I’ve blogged before about the importance of backing up your data. Since I organize all my genealogy files (as well as almost all of my business and personal files) digitally, a back up is essential. In this post from earlier this year, I detailed how I back up my hard drive to the cloud and to an external hard drive.
My back up was put to the test last Friday when my MacBook Pro stopped working. While I was using it, it turned itself off and refused to come back on. I called AppleCare (thankfully, it’s still under warranty) then went to the Genius Bar at the Apple Store where they spent two fruitless hours trying to revive it. So now it’s on its way to the Apple repair shop. Unless I decide to purchase a new MacBook with the intention of returning it (something I might end up doing), I will be without a computer for at least a week.
My husband has an iPad Pro that he’s letting me use. It has a keyboard case and I can also connect my Bluetooth mouse to it. I’m grateful for that, but the iPad has limitations. The whole thing is a hassle. But it’s nothing like the panic I would be experiencing if I did not have an automatic backup routine in place.
Since I back up to the cloud via BackBlaze, I am able to cherry pick files to download to the iPad. So I’m able to use key spreadsheets and documents to keep my business going. I have Reunion Touch on my iPhone so I can easily access my genealogy database and source documents. (The truth is that I’m not doing much research, though. Since everything else is taking me so much time to do I have no spare time.)
My backup routine has turned a potential calamity into an inconvenience. If you’re not backing up regularly, I hope this cautionary tale is enough to get you to start!
Edited to add: I received my computer back from Apple on Thursday (only two days after I originally wrote this post). The logic board was replaced and an updated operating system installed, which meant that I had to restore all files from my back up. My Time Machine back up on my external hard drive made that so easy. I was able to initiate the transfer of those files with one click and they were installed overnight. I was happily surprised to learn that the back up had been updated during the hour that my computer was plugged into the hard drive before it crashed. So I had an up-to-date backup.
My takeaway: Having both the Time Machine back up on an external hard drive and a cloud backup on BackBlaze is what allowed me to weather this situation without too much trauma or inconvenience.
Photo by Dallas Reedy on Unsplash
Ouch, Janine. I’m so sorry that’s happening to you, and I hope your baby will be home soon.
Thank you, Marian! And thanks for the chuckle.
I have a stand alone external drive that I leave plugged in all of the time. Will that keep me safe or do I need cloud backup?
Thanks for your advice!
In my particular case, an external hard drive backup would not have been as helpful. I too have one and it’s always plugged in when my computer is at my desk. But with my computer in the shop, I can’t access it and I’m not able to access it with the iPad. Also, since I have been traveling, the back up on my external hard drive is 10 days out of date. So I was really glad I had the cloud back up.
If you have a spare computer to use in the event of a crash, an external hard drive might be enough. But external hard drives do fill up and they do fail. So I’m glad I have a cloud backup.
Glad to hear your BackBlaze saved the day. I do digital scrapbooking and am the holder of all the family photos from 3 generations so it gives me peace of mind to use BackBlaze.
Agreed! That peace of mind is priceless.
I have Backblaze but am unsure how you can access and cherry pick what you need. Can you elaborate on that?
Thank you!
Sure! I clicked on the Backblaze icon at the top of the screen on my Mac (or, I think, in the Backblaze app on the iPad) and then clicked on Restore Files. I logged in and then selected Download (Free) under Choose Method. Then I scrolled down a bit until I saw my folders. Since I knew what I files I was looking for, I entered pertinent words in Search and they came up. Then I highlighted the files I wanted and clicked Download. It’s really easy!
When it came time to restore my entire backup, I used Time Machine because with Backblaze a download would have taken absolutely forever so they would have mailed me a drive of some sort for a fee. So I learned having both Time Machine and Backblaze was really helpful for this particular situation.