[GNC] Backup

[Michael or Penny Novack]

On 6/28/2023 7:18 AM, Maf. King wrote:
> Hi James,
>
> I'm Maf, not David, and I can't tell you that from here.
>
> I would suggest that on a philosophical level, if you don't *know* that your
> back-up strategy is working (and you can recover files from it at will), then
> it might be time to rethink your strategy.
>
> good luck,
> Maf.
>
And I strongly suggest that your backup strategy simply back up all your 
user data (and individually). In other words, back up the entire 
directory or directories (if not simply doing your user directory). Why?

a) It is less work to set up. Might take a bit more space, but these 
days space is CHEAP.

b) There will be no question whether some bit of data has been backed 
up. That's the risk when specifying file by file (or subdirectory by 
subdirectory). You might forget to add a new one.

c) The structure will be the same in the backup as on the computer. 
Makes it easy to find if doing a restore of just one file, etc.

d)  Relatively quick to make a second copy (of the first backup) to be 
stored safely elsewhere. For example, you might be making daily/weekly 
backups keeping the last N of them but make a second copy of the last 
each month and keep that "off site".

e) I strongly suggest you include in the name of each backup directory 
the Julian date << from a person who in my working days experienced the 
hell week when a file was restored from the wrong backup at one of the 
world's larger "financials". And what got me my second big 
bonus/recognition and being made "honorary systems support" in the 
aftermath for devising a system to prevent that from ever happening again.

Michael D Novack --- who had a house fire in 2006 that burned just the 
room computers were in but smoke/water damage affected backups kept 
elsewhere in the house. These now "live" in a fire box inside a dead 
fridge out in the barn/garage.