A while ago, I wrote a piece about the need to backup your home computers.  After tweaking the full-backup script on my desktop today, I thought it would be useful to update the information. 

Before we get into it, I hear you say, "But Steve, I'm not technical.  I don't understand about scripts and I have a PC."  For you, I recommend either Mozy or Carbonite.  Both are "set it and forget it" systems that, for about $55 a year, will backup your computer into the cloud and keep that backup current whenever it is connected to the internet. Installation is trivial and both have excellent technical support.

I'm backing up 4 computers with four backup methods:

• Fedora Linux Desktop
  • backup of my home folder to a Linux server
  • backup of entire file system to external USB drive
• Apple MacBookPro
  • backup of entire file system to external USB drive using Time Machine
• Sony Vaio notebook (MS Vista)
  • image backup of hard drive to external USB drive
• Fedora Linux Server
  • backup of entire file system to external USB Drive

The Sony Vaio image backup uses CloneZilla.  CloneZilla is a free product that works like Symantec Ghost or other commercial image backup programs. I boot the computer from the CloneZilla CD, plug in the external USB drive, and create an image of the hard drive.  I use image backup because I'm protecting this system from a failing hard drive. The most likely restore scenario is a "bare metal restore", not a file restore.

The Linux systems use a simple rsync script for full file system backups. It's attached below. The main file, "do-backup", does the backup.  The companion file, "do-backup-excludes", excludes certain virtual parts of the file system from the backup. Restores are easy because the file system is duplicated (through 5 iterations) on the backup media.  Files can be restored by a simple copy or by using rsync.

I backup my desktop home directory to the server using a script based on rdiff-backup.  Unlike my do-backup script, rdiff-backup uses a combination of rsync and diff files to produce a backup with multiple increments. Restores from increments other than the most recent backup must use the restore functions of rdiff.

The Apple MacBookPro uses Time Machine for backup and like most things Apple, it just works.

It's been a bit over 3 weeks since I've had my iPhone 4 and it's a keeper.  That's not to say it was all sweetness. The first phone I got had issues.  I'd put it next to another iPhone 4 and compare the famous "AT&T Bars".  I usually had half the bars of the other phone.  The battery was also a bit weak... It would often drain overnight.  Apple swapped the phone at a nearby store and the new one seems to be OK.  There's still a power issue, but that traces to using push notification for two Exchange Active Synch accounts.  If I have the accounts enabled for push, the phone seems to spend a lot of time and power synching. It's almost always warm.  Since I changed the synching to manual fetch, the phone is cool and the battery lasts for days, not hours.  I wish there were some happy medium. 

The Grip-of-Death issue is real. If I hold the phone in either hand and cover the lower left corner, I can say goodbye to my AT&T signal (and whoever I might be talking to).  My free bumper case is on its way, according to a shipping notice from the Apple store.  It's going to take about 10 days to get here.  Last time the post office scanned it, it had been sent from Tennessee to Georgia on its way to Chicago.

Face Time is pretty amazing.  It works pretty much like on the commercials.  The key to using it is to hold it in front of and slightly above your face. If you hold it low, you present a double chin and give a nice view up your nostrils.  It also has a gyroscope. I'm not sure what there is to do with it yet. There's a gyroscope app, but what's the point of that?  It's bound to be integrated into something, soon.

Well, it's here.

It would have been good to have a couple more billable hours today, but I used my time to follow two live blogs (Gizmodo, Engadget) of the Event That Will Change Everything, while edging ever closer to the slippery slope of the fanboy.  I already have several faded black turtlenecks.  I may  start wearing my jeans without a belt. 

There are a few things keeping me from putting a tent up on Michigan Avenue in front of the Apple store.  The iPad doesn't have a camera.  This would be a great tool for on the go video conferencing via Skype.  It's also not clear whether it can, in fact, be used for VOIP applications.  It's also not cheap.  How much memory is really needed?  It comes with 16, 32, and 64GB at $100 for each bump from base.  And the 3G capability is another big chunk of change, even before adding $15 or $30 per month for service.

The big reason to wait is that this is version 1.  We all know that a year from now, Steve will be on stage showing off iPad 2.0 and It Will Change Everything.