World Backup Day: Is your data backed up?
Don't Be An April Fool - Do A Backup Checkup
It's time for your checkup. We promise it won't hurt.
First: Check up on your strategy. What are you trying to achieve with your backup? Are you trying to backup all the data in your experiments, or just some, or just your important findings? Do your backups need to be able to survive a major earthquake that impacted the site? Are you using the best form of technology to ensure that your data remains safe? For example, if you're still using external hard drives as backup, make sure you've evaluated some of the newer alternatives that may provide more resilient backups. Remember that file sync (like Dropbox and Google Drive Sync) are not the same thing as Backups (see more on this below).
Second: Check up on your scope. Are you actually backing up the data you want to backup? Have your experimental results moved somewhere else and you're no longer backing them up? Make sure your backup software or process is correctly backing up the files and directories and systems you need.
Third: Check up on your data. Now it's time to go do a quick spot check on your backups. Does your backup client report that it's working? Can you see recent files in your backups or in the logs provided by the backup client? Does the size of your backup correspond to the amount of data you think you've backed up?
What if I don't know the answers?
If you can't complete the backup checkup because you're using systems managed by others, now is the time to ask some questions! Find your sysadmin or another cognizant person and confirm what and how is being backed up on your behalf. Ask them to run through the backup checkup too.
Can IT Help Me Backup My Data?
You bet.
What Else Should I Know?
- Create a folder for your backup in the web interface of Google Drive (not the file browser on your computer). Make sure it's named something obvious and don't share it with anyone.
- Ensure that all your local Google Drive Sync clients are set to choose the directories you want to sync and make sure that new backup file is excluded.
- Now use the web interface or file uploader interface at drive.lbl.gov to upload files.
Provided you don't accidentally delete the files or accidentally begin syncing these files locally, this should provide a safe backup destination for your work. Need help, contact [email protected]