Online Data Backup........

[ckbarlow]

Quote: C K, you're a heckuva lot more than a pretty face. Great solution. Welcome to the Forum. @ Steve: Canada DOES kick ass!

[mazz]

Quote:Quote:Networking is cool but both computers are still in the same physical location (or at least the same building). That kind of defeats my purposenetworking is just step 1: get working files from Current Mac to Old Mac.step 2: old Mac uploads to offsite backup service without disrupting Current Mac.That's what I was trying to say but you said it much better!! Thanks!Mazz

[matto]

Quote:I'm not talking about backing up my samples and applications although that might not be a bad idea in case the original discs are destroyed. That would suck pretty bad too!I'm not trying to be doom and gloom here but it's a concern with the growing collection of DVDs and hard drives I'm acquiring.MazzWell, the project files themselves are relatively small and easily backed up. For those this could work. Of course you could just keep a rewritable CD or two in your car or at work. Once the project is done, archive a DVD and send it to your mother .I am more concerned about applications and samples actually. Even if the CDs survive, most applications have probably gone thru several (downloaded) updates...and even if you were diligent enough to burn CDs of all of those, reinstalling/updating all the apps would take a LONG time. Same with the samples, which all have to reside in the same place on your drives(s) or you'll be using "search samples" on every cue you have to revisit.What I think you'd need to get back up and running quickly is an exact copy of all of your drives on (a) remotely kept hard drive(s).That way all you'd need to do is buy a new machine, put in enough drives, partition if necessary, then copy your backup harddisc(s) onto the new machine's and reauthorize all the software. This would still take a couple of days at least, but it would be relatively quick and painless...

[davewalton]

Quote:Even if the CDs survive, most applications have probably gone thru several (downloaded) updates...and even if you were diligent enough to burn CDs of all of those, reinstalling/updating all the apps would take a LONG time. I'll vouch personally for that. I'd adjust it slightly to read "reinstalling/updating all the apps would take a L---O----N---G time".

[ciskokidd]

Hey Mazz,It's relatively easy these days to back up your whole system to a removable drive as an image. I have a friend that is a computer programmer and he backs his system up weekly and stores copies of it both on his backup system and on DVD which he stores in a safe deposit box at his bank. He also mails a DVD copy once a month to his mom in Vegas.In the event of a crash or should he have a break in he can get his whole system back in a matter of hours.He learned the hard way when his hard drive went belly up and he lost a great deal of data. It was a bit of a freak event with the actual disk sustaining physical damage, but that could happen in earthquake country!Anyway you decide to go, I highly recommend it.Best,Cisco

[sgs4u]

I bought a program called Drive Genius, by Prosoft. It makes an identical copy of your system including all the permissions, so that you can have a complete re-install easily and quickly. Of course I got this after a rather large crash, when I lost an awful pile of valuable stuff. I'd heard about this being easy to do with a PC, so I looked into it. I'm sure their are other options by now. It's always easy to backup song/data files (even tho i screwed myself more than once), but re-installing to me is the longest amount of boredom. I've yet to need a complete re-install yet, tho, and it's been about 2 years. Macs are good!!Quote:Hey Mazz,It's relatively easy these days to back up your whole system to a removable drive as an image. I have a friend that is a computer programmer and he backs his system up weekly and stores copies of it both on his backup system and on DVD which he stores in a safe deposit box at his bank. He also mails a DVD copy once a month to his mom in Vegas.In the event of a crash or should he have a break in he can get his whole system back in a matter of hours.He learned the hard way when his hard drive went belly up and he lost a great deal of data. It was a bit of a freak event with the actual disk sustaining physical damage, but that could happen in earthquake country!Anyway you decide to go, I highly recommend it.Best,Cisco

[ciskokidd]

Quote:I bought a program called Drive Genius, by Prosoft. It makes an identical copy of your system including all the permissions, so that you can have a complete re-install easily and quickly. Of course I got this after a rather large crash, when I lost an awful pile of valuable stuff. I'd heard about this being easy to do with a PC, so I looked into it. I'm sure their are other options by now. It's always easy to backup song/data files (even tho i screwed myself more than once), but re-installing to me is the longest amount of boredom. I've yet to need a complete re-install yet, tho, and it's been about 2 years. Macs are good!!Quote:Hey Mazz,It's relatively easy these days to back up your whole system to a removable drive as an image. I have a friend that is a computer programmer and he backs his system up weekly and stores copies of it both on his backup system and on DVD which he stores in a safe deposit box at his bank. He also mails a DVD copy once a month to his mom in Vegas.In the event of a crash or should he have a break in he can get his whole system back in a matter of hours.He learned the hard way when his hard drive went belly up and he lost a great deal of data. It was a bit of a freak event with the actual disk sustaining physical damage, but that could happen in earthquake country!Anyway you decide to go, I highly recommend it.Best,CiscoAlso, the system copy can be accessed like any other drive so you have full access to any data on the backup including the ability to do a full re-install.

[mazz]

I back up religiously at the end of every day to 2 seperate drives but it only backs up what I've worked on that day. I don't have a copy of my system, though, I think I need to do that. I've been focussed on keeping my work safe but not my apps/etc.None of my work or samples live on my system drive, only applications and plug-ins so that makes it easier to back up, I guess.Thanks for the tips! I'm gonna check out Drive Genius right now! Yes, Steve, Macs are good! I hope to upgrade some time in 08 to a quad-core!Mazz

[anne]

Does anybody have a good file structure for the projects they are working on?I don't and it seems like my mac is always struggling to search around for audio files when I work on songs. I'm sure it is the way I installed samples and name my files, and I could use some tips on making things a little better. Also, do you save all of the samples etc in the same folder as your project? (this is a question logic asks). I was under the impression that this would lead to unneeded replication on the drive, but after reading Matto's post and seeing the "search samples" comment I'm confused. Thanks in advance for any advice -

[hummingbird]

Quote:Does anybody have a good file structure for the projects they are working on?I don't and it seems like my mac is always struggling to search around for audio files when I work on songs. I'm sure it is the way I installed samples and name my files, and I could use some tips on making things a little better. Also, do you save all of the samples etc in the same folder as your project? (this is a question logic asks). I was under the impression that this would lead to unneeded replication on the drive, but after reading Matto's post and seeing the "search samples" comment I'm confused. Thanks in advance for any advice - Hi Anne. I have 3 SATA drives on my computer. THe operating drive (C drive), is 80GB and I only have my program files on it. All my samples & loops, etc., are on my 170GB E drive. All my projects are on my 270GB F drive.Matt was talking about a situation when you've had to reinstall your programs & files. Then everytime you open a recording project, it's going to ask you where the audio files & samples are located for that project if they have been moved. I save all the audio files for any project into the folder for that project (for example, vocal tracks). THe simpliest way to get around the 'look for sample' thing is, once you have completed working with each track that has a virtual instrument on it, run off an audio file for that track, save it into the project folder, and import it into the recording project. --for example, track one is something I sequenced for trumpet, I render that track only, and import that wav file back into my recording software into track 2. I mute track 1 (I want to keep the original in case I want to edit it later), and play track 2.--in addition, I name the track (track 2, for example) with the name of the virtual instrument I'm using, and I name the audio file (the actual track) with the specific articulation used. --this helps because when you render all tracks for a back-up, each track will be rendered with its name - the instrument used.these are things I just began to do but I think they will help me be organized.I also asked at the bank about a safety deposit box, I plan to get one next week. I'm going to put a set of back-up DVDs in there on a regular basis.