When you do n’t back up your data , you pick out to live life on the edge . A hefty power surge , faulty software system update , rampant virus , or Godzilla - like toddler — these are just a few of the matter that could get out you with a computer that ’s incapacitated or damage beyond repair . But what sort of media should you employ for storing your backups ? You have numerous options , depending on your needs , preference , and budget .
Hard drives
gruelling drive cater degenerate backups and restores , and extraneous drives can be moved offsite for safe warehousing . But they can also be pricey . Hard drive are the only veridical pick for bootable backups or backing up a connection , and they ’re ideal for archiving oft used file when you ’ve schedule the backups to occur every daytime .
you may buy external drive with almost any compounding of USB 2.0 , FireWire 400 , FireWire 800 , and Serial ATA ( SATA ) user interface . most all Macs with a FireWire port ( including every model sold within the retiring few class ) can bring up from an external FireWire 400 drive , make that the lowest - common - denominator choice . If you have a high - end Mac with a FireWire 800 larboard , you ’ll get faster performance from a FireWire 800 thrust , but you ’ll yield a bit more .
SATA , a high - speed motorbus technology , is the firm of these interfaces , but to thieve up an outside SATA drive to your Mac , you ’ll ask to add an adapter using a PCI card ( for Power Macs and Mac Pros ) , a PC card ( for PowerBooks ) , or an ExpressCard ( for MacBook Pros ) .
Only Intel - based Macs can boot from a USB 2.0 drive , but drives with only USB interface tend to be less expensive than those with FireWire . Note , however , that OS X 10.4 comes in two freestanding versions — one for PowerPC and one for Intel . If you create a bootable computer backup on an Intel - based Mac , you ca n’t use that to boot a PowerPC - based Mac ( and vice - versa ) . This limitation may go away with OS X 10.5 Leopard .
Optical media
Recordable DVDs are inexpensive but transmit data point much more slowly than punishing drives , making them a skillful alternative for single file that change infrequently , such as your photo or medicine collection . I urge recordable standard candle only for those without SuperDrives ; their limited capacity mean you ’ll spend a long time feed in discs and waiting for backup to finish .
Local network storage
If you want to store data file from multiple computers on your web — without setting up a computer to play as a single file server — you’re able to corrupt a web - bond storage ( NAS ) twist , commonly know as a net hard drive . Available in both wired and wireless varieties , a NAS twist is essentially a hard effort with a web interface and a minimalist work up - in server — no computer required . plough it on , configure it via a web internet browser ( setting up individual user accounts and entree rights , if you wish ) , and any computer on your web — Mac or microcomputer — can store and read file on the saucer . Some NAS gadget use the SMB ( Samba ) file share-out protocol , which is the norm on Windows and also supported in OS X , some utilize AFP ( Apple Filing Protocol ) , which is the norm on Macs , and some proffer both ( as well as , in some cases , FTP and other protocol ) .
NAS is increasingly popular , and for ordinary web file storage , it ’s often an fantabulous selection . For patronage , however , you should be aware of a few limitation . First , you ca n’t feed server - found backup package on the NAS machine itself , so each computing machine on your mesh must ladder its own , individually configure championship curriculum . Second , you broadly ca n’t use a NAS twist to hive away bootable backups , because you ca n’t select a conventional electronic web volume as your startup phonograph record in OS X. And third , some NAS gadget utilize older version of the SMB or AFP communications protocol that impose a 2 GB limit point on individual file size . This limitation can cultivate up , for example , when using a backup program that lay in all your files inside a single large archive filing cabinet . For all these reasons , I consider NAS devices less than ideal for connection reliever . NAS gadget are useable from producer such asLaCie , Linksys , andMaxtor , among many others .
Another class of web memory is SAN , or storage area mesh . Whereas a NAS gimmick is basically a surd drive with a meshwork interface , SAN typically uses much high-pitched - bandwidth user interface , such as Fibre Channel or Ultra320 SCSI , to bond an array of drives to one or more computers . ( Apple’sXsan softwareis a prominent example . ) SAN put up extremely gamey throughput for tasks such as video redaction and 3D rendering , but it ’s overkill for day - to - day backup applications .
Internet storage
Internet storage of any sort has one huge advantage : your data is stored safely offsite , without your own to go to any supererogatory effort . It ’s also accessible remotely , so you’re able to both back up and restore data even if you ’re away from your dwelling house or post . So net backup man are an attractive choice for people who spend a lot of time on the road , and they make an excellent supplementation to conventional backups for just about anyone .
However , keep in mind that Internet backups can be extremely slow , even with a relatively fast broadband connexion . In addition , you ca n’t get a bootable musical accompaniment by copying your file to a remote host — nor would you want to if you could , because of the slow speed and the high cost of storing so much data . At most , you ’ll require to salt away your user folder online — and more likely , only a subset of that folder that excludes music and other large filing cabinet ( see Easy Mac Backups ) . Also , by using any of these services , you put yourself at the mercy of the connection ’s availability : if you ca n’t reach the host that has your data on it when you need it , your musical accompaniment is useless to you .
If you ’re a. Macmember , Apple’sBackup , as well as most other backup programs , can store information on your iDisk . But there are two catch . First , by default , you have a uttermost of 1 GB of storage place ( which must be shared with your .Mac e - mail report ) . you may promote to as much as 4 GB ( for anadditional fee ) , but that still is n’t much repositing distance . secondly , Backup does not encrypt data sent to your iDisk , and hackers could conceivably intercept it during transmission . ( Some other backup programs , include Retrospect , Data Backup , and Tri - Backup , can encrypt file before hive away them on your iDisk . )
Two Internet - based backup serving offer OS cristal clients that handle the intact backup summons ( encrypt your data before sending it over the Internet ) and enable you to hive away as much information as you need to . BackJackoffers 2 GB of storage for $ 12.50 per calendar month , with extra outer space uncommitted at $ 2.75 per gigabyte ( with volume deduction available).Prolifixcharges $ 10 per calendar month for 500 MB of storage or $ 29 per calendar month for 8 GB , with intermediate and high pick uncommitted as well .
A unexampled overhaul from Amazon.com calledAmazon S3 ] provides on-line memory at a much low cost : $ 0.15 per G per month , plus a filing cabinet transfer fee of $ 0.20 per gigabyte uploaded or downloaded . After contract up for the service , you secure your user options into a free curriculum calledJungleDisk , which enable you to bestride the S3 storage space as a electronic internet volume that any backup program can save to and understand from . Unfortunately , several limitation in the S3 system make it less than idealistic for back up your Mac mighty now , and no current OS XTC backup software tolerate it directly . However , this is something to keep an centre on : it could become much more useful in the future .
