If you're like me, you probably spend a great deal of time using your Mac. From checking email, working with photos, surfing the web and paying bills to writing posts just like this, my Mac serves me well in so many ways. Using it every day as I do, I tend to create a massive amount of files, photos, emails and all of the other items that go along with daily Mac use.
The items that are created, modified and used every day are very important. So, to make sure I have access to them and that nothing bad happens to them, they need to be backed up so they're safe no matter what. But even though I know these files, folders and more need to be backed up, how do I do it in the most simple, effective and least time-consuming way?
Fortunately, there are several solutions available to Mac users to help ensure that their precious data is preserved. Most are simple to use and all provide an automated backup solution that once set up, doesn't rely on the user to make sure it works -- it all happens automatically on a particular schedule.
But which solution to choose? Here are the three simplest, cheapest and most reliable backup solutions for your consideration:
A little over a year ago we wrote about back up purveyor Mozy's beta Mac client, and many people were quite excited. Time passed, the seasons changed, and the Mozy folks were quiet. Quiet until today, that is. That's right, Mozy 1.0 for the Mac is now available for download.
In a nutshell, Mozy is a backup application which backs up your files to Mozy's servers. As you might guess, this requires the use of the Internet, and perhaps just a little magic. The backups are encrypted, so you don't have to worry about someone peeking at your files or taking some of your MP3s for their own collection. Mozy also ships with 'Backup sets,' which are predefine file locations and the like to make backing up easier. For example, the iTunes Library Backup Set will target your (shockingly) iTunes library, while the Desktop Backup Set makes sure all the files on your Desktop are backed up. You can even create Backup sets of your own, which I did to backup only those items that I bought via the iTunes Store.
The application itself is free because Mozy makes their money charging for the storage your back ups use. A free account will get you 2 gigs of back up space, while $4.95 per month will get you unlimited space (and if you pay for a year or two in advance you get a few months for free).
I signed up for a free account and took Mozy for a spin. Overall, the application is just what you want from a backup app: unobtrusive and easy to use. The downside to Mozy, and this is true of any system that backs up over the network, is speed (I know that the topic of upload/download speeds is fertile ground, but that discussion is outside the scope of this post). I backed up 1.4 gigs using Mozy and it took 4.5 hours.
Check out this gallery for lots of screenshots of Mozy, as well as a look at how one restores files from back up.
iCal is great for storing your calendars and appointments, but what if you want to export (or backup) your calendars in case of a data emergency? Well, you could backup your calendars manually; however, AppleScript is so much cooler. Let's automate the backup of iCal calendars through the use of an AppleScript.
It's compatible with 802.11 A, B, and G, and comes either as a self install kit or an installation service. Or, if you don't have a Time Capsule just yet, you can order one from Quickertek with the antenna pre-installed. It comes with a good amount of cable so you can spend your weekend obsessively placing and replacing it in your home until it's just right. So that will be fun.
The 500GB self-install kit is $129.95US, and the service is $200US. Prices are the same for the 1TB version kit and service. If you want to do it all in one fell swoop, you can order a 500GB Time Capsule + pre-installed kit for $500US, or $700US for the 1TB version.
When picking code names for new software versions, generally you want to stay away from anything that implies mythological or "often mentioned, never seen" status -- users may get the wrong idea. That said, given the long wait that loyal Retrospect users have had for new developments on the Mac side from EMC Insignia (formerly Dantz), I'll forgive the unfortunate choice of "Unicorn" for the beta of the Retrospect client for Mac, and just get busy with the downloading (beta program signup required).
The new client beta, which also requires a patched Retrospect application, is a Universal Binary supporting Tiger and Leopard. In the run up to the Macworld-announced Retrospect X revision of the backup app (anticipated to offer both performance enhancements and feature parity with the Windows versions of Retrospect), EMC will be rolling out additional betas of both the client and application over the next few months.
