Edit: Another oldie but a goodie, backups are still relevant, although the available tools make it even easier to set it and forget it.
Originally posted June 10, 2008 on AIXchange
Recently I covered the topic of server backups. Though this post doesn’t pertain directly to your back-end server environment, I still think the topic needs more exploration.
How much is your data worth?
Pause for a minute and really think about it. How much is the data on your laptop worth after you suffer a disk crash and you can no longer get to it? Do you have VPN connection information, documentation, configurations, procedures, etc.? On personal machines, do you have pictures, letters, scripts and/or financial information that you might want to keep? Do you have any information stored on your machines that would need to be recreated, or would it be lost forever? Certainly you have applications loaded and configured, and your desktop is set up the way you like it.
After a theft, hardware failure or human error has occurred is the wrong time to ask yourself about your personal data backup strategy.
Many organizations offer space in a SAN environment and tell you to keep files in that shared space as it is being properly backed up on the back end. This is great when you have network connectivity, but when you’re disconnected from the network, it might not be as useful. Although cellular data and wifi coverage is good, it’s not everywhere yet, and the bandwidth to move some of these files might be an issue.
There are several methods to look into, from taking images of your hard drive with software that you can use to restore onto replacement hardware to writing scripts with cygwin and rsync. For critical data, use some of your USB thumb drives and copy information there. Look into automated tools to handle these chores if you don’t trust yourself to remember to handle it manually. Have cron send you a reminder message at appropriate intervals to be sure your data is protected.
So how much is your data worth? If your answer is nothing, then you have nothing to worry about. But if the thought of your machine no longer booting makes your heart skip a beat, now’s the time to take action.