A Good Data Backup Plan
The good – It can save your bacon
The bad – It’s inconvenient, time consuming, and expensive
The ugly – Even the best plans can fail
The other day I was retrieving Pro Tools session and audio data files for a music project I’m working on. I loaded the first of four CD-R discs which held the backup data. I successfully transferred all of the data files except one audio file, which contained a recorded instrument track. The error message said that the file could not be retrieved due to data error. In other words, the file was damaged. I made note of the name of the missing file, then loaded backup disc two. This time all files were retrieved except two audio files, both containing recorded instrument tracks. The error message was the same as before. I made note of the file names and moved on. I successfully transferred all files from discs three and four without issue.
I tried retrieving the damaged files on three other computer systems, running different Mac OS versions. The results were the same, so it definitely seems these files are indeed damaged or corrupt. These CD-R discs were created almost 9 years ago, back in February 2001. The media were premium CD-R stock, considered the best available at the time. We’ve used hundreds of these same CD-R discs to store data files and have never had a problem, until now. We’ve never had an issue with the CD-R drive that was used to create these backups. I suppose having three bad files out of, I don’t know, maybe 500,000 or so files isn’t too bad. Unless, of course, the damaged files contains important data that can’t be recreated easily, or at all.
Momma Said “Never Store All Of Your Eggs In One Basket”
Fortunately, we subscribe to the theory that something isn’t safely backed up unless it’s stored on two or more different media types. I think three is the minimum. In this particular case, the files were still stored on the original hard drive, which had since been taken out of service and placed in storage. But the hard drive also had been backed up on a data DAT tape, which we used to retrieve the missing files. Whew!
But What’s The Best Data Backup Medium?
Today’s hard drives can store over a terabyte of data. So how do we back up that much data? Use multiple backup tapes? Multiple DVD-R discs? Redundant hard drives? Trust our data to some remote storage service in the Internet cloud? Remember, you must choose two (or more) backup media types to be safe. So cost can quickly become an issue.
Disaster Averted…This Time
Luckily, my backup plan worked for me. I was able to retrieve all the files I needed to work on my music project. But I have so many important data files that would be impractical, if not impossible, to recreate. So I hope all my backups will work if or when they are needed.
But I’ve generated a LOT of new data files over the past couple of years that haven’t received the full “two backups on different media” treatment. Most of the files do exist on multiple redundant hard drives. But few have been backed up to CD-R or DVD-R, and none have been backed up to tape. I guess I better get busy and back up ALL of my important data.
…jf…