Crashplan (offsite) do I need it still?

[MrMister111]

I have an iMac and backup using Time Machine to a Time Capsule. I also subscribe to crashplan and have it backed up to the cloud.

However I'm now thinking of not renewing crashplan, as although it runs in background etc, maybe just use an external HDD and copy the TM backup to that and keep at work or relative and do every few weeks.

Now I know it won't be as upto date as using crashplan, know it's not as safe, more manual operation to complete, but this backup to crashplan is only if the absolute worse happens and lose the house in a disaster. Otherwise the TM would be ok, or if that failed, still have the actual iMac until backup again from the iMac.

So couple of questions.
1) who uses a crashplan type backup provider

2) who has an offsite backup and what type

3) how do you do the backup, use an external HDD, what protection do have for it if so, password, encryption etc

Can the TM sparse file just be copied to an external HDD and this be used for an offsite backup? If not what's best way to backup to an external HDD as well as a TC

Thanks

 

[maflynn]

I don't use crash plan.

I find it easier to use a portable hard drive and bring that into the office. So I have a TM backup and use CCC to an external drive.

I agree it may not be current as crash plan but I can guarantee I'll be up long before I can with crash plan. Plus why pay a monthly fee when I can do it with my external drive for free (other then the cost of the drive).

 

[MrMister111]

I don't use crash plan.



I find it easier to use a portable hard drive and bring that into the office. So I have a TM backup and use CCC to an external drive.



I agree it may not be current as crash plan but I can guarantee I'll be up long before I can with crash plan. Plus why pay a monthly fee when I can do it with my external drive for free (other then the cost of the drive).

That's my thinking now, not renewing and just use an external HDD and move offsite.

Can I ask your procedure then on external HDD. How use CCC, how often, password, encryption etc. Can you not do a TM backup to home backup, and ten another to the external drive?

 

[maflynn]

I use CCC every few weeks, no password or encryption. The reason is that my external drive is locked in my desk at work. I could possibly increase the backup frequency but I work from home many days out of the week, so I'm around my computer which decreases the need for offsite backups a bit.

I use a LaCie rugged which I take home from work, back up my storage and then take it back to work.

 

[MrMister111]

Crashplan (offsite) do I need it still?

So using CCC is it a free program? Is it incremental backup? How long does it take?

I'd prefer a little security if taking to work though in case as will have all my photos and data on.

 

[maflynn]

The older version was free and still can be found on the net. The newer version is a paid app. Both the older and newer does incrementals as well as full backups.

 

[ctucci]

Crashplan

....
So couple of questions.
1) who uses a crashplan type backup provider

I do because I want to have an offsite failover for time machine. Also, when I need to work from different locations, I don't have to carry an extra drive.

I also use it to test db backups from the servers at the stores. Crashplan on the servers is also set to back up to other servers in our networks in different locations.

 

[mmomega]

I think it depends on your needs and how important your backup is.

I use crashplan and do a local backup on an external drive, a cloud backup and an offsite backup (which is to my home server).
Im not sure I could recover from a complete data loss.

 

[SaSaSushi]

Yes, I recommend CrashPlan.

The reason you'd pay for such a service in addition to doing local backups is that it is an offsite backup.

I also do a daily CCC backup as well as Time Machine to external HDs but CrashPlan is well worth the annual fee for me.

 

[flynz4]

1. I use Time Machine/Time Capsule for local backups
2. I use Crashplan for cloud backups
3. I use CCC to make local clones in the house for immediate restore
4. I use CCC to a pair of HDDs that I rotate to my office for "the world just came to an end" backups

They are in priority order. I would not recommend doing less than 1&2 at a minimum.

/Jim

 

[glenthompson]

1. I use Time Machine/Time Capsule for local backups
2. I use Crashplan for cloud backups
3. I use CCC to make local clones in the house for immediate restore
4. I use CCC to a pair of HDDs that I rotate to my office for "the world just came to an end" backups

They are in priority order. I would not recommend doing less than 1&2 at a minimum.

/Jim

Since I'm retired and don't have family nearby option 4 isn't available for me. That makes 2 a lot more important. I do keep the CCC copies in a fire proof safe which ups the level of protection.

Since going paperless for my records backup has become very important.

 

[Fishrrman]

The OP wrote:
[[ That's my thinking now, not renewing and just use an external HDD and move offsite. ]]

That's probably as good (or better) as Crashplan, or any "cloud-based" site.

You do need a secure place to store the offsite drive, however.

Or -- encrypt the whole drive. Then if it's stolen, all the theif gets is a "drive" without the data.

