main hard drive were to give up the ghost right now I would only lose the files I have created since 3:00 this morning.

Heading over to the Schedule tab you’ll find a straightforward and neatly organized screen allowing you to automatically backup your files at the time and interval of your choosing. In the “Incremental or Differential” section you can determine how frequently a Full backup is performed. If you have chosen to save your backups as a compressed (single) file, this limits how many extra Restore operations it will take to completely recover your data.

Over on the Archive tab you can decide on whether or not you wish to password-protect your backup and if you want it saved as a compressed file. If you decide to go the compression route you can also select the method and level of compression to use. This is also the place to designate a split size if you want your backup stored in bite-size chunks for easy burning to CD or DVD. Another option is to encrypt your data, should you have sensitive material you would like to protect.

Another handy feature is found under the Special tab. Here you can specify which types of files should either always be included, or those you would like to always exclude. This makes it easy to avoid backing up things like the “Thumbs.db” file found in directories containing picture files.

Lastly, we come to the Events section which makes it simple to ensure that other programs will not cause your scheduled backup to fail because they interfere with the backup process. For instance, suppose you have a disk defragmenter running in the background at all times. If your backup program were to try and run while the defragmenter was juggling things around on your hard drive you would get a “File is in use; backup failed” error. You can set an even to run which will pause the defrag software while the backup job is in progress. Conversely, you could force the defrag program to run after the job is completed to keep your newly backed up file nice and orderly on the drive. This feature works with both programs and services, giving you complete control over the process.

Cobian Backup: Summary

I found Cobian to fit the bill for every one of my backup needs. With its flexible scheduling ability, simple file selection and backup destination procedure, options galore, and overall ease of use, it is the clear winner. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to have their data safe and secure for a long while to come.

Now, let’s put it all together into an effective backup strategy.

Putting it all to work

Tactics, Strategy, and Grand Strategy

In warfare, tactics are the methods you use directly on the battlefield on a small scale. Strategy takes place on a larger scale and refers to the general scheme in place which (you hope) will put you in position to be victorious. Grand Strategy ties it all together into an ultimate objective. If you are a Gamer you are already familiar with these principles, though perhaps not by those names.

In Unreal Tournament, for instance, your tactics will likely vary depending on the circumstances. The Flak Cannon might be the best tool in one situation; the Rocket Launcher in another. A frontal assault might work well in one instance and be suicide under other conditions. Your strategy might be to eliminate as many opponents as you can so that your grand strategy of capturing the flag has a greater chance of success. If you take the same methodical approach to defending your data that you would in playing a fiercely contested game of UT, you will greatly increase your chances of reaching ultimate victory over the foes which stand in your way. These include hard drive failure, viruses, and (ahem) user error. No plan is foolproof, but recognizing your vulnerable points and protecting yourself accordingly will be well worth the trouble.

Speaking of “trouble”, it is obvious that any procedure which is difficult or time-consuming to perform is likely not going to be carried out at all. The following section is intended to provide you with a system which makes backing up your data both effective and easy to achieve.

Tactics

If you haven’t guessed it already, the main tactic you will be using is one of the two programs reviewed earlier in this article. By automating the backup procedure you can reduce what would have been a repetitive (and tedious) search process to a simple one-time setup. Choose the files and folders you wish to save, schedule the backup, then let the software take it from there. It is far more likely that you will take the next step needed to fully protect your data if the hard part is already out of the way.

Strategy

Now that you have a program in place which will automatically backup your data and collect it all in one place, the next stage in the process is to make it as disaster-proof as possible. If you’ve followed my earlier advice you have directed the backup to a different drive than the original location of the data; you don’t want to watch both the original files and your backups go down the same drain should your hard drive fail. If at all possible, store your backups on a totally different computer.

It is highly recommended that you further protect yourself by getting the data stashed away completely off of a computer altogether. With the price of CD and DVD blank media being so low, there is no reason not to regularly burn a disc or two (or ten, if necessary) to get all of your important bits and bytes relocated to a location where they will be safe from viruses and the threat of mechanical failure. Let’s examine a few ways of making this process as foolproof as possible.

