Author Topic: Question about how you backup your Mac running WeatherCat  (Read 14557 times)

xairbusdriver

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Re: Question about how you backup your Mac running WeatherCat
« Reply #30 on: January 24, 2016, 12:05:45 AM »
I'd also recommend some more colorful cables. The mice and/or cats get pretty bored with all black! Believe me, you do not want a bored cat! It only encourages more 'investigations'! :o
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Felix

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Re: Question about how you backup your Mac running WeatherCat
« Reply #31 on: January 24, 2016, 11:45:16 AM »
The day of reckoning is nearly upon us...months ago the Farmer's Almanac pontificated that our region would see one of the five largest recorded snowstorms on record this winter while the local "professional" meteorologists pooh-poohed that forecast and said it wouldn't be cold enough for snow; rather, we'd see rain. Well, we had single digit temps yesterday morning and the daytime highs through the weekend are not expected to climb above freezing. Now if I didn't have to clear snow from the sidewalks and a long driveway, I'd be rooting for the Farmer's Almanac prediction.

Well, looks like the old Farmer's Almanac had the last say. Today from the Washington Post, "A blizzard that will be remembered for generations as one of the biggest storms in the region?s history closed its 36-hour reign in a wind-whipped fury that caused whiteouts deep into Saturday night."

I ended up with 27.3 inches of snow (2.46 inches of melted precip) over two days. This will be one I won't forget for a long time. I don't know what people without snow blowers will do...they'll be shoveling out for the next week. Even my Honda two-stage blower had all it could handle with the deep drifts. The blade on the front of my Kubota was ineffective, there simply was no place to push the snow to.

Blicj11

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Re: Question about how you backup your Mac running WeatherCat
« Reply #32 on: October 24, 2016, 05:27:05 PM »
I just want to report that after reading this thread, I started working towards an improved backup strategy. I saved my pennies and then basically followed the guidelines outlined here by dfw_pilot. In addition to Time Machine I am now cloning the entire HD from each of my three Macs to an external HD daily and rotating the external drive weekly. Once a month, one of my three external HDs makes the trip off the mountain to a fire proof safe at my daughter's house. The hardware didn't cost too much (~US$330) and the software (Carbon Copy Cloner) is extremely easy to use.

Thanks to all of you who contributed to the thread. A special thanks to dfw_pilot who graciously provided great tech support and encouragement from Hong Kong and various other places.
Blick


Weatheraardvark

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Re: Question about how you backup your Mac running WeatherCat
« Reply #33 on: October 24, 2016, 11:38:13 PM »
I have my data saved to an external drive and using Crashplan.  yeah it is over kill, but it backs up my data as well.  The wife is a writer and I have it on  her computer as well.  Used to use Mozy, but eh.. save your data.  Burn it on CDS   one it is gone, it bye bye cmu:-)
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; https://www.weatherlink.com/embeddablePage/show/8a7585dd06404bde81d5229b09f84ebb/summary

xairbusdriver

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Re: Question about how you backup your Mac running WeatherCat
« Reply #34 on: October 25, 2016, 12:30:53 AM »
Same method for both my main Mac and the mini (running WC): A weekly rotatable, daily CCC backup and an hourly Time Machine backup. The mini's externals are 2TB drives, the iMac uses a 2TB for CCC and a 4TB for TM. All drives are Western Digital Blacks. All six 2TB drives bought at the same time. One (for my iMac, of course) crashed, WD replaced it (under warranty) with the 4TB. The rotatable drives 'live' in OWC Voyager 'enclosures' for easy of swapping. The TM drives are in OWC fan cooled miniStacks. All enclosures use FW. The mini and its externals run 24/7/365. The iMac runs from 7am till 10:30pm. The iMacs externals are turned off when the machine shuts down and back on when it wakes up, their power is controlled by the Mac via the UPS.
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And the United States = The Banana system


dfw_pilot

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Awesome
« Reply #35 on: October 25, 2016, 02:09:11 AM »
Glad it worked out, Blicj11!!

dfw
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dfw_pilot

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Carbon Copy Cloner 5
« Reply #36 on: August 15, 2017, 03:04:03 AM »
Just a note to say that the excellent Carbon Copy Cloner version 5 beta has been released, and it is sweet. It will be paid upgrade from version four, and I think it's worth every penny, even after the 30-day free trial.

