FileSlinger™ Backup Reminder 12-23-05: Pick Any Two

I just found a link to a two-part MacWorld series on OSX backups. The articles are excerpts from Joe Kissell’s e-book Take Control of Mac OSX Backups. Part one includes a handy table which compares the risks and trade-offs of different approaches to three major objectives: saving money, ease of use, and data safety.

Joe makes a very important point when introducing this table:

“You know the old saying: ‘Cheap; good; fast—pick any two.’ The same goes for backups. I can tell you how to do them effectively or how to do them quickly and cheaply, but the less time and money you’re willing to spend, the less safe your data will be.”

Before moving on to more specific subjects such as remote backups and backing up iTunes, Part two starts with a discussion of backup schedules:

“If you use your computer heavily every day, and often install new or updated software, you might opt for weekly updates of your duplicates and daily updates of your archives. On the other hand, if you use your computer only occasionally, the schedule could become once a month for duplicates and once or twice a week for archives. Under no circumstances do I suggest backing up less frequently than once a month or more frequently than twice a day—the risk is too high in the former case and the aggravation too great in the latter.”

To my mind, that reinforces the need to back up at least as often as you get this reminder.

You can buy Take Control of Mac OSX Backups (version 1.2) for $10 at http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/backup-macosx.html.

Merry backups to all, and to all a good night!