How are you backing up / Imaging your system???

[Muzik4Life]

I have 2 18TB JBODs with Macrium 8, just updated to X today actually. I run twice a month jobs that began with one manual primary full system backup and then incremental backups scheduled 2x/mo after that. This captures everything including library content. Ive got a little less than 3TB to work with and the last full backup took 4 hours. (USB 3)

Really not happy with Macrium switching to SaaS with NO perpetual license options. But in all fairness, they do have the strongest option on the market at present.

[lunardigs]

Nextcloud, self hosted. Love it.

[Muzik4Life]

Just to add a word of warning I've had several external drives just completely stop working over the years.

I was lucky in that I've had online copies of things and been able to find them but recently I wanted some old projects that were on an extremely drive and it was only by luck that I found copies online in a OneDrive account.

I currently have OneDrive and Dropbox, I try to copy my working project file regularly to a seperate drive, and slightly less regularly will copy to external backup.

This thread is makinge nervous and I'll probably review my backups in the very near future.

On my system I have three drives:
Win OS and apps installed
Drive for working projects, plus my bespoke samples and presets
Drive for larger sample library installs (which I have successfully moved across computers before just by copying)

The biggest pita when trying to move a computer is when plug in makers kinda force a location for presets or samples. Samples I think companies underestimated the need for a different location better.

The perfect preset location for me would be:
1) in a preset folder that I can put on a separate drive
2) also automatically stored in a subfolder, under my project folder in my DAW so it's forever saved with my project.

DAWs are getting better at storing state of a plug in,
but,
You never know when the DAW may change that format and it's no longer possible.
Two, you can't rely on it. e.g. expansion Strobe 2 just doesn't remember which preset you had loaded when using multiple instances, total pita. Thank god Bitwig has soany places you can add notes

(Oddly I'm also good at saving synth presets in a project when I'm set in a sound, I'll also save multiple variations.

However, thinking about it now, I'm terrible at doing this for my FX settings... Ooops).

My point. This is why i carry multiple backups. here is my config.

I have two USB external drives (one offline the other always on), The online drive i have Bvckup2 running an Auto cycle backing up my projects/presets twice a day (i do a lot of work/shit), The offline drive, again i use Bvckup but this time i run this Manually, Come the end of my work day if i have consumed enough space i will boot that drive a run the backup. Peace of mind.

I then have my Network backup (synology) which runs with Multiple storage pools in a raid 10 config. This is where i have dumped several images (2) of my OS drive along with daily increments backups. I have one 2TB USB drive with one copy of my OS which i always keep offline. All this currently being controller via Macrium reflect.

I also have one large USB drive which has a backup of all my samples, patches/presets i have made or collected over the years. This is always off-line.

"Why do I feel like the fridge light stays on just to watch me?" Paranoid right.....

I have learned this the very hard way, there was a time i didnt even backup , a time where i'd lost a priceless amount of work. I remember a time when i first started backing up I got the source and destination the wrong way and wiped out my own work.
I Shouldnt of admitted that one... , a time when i have deleted the wrong folder to then to find the mechanical backup itself failed.

So, when it comes to my work and keeping it as safe as possible the term paranoid does not exist.

Edit: Bvckup2.... Take a look, this software is super lightweight (Small footprint) and very very quick. Only downside is the licencing system has changed and im not so sure if they do a perpetual license anymore. And it doesnt do imaging/cloning. Has commandline so i run .bat file for very very quick access to backing up.

[Muzik4Life]

Just to add a word of warning I've had several external drives just completely stop working over the years.

I was lucky in that I've had online copies of things and been able to find them but recently I wanted some old projects that were on an extremely drive and it was only by luck that I found copies online in a OneDrive account.

I currently have OneDrive and Dropbox, I try to copy my working project file regularly to a seperate drive, and slightly less regularly will copy to external backup.

This thread is makinge nervous and I'll probably review my backups in the very near future.

On my system I have three drives:
Win OS and apps installed
Drive for working projects, plus my bespoke samples and presets
Drive for larger sample library installs (which I have successfully moved across computers before just by copying)

The biggest pita when trying to move a computer is when plug in makers kinda force a location for presets or samples. Samples I think companies underestimated the need for a different location better.