I no longer have an office or workplace where I can store a drive, but I wanted an "offiste" (i.e., not "in the house") backup. So I got a waterproof USB3 flash drive, put my most important files on it, and keep it in my car. Again, the car might get stolen, but the drive is encrypted, so even if they find it, they won't be able to -read- it....

 

[MrMister111]

The OP wrote:

[[ That's my thinking now, not renewing and just use an external HDD and move offsite. ]]



That's probably as good (or better) as Crashplan, or any "cloud-based" site.



You do need a secure place to store the offsite drive, however.



Or -- encrypt the whole drive. Then if it's stolen, all the theif gets is a "drive" without the data.



I no longer have an office or workplace where I can store a drive, but I wanted an "offiste" (i.e., not "in the house") backup. So I got a waterproof USB3 flash drive, put my most important files on it, and keep it in my car. Again, the car might get stolen, but the drive is encrypted, so even if they find it, they won't be able to -read- it....

Great advice and what I'm thinking now tbh. Can I ask a few details on your post though.

How do you encrypt? What software?

What waterproof drive did you get, good idea to just keep in car suppose.

What/how do you backup? Just copy files? TM? CCC etc

Thanks

 

[Fishrrman]

[[ How do you encrypt? What software?
What waterproof drive did you get, good idea to just keep in car suppose.
What/how do you backup? Just copy files? TM? CCC etc ]]

Since storage space is at a premium, forget Time Machine -- it's not going to work.

I found a drive on amazon, just by poking around:
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Flash...&qid=1396277020&sr=8-1&keywords=USB3+survivor

I don't keep my "main" files (my day-to-day personal and financial files that are most important to me) in my home folder (on my internal hard drive). Instead, I have always kept a separate partition for my "files", as distinguished from the partition that the OS itself resides on.

Because it's smaller (the Mac OS takes up more room than most people imagine), it's also VERY quick and easy to back up. And if for some reason the OS gets munged up, chances are my files partition will survive intact.

My "boot partition" takes up 32gb.
My "files partition" takes up 9gb.

Actually, the flashdrive above is large enough to hold them both, so I partitioned it, too.

I use CarbonCopyCloner to create and maintain my backups.

CCC has a help page to guide one through the encryption of a boot partition, if you need to use it.

Adding encryption to the non-boot "files partition" is easy. Just right-click on it in the finder and choose "Encrypt..." from the contextual menu. Add required info (password, etc.) as prompted.

Actually, the price on SSD's has come down to the point where one might use an SSD in an external enclosure instead. If I was going to do that, I'd put the enclosure into a "zip-lock" plastic bag with some moisture absorbing silica stuff, if I was going to keep it in the car...

 

[dimme]

I been using crashplan for about 2 years and think it is a great investment. It's less that the cost of a external hard drive. I have 60+ years of family photos I have scanned for the family and would not want to loose 3\2+ years worth of work. I addition to crashplan I use
*Time Machine on osx server for local backups
*superduper to make diskimages of all machines in the house
*rsync to a pair of HDDs that I rotate to my office.

 

[talmy]

I use TimeMachine but don't rely on it for backups -- it's my only backup mechanism that has let me down.

I also do weekly clones (Superduper! in my case) to alternating backups sets, one always off-site.

And I use Crashplan as a last resort, but I've found it useful for accessing files when not at home (using the web interface) and recovering long-ago deleted files as it keeps old versions like TimeMachine.

Backups are a very serious concern for me. I've gone paperless and have "priceless" photos and other documents for which loss would be devastating. I also use FireVault II on all drives with private data, including the backups.

 

[MrMister111]

I use TimeMachine but don't rely on it for backups -- it's my only backup mechanism that has let me down.



I also do weekly clones (Superduper! in my case) to alternating backups sets, one always off-site.



And I use Crashplan as a last resort, but I've found it useful for accessing files when not at home (using the web interface) and recovering long-ago deleted files as it keeps old versions like TimeMachine.



Backups are a very serious concern for me. I've gone paperless and have "priceless" photos and other documents for which loss would be devastating. I also use FireVault II on all drives with private data, including the backups.

Wow that's some backup routine!! Interested to hear about the failure of the TM, what happened, how did know etc, suppose I'd never find out until it was to late. How do you test a TM backup apart from entering the "app" and dragging a file out?

 

[talmy]

Wow that's some backup routine!! Interested to hear about the failure of the TM, what happened, how did know etc, suppose I'd never find out until it was to late. How do you test a TM backup apart from entering the "app" and dragging a file out?

I've had it get corrupted and have to rebuild from scratch. At that point all the old versions and deleted files are lost. My daughter (not in our household but with a Mac) was unable to do a full recovery from a TimeMachine drive, her only backup mechanism, losing all the work for a class she was taking.

