Am requesting an update on the most recent best backup practices

Q & A - getting started with Tinderbox
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Am requesting an update on the most recent backup strategies. I am running Big Sur 11.7.6 on 2017 MacBook pro. My practice is relatively unsophisticated. When I make changes to a file, I duplicate it and save the dated duplicate named “copy” at the end of the day. That file goes to Dropbox. I am also running Time Machine. Are there slick software solutions?

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Yes, I use Arq, https://www.arqbackup.com/. It is a cloud backup of my entire mac and individual directories. Saved my butt yesterday, I royally messed up a file (my fault) and was able to recover in last the 5 minutes and only lost about 20 min of work. It is simply AWESOME!!!

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I have a large external hard drive which has two partitions on it. One partition is for my Time Machine backups, and the other is used by Carbon Copy Cloner, which makes a backup at 9pm every day. Time Machine is running all the time. In addition to those, I have a subscription to Backblaze.

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Thank you.

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I start with the “3-2-1 rule”, then exceed it:

  • Maintain three copies of your data, the original and two backups
  • Have two copies on-site, the original and a backup drive
  • Have one copy offsite.
  1. My original data are on my Mac.
  2. I have a set of Samsung T5s attached by a hub to my Mac, which Carbon Copy Cloner automatically update with my photos (one T5) and Document folder (second T5) whenever the Mac is attached to the Hub.
  3. The photos and Documents are also backed up to a Synology NAS device daily.
  4. The user data on the Mac is backed up to Backblaze continually.
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Hello,

While I have backup solutions in place (NAS, external HD …). I needed a solution to control my ability to randomly jumble my TB files. My current solution is to use launchd to call a bash script that, in turn, calls a python script (enclosed) every 10 minutes.

The script will make a dated copy of each file that has been modifed since last call. It requires pre-installed Python3+standard libraries (I’m on Sequoia).

To test, you need to change the variables SOURCE and DEST.
I had to change the extension of the script to .txt to be able to upload it: change it back to .py after download.

Hope that helps.

Regards,
Launchd_File_Backup.txt (2.0 KB)

Philippe

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I use Arqbackup, https://www.arqbackup.com/. Love it.

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Thanks for pointing this out; I’ve authorized .py files for future file exchange.

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Just curious. Why “randomly jumble” one’s files?

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@PaulWalters
Sorry for the confusion (English is my second language)
What I meant was that, as a TB rookie, I have the tendency to make mistakes with my documents and realize about those mistake a bit too late.
Regards,
Philippe

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In case you happen to be familiar with version control systems, they’re the best way to do this. git is what everyone uses nowadays, and Tower is a nice Mac client. This is overkill, but if it’s already in your working vocabulary, why not?

I think it’s fine just to remember to Save As… from time to time as you’re doing scary things.

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Thanks @eastgate.
I also started using Git for Tinderbox - I have been using Fork as a client for some time but will checkout Tower.
It does not serve the same purpose though: I stage/commit before “critical changes” while I just feel safer knowing launchd watches my back every 10 minutes.
Regards,
Philippe