If you embrace digital organization of your genealogy documents, like I do, you know that backing up your data is absolutely essential.
I like to store my genealogy files on my MacBook Pro’s hard drive, rather than in the cloud. I back up my hard drive to an external hard drive using Time Machine. When my laptop is at my desk (where I use a 27-inch external monitor and wireless keyboard and mouse), the external drive is automatically connected when I attach my monitor. (My monitor, an HP Business Z27 , acts as a hub.) So as long as my laptop is not away from my desk, I’m backing up to the external hard drive hourly.
In addition, I subscribe to Backblaze for $60 a year. (That’s an affiliate link that I think gives us each a free month if you click on it and subscribe.) It’s set to back up over the internet continuously. So far, I haven’t experienced a hard drive crash, but I did experience a battery situation that meant that I couldn’t access my computer for a couple of weeks. I was able to identify an important file on Backblaze and download it to my phone, which saved the day. (It was my father’s 90th-birthday video!)
I also attach my genealogy documents as multimedia files to source records in Reunion, my family tree software. My Reunion files are stored in Dropbox so that they are also available on my phone. So I think that’s a third way my genealogy files are protected.
I’m curious: How do you back up your data? Please let me know in the comments. Seven years ago, I wrote a similar post to this one (and I even used the same photo). My back-up system hasn’t changed since then (beyond switching to Backblaze from CrashPlan Pro and getting a new external hard drive). I’ll be curious to see if your answers have changed! I feel good about what I’m doing, though I’m sure there is room for improvement.
Photo by Karen via Flickr. Used under Creative Commons License.
I use iDrive Cloud backup https://www.idrive.com/. It’s $79.95 per year for 5 TB, but the first year is just $7.95. One subscription covers my desktop computer, 2 laptops, my tablet and phone. Love it!
Thanks for sharing, Robin. I always like to hear about services that people love!
My system mirrors yours with one exception. I have two external hard drives attached to my iMac and Time Machine alternates backups. I’m a new 2021 subscriber to Backblaze and hope I never have to use it. The multiple layered backup system provides peace of mind that my Genealogy Do-Over is recoverable in case of hardware failure, fire, or natural disasters.
Cheri, I had never considered having two external hard drives but I can see the utility, since hard drives do fail. Thanks for sharing!
I use a series of external hard drives. Cloud backup is difficult for me as I’m on rural internet which is often too slow and crowded to use an online system. I do upload my RootsMagic database periodically to a DropBox account.
You’re so smart to use multiple hard drives since cloud backup isn’t available, Teresa. Thanks for sharing.
I also use two alternating external hard drives for my MacBook backup, in addition to Backblaze and attaching files to my Reunion software. I’ve never had a need to retrieve files yet and hopefully I never will, but I feel my files are as ‘safe’ as I need them to be.
The centerpiece of my backup strategy is cloud backup to CrashPlan, a backup service I have used for over 10 years. I use them because they provide unlimited storage and unlimited archiving of the material. I have retrieved files that were deleted over 7 years ago, but are perpetually archived on CrashPlan. They no longer offer a consumer product, but their Small Business product is US$9.95/month/computer backup. I use multiple Macs, but funnel all my backups through just one Mac Mini to control cloud backup costs. On the hardware side all my Macs use Time Machine to alternate backups between a 10TB Time Capsule and a OWC Mercury Elite Pro Dual RAID drive with two 10TB hard disks. The two OWC hard disks mirror each other in case one of them fails. All of these drives backup to CrashPlan through the Mac Mini, plus the Mini has some other external hard disks attached with older, archived files I don’t access regularly. All told I have over 25TB backed up on CrashPlan for only $10/month. Why the overkill? Because I have lost files in the past and I’m not going through it again–you shouldn’t either.
Your backup plan is wonderfully thorough, Mark, and I appreciate your sharing it! How smart of you to funnel all your backups through one device to save money on cloud backup. I was a happy CrashPlan Pro user for a number of years. I switched to Backblaze because it was less expensive with what seemed to be comparable service. (I pay $60 annually, but the price just went up to $70.)
I’m not a Mac user but PC laptop. I have a family tree on Ancestry and on Family Tree Maker. What would you suggest for external backup for FTM – Basically the program itself with all the data.
Although I prefer the Mac, I am a recovered Windows user and continue to use Windows intermittently and familiar with both the WIndows and Mac versions of FTM 2019. I really enjoy the ability to sync my online Ancestry.com trees with my FTM versions of the same trees. I do most of my data entry online at Ancestry.com and treat the FTM files mostly as backups of the online trees. As with any computer files I advocate the 3-2-1 approach to backups: 1) at least three different backups of the same computer file–on your computer’s hard drive, on an external hard drive and on the cloud, 2) backup on at least two different media–hard drive and cloud, and 3) at least one backup must be off-site, either on the cloud, in a bank safe deposit box or at a friend’s house. With the 3-2-1 approach and regular backups (at a minimum you should backup monthly), barring the end of the world (in which case, none of this matters), it is virtually impossible for you to lose all your data. Syncing with Ancestry.com essentially adds another cloud backup. Unfortunately, with Windows there is no equivalent to the Mac’s Time Machine software, but there are any number of free or inexpensive backup programs available.
Thank you for that thorough reply to Karen’s message! Speaking personally, it’s nice to be reassured by you that my backup protocol seems sufficient.