Take Control of Mac OS X Backups, Fourth Edition

Take Control of Mac OS X Backups, Fourth Edition

by Joe Kissell
Released September 2009
Publisher(s): Take Control Books
ISBN: 9781615420049

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Book description

In this comprehensive book, backup guru Joe Kissell helps you pick the best backup strategy for your needs and understand the whys and hows of what you are doing, helping you go far beyond the false security of turning on Time Machine or copying a few files to CD. You'll find an at-a-glance comparison of different backup strategies (low-cost, easy, safest), along with advice for backing up digital photos and massive video projects. You'll learn the pros and cons of many types of backup media; discover how to pick the best backup software for your needs; and find time-tested recommendations for setting up, testing, and maintaining backups, complete with the essential instructions on how to restore after a crash.

Free online appendixes compare almost 100 backup products. Bonus! Includes coupons worth $30 off Data Backup and 10% off CrashPlan. Covers Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, as well as Leopard and Tiger!

Find answers to questions such as these:

  • Should I use an online backup service to back up to a different location?

  • How do I minimize the downtime I might suffer if my boot drive fails?

  • How can I maximize the benefits of using Time Machine?

  • What's a hard link, and how does it relate to Time Machine?

  • What are the important gotchas relating to Time Machine?

  • How do I migrate an existing backup system to Time Capsule?

  • How can I back up easily and safely while traveling?

  • How can I create my own command-line-based backups?

  • Is the Drobo a useful device?

  • How do I deduplicate my backups?

  • Which hard drive should I buy for my backups?

  • What are the pros and cons of running Retrospect 8?

  • I'm running Windows on my Mac—how do I back up my Windows files?

