Need good strategy for backup on Mountain Lion

etresoft wrote:

If you want something even simplier and more reliable, then use Time Machine.

I question that assessment, but don't want to start a war. IMO, SD! is similar enough to CCC that a scheduled incremental backup to a clone on an ext HD with a restored Recovery HD is superior to and more reliable than relying on TM, no matter that Apple includes it, but couldn't wrap its head around the defunct Backup app. I rely solely on bootable clones since you don't have to restore them to assure viability.

Just my

Chacapamac wrote:

The goal of a backup, to me anyway, is to be able to recover a fast as possible your complete system and restart your work even if I got a complete drive failure.

It is important to focus on what your specific goals are. My primary goal is a backup system that runs without me having to do anything to make it happen. I also like having multiple backups because that is useful for accidental deletions. I don't know about you, but I am usually my worst enemy. I am more likely to fail than my hardware. My hardware actually fails pretty rarely so I don't care about fast recovery. Ergo, I like Time Machine.

If fast recovery is your primary consideration, then perhaps you should consider a RAID solution. That would be the fastest possible recovery because you can lose drives without failure. There is still a possibility of complete failure, but it is much more remote.

Obviously Time Machine is not that.

No. Time Machine assumes that most recovery is due to accidental deletion. If you need a full recovery due to hardware failure, then you are expected to have to burn some hours recovering your system.

However, the truth is that a clone isn't any different in that respect. If you have a hardware failure, the last thing you want to do is start running from your backup. Then you have no backup. That seems like a worst case scenario. Even with a clone, you are going to have to set aside those same hours to burn a new backup at some point. To say that a clone is a better backup solution because it gets you to a point where you are running from your backup with no other backup seems self-contradictory.

So far I can see Time Machine more like a trash recovery system than a complete backup solution. I’m right?

And if I guess right that Recovery partition is probably not really usefull for drive failure...

Time Machine isn't an instant recovery system but it is a complete backup solution. It has its own recovery partition.

etresoft wrote:

Time Machine isn't an instant recovery system but it is a complete backup solution. It has its own recovery partition.

The problem I find with TM is the difficulty involved in testing your backup without recovering to a new volume, this, and only this is why I don't use it.

An incremental clone daily and a real time backup of my data folders means that I can recover from a dead drive, or even a stolen computer in minimal time. Any data that changed between clone and present is automatically resaved on my machine at boot. My files (on the clone and online) are stored in thier original format with their original paths.

TM is good, but as a sole backup method it has issues.

Chacapamac wrote:

The goal of a backup, to me anyway, is to be able to recover a fast as possible your complete system and restart your work even if I got a complete drive failure.

Obviously Time Machine is not that.

I don't know what responses you received would cause you to draw that conclusion. TM certainly can recover a complete system in the event you need to replace a HD. I have done this many times.

It is a good idea not to rely upon one and only one backup strategy anyway.

Murphy's Law dictates that whatever you are relying upon to recover from a disaster won't work when you need it. Test your recovery plan once in a while to increase the likelihood that it will.

CCC will be my backup strategy.....

Any backup strategy is better than none.

CCC is a fine choice. So is TM. I use both. Use what works best for you.

The CCC/TM combination is a good choice.

I also work from home so I share your concerns. FWIW, here's my strategy:

I use Time Machine full-time to backup main startup drive to 1st gen. Time Capsule, excluding Downloads folder.

I keep a clone of startup drive on a different drive which is updated monthly.

Finished projects and other unneeded files are transferred to a separate Archive drive to free space on main drive and in TM backups.

I verify (and repair if necessary) all drives weekly, checking SMART status, and replace directory with Disk Warrior on all drives monthly.

I have never needed to do so, but in testing TM recovery it has never failed in individual file recovery, application recovery or complete volume recovery including OS.

Works for me.