Friday, August 31, 2007

Tower of Hanoi

How to back up - Tower of Hanoi backup software rotation method
The Tower of Hanoi (TOH) back up rotation method is based on the ancient mathematical progression puzzle. This back-up scheme puts changed files on more than one data storage medium (backup DVD, CD, Blu Ray, HD DVD, FTP, USB) while at the same time reducing overall storage volume. File synchronization assumes that each changed file is backed up twice and recorded to two different storage media.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Backup Testimonials

Usually making backups once per 2 years (before reinstalling a Windows), I never got the point of paying for this kind of software. One can download it for free at sourceforge.net, dude, I'm not so stupid as I seem. So once my girlfriend added Simplified Chinese to my Windows XP and things could not get worst - the language tab was lost and no way even to copy my PhD. In 3 a.m. Vyatcheslav told be what to do and it did made a sense.

Used WinRAR 3.6 for all kinds of file & folder transactions for 8 years. Worked with FAR since MS DOS was the only OS. But then my boss asked me to backup our corporative website. So I tried the copy + paste combination, but out of 5001 files 2 where lost and several more damaged. Not much? Enough! After looking trough several PCWorld reviews I installed five trials and this little tool turned right on time, launching every Sunday night, for which I get an e-mail notification Monday morning in my mailbox.

Sent my letter on Sunday morning, waiting that it will take to business days from Monday onwards, so I was surprised to get the answer in two hours from the support with a flash demo attached and detailed instruction how to fix my Windows Vista issue.


Den, software engineer, 26 looking to “backup winamp settings” downloads the plugin and leaves the site. He's busy, so he’ll check the files later. Coming home he opens the downloaded archive on his Flash card and finds nothing else than a .xml file with no hint what do next.

Office Backup managed to backup my Windows XP system registry in 32 sec, it took five minutes to backup 46 389 files in My Documents folder and a week to come to the desicion to buy the AOL plugin.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Yesterday Backup Solution Song




There is no security on this earth. Only opportunity.
Douglas MacArthur

When you have experienced data loss due to a system crash or
because files have been accidentally deleted or corrupted, then
don’t worry any more - there is at least a song for you, learn it
by heart. Doen't worry and be happy.

Sing this song (author unfortunately unknown)
to the tune of Yesterday, The Beatles 3 times:

Yesterday,
All those backups seemed a waste of pay,
Now my database has disappeared,
Oh, I believe in yesterday.

Suddenly,
There’s not half the files there used to be,
Only shadows of the mirrored folder tree,
The system crashed so suddenly.

Why the format
C:/ showed up I don't know, oh no.
I pushed the big black button -
What it was I could not see.

There is no more stop, and no more play,

My Mac has gone and Linux passed away,
and I long for yesterday-ay-ay-ay.

Yesterday,
The need for back-ups seemed so far away.
I imagined, that data was here to stay,
Oh, now I do believe in data security.

Mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mm-mm.


Want to escape irrecoverable data loss in the future?
Learn more about backups. A good starting point is
Novosoft's list of features, that tells the backup story.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Wild Wild World of Data Storage

They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security said Benjamin Franklin.

It's a dangerous world--always been this way, always will remain. Backing up your sensitive data to a secure, encrypted server in a remote location is the ultimate insurance against the sinking feeling that accompanies losing something important. The ever-present need for off-site back-up is one reason online backup companies continue to thrive. Convenience plays a role as well, as you can forgo buying your external data storage devices and software to do local backups. (Keep in mind, however, that unless you have superfast upload speeds, the only practical way to do full system backups is to use an external HDD or other local back up device.)

Online backup services have an added benefit in that some provide a secure means for you to share your folders. Typically you can share files via either a communal account (so anyone with the account name and password can access it) or public folders (accessible through a Web browser). If you work from multiple locations, storing documents online obviates the need to carry those files with you, and makes them easy to pass along to colleagues at work.

Among the services we looked at, the more security-minded ones do not offer sharing, instead focusing strictly on safe file backup (file sharing could lead to accidental or malicious sharing).

After we examined more than a dozen backup services, we chose five that provided the most attractive pricing for the average user: Acpana Data Deposit Box, Connected Data Protector, FirstBackup, Pro-Softnet's IBackup, and Xdrive.

Other services we encountered--some of which are oriented more toward business users than home or small-office users--include @Backup, Amerivault, DataVault, Intronis Technologies ESureIT, Iomega IStorage Online, Novastor Online Backup Service, Register.com, and SwapDrive.