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    Table of contents

    1. Take Control of Mac OS X Backups, Fourth Edition
      1. Read Me First
        1. Updates
        2. Basics
        3. What's New in the Fourth Edition
        4. Finding the Online Appendixes
      2. Introduction
      3. 1. Mac OS X Backups Quick Start
      4. 2. Decide on a Basic Backup Strategy
        1. Backup Strategy Approaches
        2. Decide Which Backup Methods to Use
          1. Do You Need Duplicates?
          2. Do You Need Versioned Backups?
        3. The Duplicate
        4. The Versioned Backup
        5. Automating Backups
          1. Schedule-Free Backups
          2. Scheduled Backups
        6. Keeping Multiple Backups
        7. Off-Site Backups
        8. Backing Up a Small Network
          1. Network Backup Approaches
          2. Special Considerations
        9. Joe's Recommended Basic Strategy
          1. Duplication Strategy
          2. Versioned Backup Strategy
          3. Off-Site Storage Strategy
      5. 3. Consider Special Backup Needs
        1. Digital Photos
          1. Photo Backup Strategy
            1. Cataloging Software
            2. Photo Sharing Services
        2. Dealing with Huge Volumes of Data
          1. Video Backup Strategy
            1. Video Data Types
            2. Recommendations
          2. Strategy for Other Large Files
            1. Set Your Cost and Storage Expectations Appropriately
            2. Keep Copies of Your Original Files
            3. Back Up Active Projects
        3. Version Control
          1. Version Control for Programmers
          2. NTI Shadow for Ordinary Folk
        4. Backing Up While Traveling
          1. Traveling with a Laptop
            1. Local or Remote?
            2. Local Backups
            3. Remote Backups
          2. Traveling without a Laptop
        5. Windows Files and Volumes
          1. Windows Files Backup Strategy
            1. Boot Camp
            2. Create Versioned Backups from a FAT32 Partition
            3. Create Versioned Backups from an NTFS Partition
            4. Create and Restore Duplicates of an NTFS or FAT32 Partition
          2. Virtualization Software
      6. 4. Choose Your Hardware
        1. Hard Drives
        2. Hard Drive Virtues
          1. Does Size Matter?
          2. Choosing a Hard Drive
        3. Raids
          1. Why You Might Care about a Striped RAID
          2. Why You Might Care about a Mirrored RAID
        4. Optical Media
          1. Recordable CDs
          2. Recordable DVDs
          3. Optical Media Longevity
          4. Final Thoughts on Optical Drives
        5. Network Storage Devices
          1. NAS Devices
          2. Time Capsule
          3. NDAS Devices
          4. SAN Devices
        6. Local Network Servers
        7. Internet Backup Services
          1. Traditional Internet Backup Services
          2. Modern Internet Backup Services
          3. BYOS (Bring-Your-Own-Software) Internet Backups
          4. iDisk
          5. Transport
          6. Internet Backup Services: Pros and Cons
        8. Hardware You Shouldn't Consider and Why
        9. Joe's Hardware Recommendations
      7. 5. Choose Your Software
        1. Backup Software Features
          1. Duplication
          2. Scanning Methods
          3. Sources and Destinations
          4. Rolling Backup Features
          5. File Format, Compression, and Encryption
          6. Sub-File Updating
          7. Deduplication
          8. Selectors and Exclusions
          9. Snapshots and File Lists
          10. Ease of Restoration
          11. Restoring a Full Versioned Backup as a Bootable Volume
          12. Ease of Use
          13. Support and Reputation
          14. Price
        2. Noteworthy Software
          1. Apple Backup
          2. Backblaze
          3. Carbon Copy Cloner
          4. ChronoSync
          5. CrashPlan
          6. Data Backup
          7. Jungle Disk
          8. QRecall
          9. Retrospect
          10. SuperDuper
          11. Time Machine
        3. Joe's Software Recommendations
          1. For Duplicates…
          2. For Versioned Backups…
          3. For Off-Site Backups…
      8. 6. Set Up Your Backup System
        1. Test Hardware First
        2. Partition Hard Disks
        3. Install and Test Software
        4. Label Media and Files
        5. Set Up and Create Your First Duplicate
          1. Set Ownership on the Destination Volume
          2. Configure Your Duplication Software
          3. Make a Duplicate
        6. Test Your Duplicate
        7. Set Up and Create Your First Versioned Backup
        8. Test Your Versioned Backup
        9. Automate Your Backups
        10. Mind Your Media
          1. Recycling vs. Long-Term Archives
          2. Off-Site Storage
        11. Restore Data from a Backup
          1. Repair or Erase Your Disk
          2. Restore a Duplicate
          3. Restore a CD/DVD Duplicate onto a Hard Disk
          4. Restore Versioned Backup Files
      9. 7. Configure and Use Time Machine
        1. Check Your Version of Mac Os X
        2. Set Up Your Time Machine Hardware
        3. Choose a Destination
          1. Find Missing Volumes
        4. Exclude Files from Time Machine
          1. Items to Consider Excluding
        5. Restore Data with Time Machine
          1. Restore Files and Folders in the Finder
          2. Restore Files and Folders Using Spotlight
          3. Restore Data within Applications
            1. Address Book
            2. iPhoto
            3. Mail
          4. Restore Files from Another Time Machine Backup
          5. Restore a Disk Using Time Machine
          6. Restore Files without Time Machine
        6. Delete Files from a Time Machine Backup
          1. Delete an Entire Snapshot
          2. Delete All Instances of a Single File
        7. Use a Single Backup Disk with Multiple Macs
        8. Use Multiple Backup Disks with a Single Mac
        9. Manage Your Time Machine Schedule
          1. Run Time Machine Manually
        10. Avoid (or Solve) Time Machine Problems
          1. Remount Network Volumes
          2. Avoid Conflicts with Virus Scanners
          3. Find Out What Time Machine Is Really Up To
          4. Avoid Running Time Machine When Applications Have Large Files Open
          5. Understand Limitations of Time Machine with FileVault
          6. Purge Deleted Applications from Time Machine
          7. Convince Time Machine to Use the Right Disk
        11. Live Dangerously: Hack Time Machine
          1. Modify the Hourly Backup Interval
          2. Use Unsupported Network Volumes
          3. Increase Wireless Network Throughput
      10. A. Unix-Based Backup Systems
        1. Understand Copying Issues
        2. Create (or Borrow) a Script
          1. Scripts for Bootable Duplicates
          2. Scripts for Versioned Backups
        3. Schedule a Command-line Backup
        4. Final Thoughts
      11. Glossary
      12. About This Book
        1. About the Author
        2. Author's Acknowledgments
        3. Shameless Plug
        4. About the Publisher
        5. Production Credits

    Product information

    • Title: Take Control of Mac OS X Backups, Fourth Edition
    • Author(s): Joe Kissell
    • Release date: September 2009
    • Publisher(s): Take Control Books
    • ISBN: 9781615420049