OS X Mountain Lion For Dummies

Why You Need Two Sets of Backups

You’re a good soldier. You back up regularly. You think you’re immune to file loss or damage.

My backup recommendations

I am continually testing new backup solutions, so the software I use can change from month to month. I’ve tried most of the popular backup solutions and many of the more obscure ones, but before I say anything about my current setup, here is what I’m trying to accomplish (at a minimum): I want at least three (reasonably) current backup “sets” with copies of all my files. I want to update two of them every day and keep the third somewhere offsite (in my safe deposit box at the bank). Every week or two, I swap whichever backup is at the bank for a fresh one — one of the two I update daily.

This scheme ensures that no matter what happens — even if my office burns; floods; is destroyed by tornado, hurricane, or an earthquake; or robbed — I won’t lose more than a week or two of work. I can live with that.

Note that once I set them up, all four programs run automatically in the background with no further action on my part, a feature I think of as “set and forget.”

My first line of defense, of course, is Mountain Lion’s excellent Time Machine. There’s no excuse not to use it. But although Time Machine maintains multiple copies of files, they’re all stored on the same disk. And I always say, if something’s worth backing up to one place, it’s worth backing up to three.

And so, in addition to Time Machine, I use the excellent CrashPlan ...