The perfect preset location for me would be:
1) in a preset folder that I can put on a separate drive
2) also automatically stored in a subfolder, under my project folder in my DAW so it's forever saved with my project.

DAWs are getting better at storing state of a plug in,
but,
You never know when the DAW may change that format and it's no longer possible.
Two, you can't rely on it. e.g. expansion Strobe 2 just doesn't remember which preset you had loaded when using multiple instances, total pita. Thank god Bitwig has soany places you can add notes

(Oddly I'm also good at saving synth presets in a project when I'm set in a sound, I'll also save multiple variations.

However, thinking about it now, I'm terrible at doing this for my FX settings... Ooops).

You couldnt pay me money to use online cloud storage lmao. Ive fallen back to managing all my local data, and I plan to build an email server at some point in the near future. I'll probably build a Mastodon server also. My multiple redundant JBODs are fine, my critical files(family stuff) are backed up in 5 local places, and my music and other data are backed up twice, or 3x for the running system and its redundant drives.

I have an archive of old plugins and drivers that would blow your mind. Firmwares, etc. Nobody is going to make me use the modern surveillance capitalist nonsense to store my files hahah helllll no. Got rid of my smartphones, etc. Not going out like that.

I thought long and hard about cloud storage but i just couldnt bring myself to do it. So yeah, i got you on this one.

[Muzik4Life]

Important stuff: manual backup with Bvckup2 to external HDD.
System drive: Rescuezilla to external HDD.

And then trash macrium.

No so fast... Looked at Rescuezilla and this doesnt have an incremental back option (unless i missed something) and when you are backing a huge system drive everyday increments are needed.

[_leras]

I thought long and hard about cloud storage but i just couldnt bring myself to do it. So yeah, i got you on this one.

Well, One Drive comes with a family ms office subscription, I hate paying a subscription but the fact is it had a bunch of stuff I thought I'd lost - so to me that is worth several years of the subscription.

Dropbox I use for file sharing on collaborations, band music and remixes.

Double back up gives me some reassurance at least.

[Muzik4Life]

I thought long and hard about cloud storage but i just couldnt bring myself to do it. So yeah, i got you on this one.

Well, One Drive comes with a family ms office subscription, I hate paying a subscription but the fact is it had a bunch of stuff I thought I'd lost - so to me that is worth several years of the subscription.

Dropbox I use for file sharing on collaborations, band music and remixes.

Double back up gives me some reassurance at least.

I got this thing about high quality recordings (vocals or samples) being sent over the internet. Still to this day when i do remix work i still require all parts to be sent to me via courier. Old habits dont die easy.

[Jac459]

I thought long and hard about cloud storage but i just couldnt bring myself to do it. So yeah, i got you on this one.

Well, One Drive comes with a family ms office subscription, I hate paying a subscription but the fact is it had a bunch of stuff I thought I'd lost - so to me that is worth several years of the subscription.

Dropbox I use for file sharing on collaborations, band music and remixes.

Double back up gives me some reassurance at least.

I got this thing about high quality recordings (vocals or samples) being sent over the internet. Still to this day when i do remix work i still require all parts to be sent to me via courier. Old habits dont die easy.

Oh man !!!
You indeed are old school.
Are you using a motorised courier or relying on homing pigeons ? :-p

More seriously, I would think that encrypting your work is anyway safer than any courier.

[SpaceCadetOnLeave]

I got this thing about high quality recordings (vocals or samples) being sent over the internet. Still to this day when i do remix work i still require all parts to be sent to me via courier.

More seriously, I would think that encrypting your work is anyway safer than any courier.

here also only couriers;
lawyers,
non disclosure stuff,
insurance sh*t,
lame passwords+hackers.

[Jac459]

I got this thing about high quality recordings (vocals or samples) being sent over the internet. Still to this day when i do remix work i still require all parts to be sent to me via courier.

More seriously, I would think that encrypting your work is anyway safer than any courier.

here also only couriers;
lawyers,
non disclosure stuff,
insurance sh*t,
lame passwords+hackers.

You are aware I guess that billions (and most certainly trillions) of dollars are travelling through networks everyday right ?

I guess hackers will target financial flows before your music .

