flpatriot*

I have a confession to make: I do not currently have a backup system. The main reason for this is probably coming from worlds where junk accumulates rapidly (Windows) and everything lives online anyway (the cloud). But it's not acceptable in my current life as a novice Mac developer. Today, I will back up my files.

The question now becomes, “how?”, but as it turns out, this is highly dependent on how one works. Currently I'm desk-bound, with a Mac mini as my primary/only computer, but I'd like to be using a MacBook Air in the near future, with never working at a conventional desk again being something of a goal. As such, things that would work well now, like an external hard drive directly connected to my computer, won't in the near future. As a minimalist, I'm not a big fan of disk clones, as the cruft that accumulates inside a system is carried from one disk to the next.

What I really want is to make sure my data is just a sync away from being back on my machine. Fortunately, there are some useful tools that make this quite easy.

• GitHub: almost definitely the best code sharing site in existence. Push changes when a connection is available, and everything will always be a pull away. The complete replication of data on both ends is definitely desirable from a reliability standpoint.
• MobileMe is very much maligned as a service for fanboys, but so far as I can tell, quite reliable since last summer's meltdown. Syncing my entire digital identity without cables is a huge win. iDisk and a project I'm working on are actually a pretty good solution for documents.
• Photos/Video: Flickr is pretty much the best way of posting these. I imagine longer-form videos will be posted to Vimeo, should I ever make any.
• iTunes library: the current strategy is to keep my collection small and on my iPod touch (soon to be iPhone) at all times. This doesn't scale well for movies, and I'm honestly not sure what to do about that. Perhaps a Netflix subscription, or more judicious use of iTunes rentals.
• eBook library: This is a known unknown. I've yet to acquire an eReader device, and as such, my library is small. Kindle's “don't worry about it” is somewhat worrisome, especially with some rumblings that there is a strict limit on the number of times a book can be downloaded. Barnes & Noble’s new service has very limited selection, and little is known about the devices it will support. I honestly can't think of a good choice in this area.

Perhaps the most gaping hole in this strategy is around my iTunes library. It'd be very expensive to replace everything, but the only way that could happen is if both my computer and phone were stolen. There are definitely some other chinks in the armour, though, so a strategy for backing up ‘everything’ ;is clearly in order. I'm torn between using Time Machine with either a local disk or Time Capsule, and subscribing to an offsite backup service like Backblaze, which promises unlimited storage for $60 per computer per year. Perhaps I'll use both, just to be sure.