SearchStorage is offering a free 43-page download of Chapter 2 of W. Curtis Preston's new book, Backup and Recovery (O'Reilly, 2007). Preston (unlike me) is a real backup expert.Chapter 2 is entitled “Backing it All Up” and starts “Don't Skip This Chapter!” Now that's a sentiment I can agree with:The casual reader might assume that this chapter is an introduction to basic backup concepts. While … [Read more...]

Last week Loyal Reader Mike Van Horn wrote this in response to the Backup Reminder about updating your backups to match changes in your file system:I recently had a very similar situation. I used my back up drive with my home Mac to re-arrange all my project files (since I'm much more likely to do that onerous task at home in the evening than in the office). Then I replaced all those rearranged … [Read more...]

Last week I got an e-mail asking about sources for statistics on hard drive crashes:I've seen all of the hard drive crash statistics around the internet, several of which you reference on your site, however I've yet to find the source for any of the most startling. The one I'm most interested in, and hoping you can help me find the source of, is this:"1 in 5 computers suffers a fatal hard drive … [Read more...]