[BobDog]

Having worked as a courier when I put myself through my degree I wouldn’t trust any of them.

In those days we used to get paid a lot more as well, probably more trustworthy.NOT!

[Muzik4Life]

Having worked as a courier when I put myself through my degree I wouldn’t trust any of them.

In those days we used to get paid a lot more as well, probably more trustworthy.NOT!

FTR i dont pay for the couriers. Just a requirement i have always have with whoever i'd remix for.

[Muzik4Life]

I got this thing about high quality recordings (vocals or samples) being sent over the internet. Still to this day when i do remix work i still require all parts to be sent to me via courier.

More seriously, I would think that encrypting your work is anyway safer than any courier.

here also only couriers;
lawyers,
non disclosure stuff,
insurance sh*t,
lame passwords+hackers.

You are aware I guess that billions (and most certainly trillions) of dollars are travelling through networks everyday right ?

I guess hackers will target financial flows before your music .

Just about holding onto old skool habits. When singles/albums where being mastered to DAT no one wanted to convert that data to digital then send it over a 56k or at best ISDN internet connection. No cloud services and emails were limited to 20mb. Back then a courier would have that at your door before an engineer would even get the job to run the conversion to digital.

Still today i have their remix material sent via courier.

[Milkman]

I have 2 18TB JBODs with Macrium 8, just updated to X today actually. I run twice a month jobs that began with one manual primary full system backup and then incremental backups scheduled 2x/mo after that. This captures everything including library content. Ive got a little less than 3TB to work with and the last full backup took 4 hours. (USB 3)

Really not happy with Macrium switching to SaaS with NO perpetual license options. But in all fairness, they do have the strongest option on the market at present.

Agreed - when I went to update, I saw this and was not pleased. However I did notice that when I clicked the small blue link at the bottom of the sales page (upgrade keys only) they did in fact offer an update to my Macrium 8 key WITHOUT subscription. It was hidden at the bottom. I went ahead and paid them the $30 for the year and to gain access to Macrium X, which was a bit faster. I did a full system (4.3TB) backup last night and it completed in less than 4 hours, as opposed to 6+ before.

I am NOT agreeable to subscription models like this and will switch to a non subscription product the second I find one I am confident in. Im an old BackupExec admin from the mid 2000s lol and Im really not confident in a lot of modern SOHO options.

[Muzik4Life]

I have 2 18TB JBODs with Macrium 8, just updated to X today actually. I run twice a month jobs that began with one manual primary full system backup and then incremental backups scheduled 2x/mo after that. This captures everything including library content. Ive got a little less than 3TB to work with and the last full backup took 4 hours. (USB 3)

Really not happy with Macrium switching to SaaS with NO perpetual license options. But in all fairness, they do have the strongest option on the market at present.

Agreed - when I went to update, I saw this and was not pleased. However I did notice that when I clicked the small blue link at the bottom of the sales page (upgrade keys only) they did in fact offer an update to my Macrium 8 key WITHOUT subscription. It was hidden at the bottom. I went ahead and paid them the $30 for the year and to gain access to Macrium X, which was a bit faster. I did a full system (4.3TB) backup last night and it completed in less than 4 hours, as opposed to 6+ before.

I am NOT agreeable to subscription models like this and will switch to a non subscription product the second I find one I am confident in. Im an old BackupExec admin from the mid 2000s lol and Im really not confident in a lot of modern SOHO options.

Dam i read this too freaking late.... Missed the super hidden blue link, they got the Best get out claws ever... "We know its small (no one can see it) but it's there".

Great minds think alike right....

Last night i decided to take up their upgrade offer of a lifetime (heard that before) subscription @ £34.99py x4 Licenses. Only because, as you mentioned, im just not confident in making an immediate switch. Been using Macrium since V6 (2016) and in all fairness it's been pretty rock solid for me but hell no to a lifetime link to SaaS when there are other alternatives.
I'm temporarily tied to this for one reason... the backing up of my OS, its huge and to having to re-install then reconfigure everything, £34.99 is a good call for the next 12months.

Please do keep me updated regards where you go and what you find over the next 12months. I'll be actively engaged in seeking until i find that suitable solution, ill obviously keep you updated if and when.