If I can find the file I want, it always will restore it, but that isn't good enough to keep me from using other backup alternatives. It's fine granularity (once an hour) is useful so I'm not about to drop it as one of the backup techniques.

 

[Uofmtiger]

1. I use Time Machine/Time Capsule for local backups
2. I use Crashplan for cloud backups
3. I use CCC to make local clones in the house for immediate restore
4. I use CCC to a pair of HDDs that I rotate to my office for "the world just came to an end" backups

They are in priority order. I would not recommend doing less than 1&2 at a minimum.

/Jim

I do the first 3. I don't go as far as taking a drive to my office. I can live without my data for a little while, as long as I get it back. I would just use Crashplan's restore service and have them send me a drive.

I don't really trust just an onsite backup. If wanted to save money, I would use the free version of Crashplan and back up to a relative's home.

 

[jeremysteele]

I'm super paranoid. For good reasons.

I do:

1. Crash plan, with a custom encryption key (which I why I love crashplan, vs other guys)
2. Weekly time machine backup to an encrypted external HD, which is locked in my safe the rest of the week
3. Monthly encrypted backup to a secured server I have. Simple home dir rsync basically, to an encrypted container, uploaded via SSH.

I'm lead dev for a company that deals with a ton of private info - and I work out of my home office - so I take backup safety and security incredibly seriously. My routine doesn't even cover the routines we use for our code repos and databases

Also own a company company as well, and I'm fairly paperless (although I have hard copies of a lot of stuff as well). So losing my data would be disastrous.

Quite frankly I'm amazed how many people don't backup - even with time machine. I've never had issues restoring, just occasional glitches while backing up (because it doesn't properly prune old files, for me at least, I usually have to format my backup drive every 6 months or so).

P.S: If you're curious - I don't leave my time machine drive connected for one reason: electrical zaps. Last year I lost a $1,200 setup due to a power surge, including an external drive (powered via USB, no power plug). This was through a UPS even. So now my local backup drive stays unplugged most of the time & immune from pretty much any electrical issues.

 

[dimme]

I been using crashplan for about 2 years and think it is a great investment. It's less that the cost of a external hard drive. I have 60+ years of family photos I have scanned for the family and would not want to loose 3\2+ years worth of work. I addition to crashplan I use
*Time Machine on osx server for local backups
*superduper to make diskimages of all machines in the house
*rsync to a pair of HDDs that I rotate to my office.

I forgot to mention that I use a GUI front end for rsync. I'm sometimes dyslexic when using the terminal. I have found arRsync to be a great front end for Rsync.
http://www.arrsync.sourgeforge.net

 

[MrMister111]

Crashplan (offsite) do I need it still?

1. Crash plan, with a custom encryption key (which I why I love crashplan, vs other guys)
2. Weekly time machine backup to an encrypted external HD, which is locked in my safe the rest of the week

*Not sure what the 1st one is, if I have it, or enabled - how can I check?
*How do you do an encrypted TM backup to an external USB HDD? Can this be addition to a TM to my Time Capsule?

P.S: If you're curious - I don't leave my time machine drive connected for one reason: electrical zaps. Last year I lost a $1,200 setup due to a power surge, including an external drive (powered via USB, no power plug). This was through a UPS even. So now my local backup drive stays unplugged most of the time & immune from pretty much any electrical issues.

This is a very valid point which I hadn't thought of. If I have a TM backup on a TC and I get zapped! To me even if you only have a TM backup, you still have 2 backups, the actual Mac and TM, but still doesn't stop a power surge.

 

[SaSaSushi]

*Not sure what the 1st one is, if I have it, or enabled - how can I check?

Editing this, because I initially misunderstood this comment.

Incidentally, I agree that the encryption feature is one of the best of many reasons to use Crashplan.

 

[jeremysteele]

*Not sure what the 1st one is, if I have it, or enabled - how can I check?
*How do you do an encrypted TM backup to an external USB HDD? Can this be addition to a TM to my Time Capsule?

Crashplan encryption is enabled in settings, under the security tab. See here for detailed info.

For the TM backup I just enabled encryption via Disk Utility for the drive. Not sure if that would work with Time Capsule though (maybe there is a way?).

----
And yeah - electricity can be evil. Thought I was fairly protected from surges - never thought it a million years anything less than a direct lightning strike or a major malfunction in the grid would zap my external drive, along with a computer that was on a UPS with surge protection (heck, even my ethernet cable went through the UPS).

At first I thought my desktop's power supply went nuts, but realized it was much more sever when the lightbulb in my bedroom was shot too

Best part is - I was out of town for a couple days at the time. What a nice surprise to come back home to!

 

[NReichman]

For a variety of reasons, I've switched to Arq/Amazon Glacier instead of Crashplan. Check it out: http://www.haystacksoftware.com/arq/