For Those With A Small Amount Of Data:

Note: By “small”, I mean that you are able to fit everything you wish to ensure onto a single CD or DVD. Once Blu-ray becomes an affordable reality that will probably include nearly all of us.

Burn your entire backup folder to rewritable media on a weekly basis. Have three CD-RW or DVD-RW discs on hand and label them Week I, Week II, and Week III. When doing your weekly burn-to-disc operation, rotate the discs in order based on the particular week of the month it is. These discs will be reused each month, so don’t be afraid to pay a little extra and get good-quality media.

On the fourth week of the month you should burn the entire backup to a regular (i.e. non-RW) disc. Make sure you close the session – you don’t want to risk anything by inadvertently trying to add something later. Label each of your permanent monthly backup discs with the month and year and store it in a safe place.

If you are the forgetful type (or a serial procrastinator), it would be a good idea to use a calendar program with automatic repeat notification to remind you that it’s time to burn your various discs.

For Those With A Large Amount Of Data:

If it takes twelve DVD’s to store all of your backups, it’s not very likely that you’re going to want to burn a dozen discs a week. The trick here is to set up your automatic backup program to separate your data into two groups. Both programs reviewed in this article are capable of managing numerous different jobs, so this part is still taken care of by a simple one-time setup for each job. Create one backup job for data which is apt to undergo frequent changes or is extremely critical, then create another job for data which is relatively resistant to change. An example of the former might be your internet favorites, email address book, personal, work, or school documents, and other things you’d really hate to lose. An example of the latter might be your mp3 collection, videos, and other “play only” files which are not subject to alteration in normal use.

Then, treat your “critical” backup job the same way you would if you were in the first category of user – those with a small amount of data. Do the weekly RW backups and a monthly closed-disc session.

For the data less likely to undergo change, it is still recommended that you do a full backup to disc, with the schedule depending on factors such as how difficult it would be to replace should disaster strike both the original hard drive location and the separate drive where your backups are stored, and how many discs it would take to do it. As a general rule of thumb for those who would like the additional protection CD’s and DVD’s provide, but don’t want to spend a significant amount of time burning discs to get it, take the monthly backup and divide it by the amount of discs you need to create. If it takes two discs, do it every other month. For three disc do it every third month. For six discs do it semi-annually. In no case would I advise doing a full backup-to-disc less then once a year.

Grand Strategy

Using the backup tactics you have learned, combined with a strategy of not relying on a single method, let’s wrap things up by discussing the Grand Strategy you’ll want in place to ensure that your data is as safe as it can possibly be. A good approach here would be to examine your overall strategy and look for weak points.

Try to find a place away from your residence or business to store an additional set of backups. As I was finishing this article the water heater in the apartment above me sprung a major leak. Fortunately, none of my computers were located under the miniature Niagara Falls created by the deluge from above. A few years ago I did some data recovery work for a small company which had experienced a sprinkler malfunction above their server; it was not a pretty sight. Take into account the fact that there are some things in life which you can’t control, then plan accordingly.

If you live in a dorm or other shared living quarters you probably know someone who has been the victim of theft. A thief is not likely to stop and examine the contents of a CD binder, he’s just going to grab the whole thing and run. The fact that he is probably not interested in your backed-up pictures from that once in a lifetime vacation you took last year will be small consolation.

If losing your data would result in wiping out the business venture you have spent years building into a successful operation, consider renting a deposit box at your bank or Post Office. If it’s not quite that valuable, find a trusted friend or family member who wouldn’t mind keeping a spare copy of your discs for you.

Don’t rely on obsolete technology to protect your data. That state-of-the-art tape drive you bought in 1993 is not going to work forever. Burn your backups to CD or DVD and join the modern world – while you still can. DVD’s are the kings of removable media right now, but their days are numbered too. Plan ahead for the next big thing and be prepared to migrate to it when it arrives.

Finally, keep in mind that, (as with any habit worth developing), getting into the swing of things as far as adopting and adhering to a backup routine may seem like a big hassle at the outset. Once you have a good scheme in place it will become much easier. The hardest part is getting started, but the day will certainly arrive when you will be glad that you did.

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