Retrospect may have lost as many Mac installs as it's gained Windows adherents over the past few years, with frustration over the slow pace of innovation and compatibility on the Mac side leading users to seek alternative backup tools. Unfortunately, for cross-platform small to medium-business backup, Retro is still a leading option. With the forthcoming Retrospect X, at least the loyal Mac customers (and maybe a few new ones) may find a pot of data at the end of the rainbow.
What a difference a day makes. Yesterday I penned a post reassuring people that the Time Capsule would, in fact, be shipping on time (where on time is 'by the end of February'). We are now getting reports that people who pre-order the Time Capsule are receiving shipping notifications. See? Nothing to worry about.
Sadly, my Time Capsule is still being prepared for shipment, but it should ship by tomorrow. Soon I will not have to hang my head in shame when someone asks me about my backup strategy.
The iPhone SDK isn't the only product that is supposed to be ready for the world by the end of this month (though it looks like we'll have to wait a little longer for our iPhone SDK): Time Capsule should be available by the end of this month as well.
Time Capsule, you'll remember, is network attached storage (either 500 gig or 1TB) that is designed to work seamlessly with Time Machine. The idea is that you plunk one of these down on your network (or use it to create a wireless network) and then have all your Macs back up to it.
Many readers are asking us where the heck the Time Capsule is. Apple has a few more days before they miss their deadline, and if my order status is any indication those that ordered Time Capsules from Apple fairly soon after the announcement should see them ship on, or a tiny bit before, Feb. 29 (and they may pop up in Best Buy too).
I bet there are some people in Cupertino who are very glad 2008 is a leap year.
There are two good ways to control Time Machine; you can control it through the Dock and, as of 10.5.2, via the menu bar. Now you can control Time Machine through Dashboard. Time Machine Launcher is a dashboard widget that allows you to force a Time Machine backup, or disable/enable Time Machine on the fly. More control is always good! You can download this widget for free (donations are accepted) from the developers' website.
Pity the plight of Leopard users, who have wandered in the backup wilderness for so long, with only the ghost of H.G Wells to show them the path forward. Sure, Carbon Copy Cloner 3 has been a friend in time of need, but for those who crave a bootable clone that updates automatically and has a support team standing behind it, the long wait is over. SuperDuper! 2.5 has landed.
Dave Nanian has entertained us with the ongoing story of 2.5's road to release on the Shirt Pocket blog, including the pain and challenges of building compatibility with Time Machine's interesting new approaches to linking and storage. With backups now supporting both bootable clones to volumes shared with Time Machine (probably the perfect recovery option) and a free, works-forever trial still available (adding scheduling and smart copies costs $27.95), you owe it to yourself and your backups to give SD! a shot. We'll be testing out the Time Machine interoperability and will report back ASAP.
If you have been putting off using Time Machine to back up your Mac because of the lack of being able to time backups; you have no excuse now. As many of you already know, Time Machine does a complete system backup at first, then hourly backups of system changes. It does this until your Time Machine disk is completely full, then it erases the oldest backups and carries on.
TimeMachineEditor allows you to change the times that TimeMachine backs your system up. You can change it to once a day, week, or month; and control the times it backs up at. On the developers website, they mention that this program doesn't run in place of TimeMachine, rather, it just changes the interval that the system backs up. TimeMachineEditor is available as freeware from the developer's website or from MacUpdate.
As a word of caution, use this at your own risk, as the developer doesn't provide a way to reset the original settings of Time Machine. They also mention that the "Latest backup" time may be incorrect in the Time Machine System Preference pane.
Apple has released Time Capsule, a NAS (network-attached storage, I'll admit I'm so far from an IT guy that I had to look it up) unit that will wirelessly sync with multiple instances of Time Machine, all the while also working as an 802.11n base station (there are three included ethernet ports as well). Time Capsule has wireless backup, wireless networking, and even a USB port for networked printing, a networked hard drive, or both with a USB hub.
