How I Back Up My Computer

How I Back Up My Computer

Backing up your computer will let you recover pictures/music/videos/documents/etc. after your computer dies or has to be recovered due to system corruption, ransomware, etc. I am a professional system adminstrator. Backups are critical for doing business. I remember one manager who only wanted to pay for restores but not backups. Sigh.

I have a dual boot system with both Linux and Windows on it. I normally live on the Linux side. I use Windows almost exclusively for TurboTax. I’m looking for a substitute so I can get rid of Windows completely.

Windows
- Local disk image backup - AOMEI disk image
- Local files backup - AOMEI system backup
- Offsite files backup - Carbonite
Linux
- Local disk image backup - gnome-disk-utility
- Local files backup - tar and pgzip
- Offsite files backup - deja-dup and pCloud. My pCloud file structure is ~/pCloudDrive/backup at least dayly. Once a month I trigger a full backup after the local disk image and local files backup. Deleting all the backup files from the pCloud drive will trigger a full backup.
```
find ~/pCloudDrive/backup -type f -exec rm ″{}″ \;
```

Local backups take two usb drives. They are rotated. The most recent backup goes into a fireproof box or in a safe-deposit box at the credit union. Bank/Credit Union is best. Disk image backups at least evsery two weeks. Offsite files backup daily.

#!/bin/bash

OUTPUT_DIR=/media/$LOGNAME/5GB_USB_Drive
OUTPUT_FILE=$OUTPUT_DIR/all_my_files.tgz

cd /home
if [[ -d $OUTPUT_DIR ]]; then
	tar -cvf - --one-file-system --sort=name . |pigz -k -9 -p32 2>/dev/null >$OUTPUT_FILE
	echo $?
else
	echo "please plug in the external usb drive"
fi

I've had to recover a dead drive. Only one of the three backups was successful. Not sure why. But I was able to restore everything. No data lost! Note: the fireproof box needs to be able to stand fire for two hours! It’s more expensive but worth it.

You can also burn the pictures/videos to multiple dvds or store them on a cheap (as in slow) usb drive. Give the dvds or usb drive to a friend for safety. Unless you are in California this should work, since both of your houses might burn down. Not making a joke here.