Make sure to make backups of all your data!

dfw
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Blicj11

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Re: Question about how you backup your Mac running WeatherCat
« Reply #37 on: August 15, 2017, 04:14:07 AM »
Thanks for the heads up. I will be upgrading.
Blick


TechnoMonkey

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Re: Question about how you backup your Mac running WeatherCat
« Reply #38 on: August 15, 2017, 02:33:33 PM »
"RAID is not a backup"

I disagree with that.  My RAID system has served me well over the years.  My iTunes is over 1.9TB, yes terabytes.  I run 4 2TB mirrors under RAID 5, which gives me 6TB of total storage.  Over the years, I have gone through several drive failures, power jabs, lightning, etc. and I have not lost one 'bit' of data and I always have a fresh 2TB mirror standing by.  I have an offsite 4TB RAID 0 backup of my Primary RAID, but the problem with that is updating and maintenance.  I'm probably a couple years behind.

And "Fault Tolerance".  Isn't that what backups are really all about?

dfw_pilot

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Raid is not backup
« Reply #39 on: August 15, 2017, 02:42:51 PM »
TechnoMonkey,

RAID is not a backup. It is for fault tolerance.

RAID is used to protect data from drive and system failure, but think of it like this: If all your data was on RAID boxes, and all those boxes were in one room, and the room burned to the ground, did you have a good backup? An other example is a RAID mirror. Deleting something off one mirror, removes it from the other mirror. That isn't backup either, it is just for fault tolerance.

Yes, I keep my backups on RAID, but it isn't a good backup strategy, it's a fault tolerance strategy to keep things running in the event of failures. That might sound semantic, but you can do much more reading about it from Lloyd Chambers here. Or read his entire RAID info here. It's fantastic reading.

dfw
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dfw_pilot

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Backups
« Reply #40 on: August 15, 2017, 02:58:12 PM »
And "Fault Tolerance".  Isn't that what backups are really all about?

I would encourage you and others to read those links I posted. They really are cool, lol! RAID was developed to help prevent data loss during drive failure, and it works really well for that purpose. Many people sleep with false security, however, thinking that they are backed up because they have a RAID enclosure or two. Off-site backup is important. Having a "history" of backup is even more important. Example: I upgrade my software to the newest version of macOS. Then I update all the copies on my RAID "backups" to what I have on my computer. Am I backed up? No way. What if there is a problem with the software and I need to revert to a backup? If all my RAID enclosures have the same update on them, I can't get back to what I had before.

Time machine is a backup with history. Time Machine on a RAID is a backup with history, that will tolerate a drive failure (or two). RAID itself isn't a backup, it's a tool to be used in a backup strategy, that includes multiple backups, and off-site backup. Cheers,

dfw
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TechnoMonkey

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Re: Question about how you backup your Mac running WeatherCat
« Reply #41 on: August 15, 2017, 03:48:59 PM »
I use the time machine for backing up my OS and Home folder.  My system is broken into four parts.  OS on the Mac Mini primary drive, Home folder on a firewire drive, time machine on the ethernet port and the RAID is on the USB port.  As I only use the RAID to deliver my music and video, USB is fast enough.

The Mac is connected to the network via Airport, but since upgrading to macOS Sierra, I may have to re-evaluate my setup or return to Snow Leopard again.  For some reason, Sierra is unable to maintain an Airport connection for more than a couple of hours.  My Weathercat uploads suffer because of that.  Never had a problem with 10.6-7-8-9-10 or 11.

xairbusdriver

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Re: Question about how you backup your Mac running WeatherCat
« Reply #42 on: August 15, 2017, 04:23:11 PM »
getting off-topic...
    How is your Airport connected to the web?
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TechnoMonkey

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Re: Question about how you backup your Mac running WeatherCat
« Reply #43 on: August 16, 2017, 06:05:05 AM »
Netgear WNDR4500 running DD-WRT is connected to the internet and hardwired to a (2nd) Time Capsule.  The Mac is wirelessly (sometimes) connected to the (2nd) Timec Capsule.

xairbusdriver

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Re: Question about how you backup your Mac running WeatherCat
« Reply #44 on: August 16, 2017, 03:51:11 PM »
OK, how is the Netgear WNDR4500 connected to the web?
What I'm trying to determine is if the Airport is getting just a WIFI connection and to exactly what. It sounds like the Airport is connected to the Netgear box only by WIFI. Is that correct?
I'm assuming the Netgear box is connected to the web via Ethernet to whatever your web service provider rents to you. Does the Netgear box have an Ethernet output that he Airport could use?
THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF COUNTRIES
Those that use metric = #1 Measurement system
And the United States = The Banana system