And perhaps most amazing is the sheer size available-- it's $399 for a 500gb hard drive, and $499 for a 1 TB hard drive. Sure, that's a little pricey if you've got only one or two computers at home, but $500 for a complete (and completely wireless) backup solution for a house full of computers is a pretty nice setup. This definitely won't cause as much of a stir as the iPhone updates or the MacBook Air today, but for someone who's been seeking a backup solution for a whole house of computers, Time Capsule has to be pretty good news.
Feature: Time Machine How it works: Plug an external hard drive into your Mac and Leopard will automatically detect it and ask if you want to enable the Time Machine back up option. Select yes, and you're done. Time Machine will automatically back up your entire hard drive but if you want to skip certain files or folders, simply tell it what to do in the preference pane.
Time Machine is also handy for that dreaded "Why did I hit delete?" moment. If you accidentally trash that presentation you've been working on the night before you need it, just flip back through the files on the back up drive until you find what you need. Apple assumes that this will happen to everyone at some point, so they'll thoughtfully provided access to Time Machine right in Finder.
Got more than one Mac? No problem. Multiple machines can be backed up onto one drive via your wireless network.
Who will use it: Anyone who hates losing files, folders, documents, or media unexpectedly. So, pretty much everyone.
One of the most visible new features in Leopard is Apple's integrated backup tool, Time Machine. Taking backups -- a chore that few people do and even fewer do correctly -- and making them one-click simple is bound to improve the lives of millions of Mac users who, despite being practically perfect in every way, sometimes delete files they don't mean to delete. (I know, painful but true.)
There is a lot of excitement about Time Machine, but also some confusion; reader Matteo wrote in from Switzerland to ask that we cover some basics for setting up Time Machine. Your wish; our command. Most of our answers are gleaned from Apple's feature page for TM, a worthwhile read.
Avast, me hearties, as Erica noted earlier, today be Talk Like a Pirate Day. We be scourin' the series of tubes makin' up this World Wide Web, hunting for buried software treasure in honor of the occasion, and here you'll find a prime piece of plunder: arRsync, a graphical front end for the UNIX rsync utility.
arRsync is only at version 0.4.1, and may not have the polish and refinement of other rsync handlers like RipCord and RsyncX, but for simple and low-impact backups it may be worth a try. Besides, where else are you going to get an icon like that? Arrr.
Bandwagon, the clever automated iTunes backup service (with a future promise of synching libraries), has certainly been making the discount news lately. Last week they whipped out a deal with DreamHost customers, and now their $24/year service is only $12 at MacZOT today only. I haven't had a chance to leave Bandwagon reliably running to get a good feel for how well it works. For the limited time I've been using it so far though, it has reliably been backing up my iTunes library to my FTP space at the steady upload bandwidth limit I set, and I'm on song 51 now.
While everyone at TUAW recommends you secure a good backup solution for all your data, Bandwagon is a great, simple option for alternatively backing up your iTunes library to FTP space that's just waiting for something to store. If you're interested though, you'd better jump on the deal because MacZOT offers discounts on each app for one day only; when they're gone, they're gone.
If you're like me, you probably spend a great deal of time using your Mac. From checking email, working with photos, surfing the web and paying bills to writing posts just like this, my Mac serves me well in so many ways. Using it every day as I do, I tend to create a massive amount of files, photos, emails and all of the other items that go along with daily Mac use.
A little over a year ago we 
iCal is great for storing your calendars and appointments, but what if you want to export (or backup) your calendars in case of a data emergency? Well, you could backup your calendars manually; however, AppleScript is so much cooler. Let's automate the backup of iCal calendars through the use of an AppleScript. 
Quickertek has produced 
When picking code names for new software versions, generally you want to stay away from anything that implies mythological or "often mentioned, never seen" status -- users may get the wrong idea. That said, given the long wait that loyal Retrospect users have had for new developments on the Mac side from 
The iPhone SDK isn't the only product that is supposed to be ready for the world by the end of this month (though it looks like we'll have to 
There are two good ways to control 
Avast, me hearties, 
