You need a data disaster recovery plan. We all do. How about a way to recover a previous version of a file when you screw up the current version? 
What happens to your irreplaceable data if the office is flooded or lost in a fire?
Of course, disaster isn’t the only concern about file management. You also may need a way to share files with with others, and, increasingly, we have multiple devices and want to sync files among them.
There are so many different ways to backup, sync, and share the work we do on our computers that it can be difficult to remember where our backups are or why we chose to use a particular system. Part of the problem is that there are so many different systems claiming the ability to either backup or share our files, yet these system don’t all have the same goals nor the same way of achieving the goals they have.
Let’s review the different requirements you might have:
- Collaborate: document sharing with co-workers to easily work on the same files.
- Sync: Access documents from among multiple computers and devices (computer, phone, tablet).
- Time travel: The ability to recover older versions of a file.
- Whoopsie: Recover files that were (intentionally or erroneously) deleted.
- Meltdown: Restore the operating system after a problem (virus, hardware failure)
- Catastrophe: Protect/recover files in case of disaster (fire, storm, theft).
Most software solutions address some of these objectives but, alas, none do it all. Here’s a review of some of the different options.
System backup software
This solution takes an “image” of your hard drive, thus allowing individual files, as well as your complete operating system, to be restored. The first backup is a full backup. Then “differential” backups are created which record only what has changed since the previous backup.
A downside is that too many differential backups based on a single master backup image could take a very long time to restore a file. That’s because the software must trace and calculate the changes that have been made through each differential backup starting at the original full backup.
The backups are stored (often) in a proprietary compressed format. The good news is this takes less disk space that the original. The bad news is if you lose everything except your backups, you might have to purchase the software again just to recover your files.
Because this type of software stores the files on some local or network drive you have access to you, it is only as safe as that drive. If the drive is in your office and your have a fire, then you have no backup. You are supposed to move your backup drive off site to a safe location if you want an effective disaster plan; most people don’t do that.
Another minor problem with this system is you are locked into the operating system you are using. If your hard drive suffers severe corruption caused by malware, should you decide it’s time to switch from Windows to a Mac or even Linux, you’re out of luck.
Examples of this type of backup software are Aconis True Image (Windows) and Apple’s Time Machine.
Desktop Sync Software
You could manually “sync” files by dragging them between local drives or folders. If you want to sync files on another computer, including a distant server, you could use FTP. And if you’re a real techie, you could write a script that would automate the process, perhaps using rsync (if you’re on a system that includes rsync or know how to get it on Windows). Geeks might do this sort of heavy lifting, but “normal” people? These aren’t user-friendly, automated solutions, which is necessary if you’re going to systematize the process.
Thankfully there are many free and commercial solutions available to make it easy for mere mortals to sync their files. One of the best is GoodSync. It has a limited free version but you can pay for a version that gives you unlimited sync jobs. Like rsync it can transfer only the changed bits. Even better, it’s a cross-platform solution and can transfer to / from just about any system.
The first thing I recommend if you want to use this type of sync system is to designate a file location (perhaps a server) that is your “master”. Then, all other computers and devices are set to sync between the master and the devices.
GoodSync can also be used to make one-way backups and to keep files at the destination that have been deleted at the source.
Microsoft has a sync solution and you can find free open source solutions that will sync files as well. Microsoft will only sync to/from Windows. Also, some of these other syncs are missing advanced connection tools such as SFTP that allow you to connect securely to servers.
The advantage of this type of sync is your files are stored as copies of your original. You don’t need special software to access one as long as you can connect to the drive where the sync stored the file. The disadvantages of syncing are the files are not compressed – it takes about the same space to store them one place as at the original location. Another disadvantage is this isn’t good for operating system recovery. The Windows registry, databases and most essential operating system (OS) hidden files won’t be backed up.
Online Sync and Sharing Solutions
Online sync and sharing is one of the most popular solutions to syncing. DropBox, Box, Google Drive, Microsoft SkyDrive, and iCloud are all variations on cloud storage that can sync with your computers and devices. Some like iCloud and SkyDrive have less usefulness if all your devices or systems aren’t from either Apple or Microsoft. The advantages and disadvantages are the same as for desktop sync. The main advantage is if disaster strikes, your offsite backup is secure in the cloud, accessible from anywhere.
A minor disadvantage is that if you are syncing to a phone or tablet with limited storage you can quickly fill up your device. Companies like DropBox allow you to make rules regarding which files sync to your device(s), allowing you to exclude items you’re not likely to need on your phone of tablet. That is, the files aren’t just in the cloud, they are on each of your computers and devices included in the sync plan and taking up space on each of them.
Another consideration if you want to use this for backup is how much space you have for backups. You can buy extra space but some of these services charge quite a bit if you need to backup a large number of files. The good news here is that typical business document files don’t take that much space.
These solutions enable you to share a folder or a link to a file with family, friends or colleagues. Sharing a link to a single file has no penalties but sharing a folder first requires the receiving person have an account with the same service. The files you put in the shared folder count against both your storage limit and the storage limit of the person you’ve shared them with.
Online Backup
Backup software that runs on your computer but stores the backup in the cloud is great way to make sure you have an automated disaster-recovery plan. The decreasing cost of this type of storage is making the storage of large backups economical. The plans are generally different for individual users or families compared to those for businesses. I’m currently evaluating CrashPlan Pro for our business, but they also have a $6 per month family plan for up to 10 computers for home use.
Some of these services offer file sharing as well as backup options. Crashplan also offers a free backup solution where you backup your files to a local drive. That doesn’t solve the disaster recovery problem but it can help you to evaluate their software.
Conclusions
No one system covers all needs. We just switched to Macs in our office and here are the systems we are currently using:
- We’re using Apple’s Time Machine software to backup our computers to a Time Capsule network drive. This system will allow recovery of both the OS and files, but (even at 2 TB) eventually space will run out and old backups will begin to be deleted to make room for newer backups. So it’s not a permanent archive for documents, just long term backup that will allow us to retrieve older documents.
- We use DropBox to share files with external collaborators. These shared files count against the storage limit of everyone who is sharing the folder.
- We use a shared network drive to share files internally between ourselves. GoodSync can keep certain folders synchronized.
- We use Crashplan Pro for long-term, offsite file backup. This saves copies of everything, including deleted files. We pay a monthly fee for this: the plan we have charges by the number of computers not the amount of storage we use.
On-site and off-site backup is the essence of a disaster recovery plan. On one hand, you need to be able to quickly restore files when someone accidentally hits the delete key. But you also need to be able to recover all of your business-critical data if the unthinkable happens. Imagine the recent devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy and you can understand the importance of such a belt-and-suspenders-approach to data back up.
Do you have a comprehensive plan to recover your data?
