How I Do Backups

The topic of backup comes up often in the realm of nerds and geeks. It has been on my mind lately. I recently listened to an excellent podcast episode of the Mac Power Users called Emergency Preparedness. While not a straight talk about computer backup, it does bring to mind the idea that being prepared is more about having a plan when your normal tools aren’t available or extreme circumstances force you into action. It is better to have a plan than to not have one at all. I will talk about three different scenarios from the last couple of weeks. I was fortunate to resolve two of them and each one revealed holes in my current thinking.

I had a long business trip planned and it was a Sunday afternoon. I had started to make preparations and begin packing when I noticed my wallet was missing. I retraced my steps for the last six hours and eventually found it after checking several different locations and a few frantic phone calls. However, it was dangerously close to the time until I needed to leave. Not to mention passing through many hours of stress. The thought of not having and possibly needing to replace my wallet was a scary prospect. Many essentials are in there. Not having the wallet definitely complicates a long road trip, especially when I’m away from home for a week or longer. It’s a real risk and impediment to travel.

This event also had caused me to consider other possible scenarios. My current employer requires a fair amount of business travel. It was certainly possible that something could happen to me on one of my trips. What if I become hard to contact, got seriously sick in a strange place, or perhaps even die in some sort of freak accident? I began to ponder… What if I did die? Would those dear to me have the information necessary to know what needs to be addressed or even the access to do it? The more I thought over the matter, the more I became convinced that it was important that I want my eventual death to cause as little trouble and pain as possible. I know from personal experience that death can cause a great deal of frustration and difficulty during the time it takes to settle affairs of estate and move on.

I had another strange issue this week when working on updating some portions of my Applescript code base. I was opening each one and making some simple edits until I encountered one in particular that would simply cause the Applescript Editor application to hang. It was one that I recently created and would not respond at all for every attempt to open that file normally. For a moment, I had a brief moment of panic in my brain. What about that time I spent working on it? All that time getting that particular syntax and the timing of window interactions was finely tuned. Would it be lost and would I have to figure it all out again?! I took a moment to breathe and assess the situation. Again, I was lucky that I was able to narrow down the issue to that particular copy of the file itself and re-download a new copy. I was lucky in that I did not have to resort to an earlier set of backup files, which may or may not have all the code I recently implemented.

In essence, I found that I needed to have better backup plans in place. You’ve likely heard the Boy Scout Motto: Be prepared. It’s short and to the point - and for good reason. Its mission is to teach young men to become adult leaders and a contributor to society at large. To do that, you have to have a mindset of being ready: whether it be to defend your values, your livelihood, your country, or even the lives of those you care about (including your own). Being prepared means that you have the tools and the plan in place when a situation is thrust upon you. You already spent some time thinking ahead and perhaps some preparation or additional training. Conscious thinking (not paranoia) is the goal. You can’t anticipate the infinite spectrum of life’s possibilities. Being ready gives you the upper hand when you encounter both favorable opportunities and unfavorable risks. Preparation is the key!

In my mind, there are three important principles to any solid backup plan:

• It must be simple.
• It must be automatic.
• It must be flexible.

These principles will encourage the right thinking for a solid contingency plan, in the event of the unexpected, and fight our own natural tendencies to either overthink, overcomplicate, or not be ready in a given scenario when it occurs in a way different than we expect. So let’s apply these principles at a high level to each scenario for the purpose of exploring the topic. A final in-depth solution for each case can be the result of a separate post.

Scenario - The Lost Wallet

Let’s first consider how not to lose a wallet and what to do if it does go missing. Avoidance is better than making a mistake in the first place, which is why I am very specific about where I place and carry my wallet at all times.

• Simple: I only need to check certain places when I search for it.
• Automatic: I don’t have to spend time thinking about what to do with my wallet.
• Flexible: I can accommodate many different locations, clothing, and situations.

If it goes missing, what then? Have a physical copy of everything in my wallet stored in a safe place (such as home, safety deposit box, whatever) and a sheet of information to cancel accounts and order a replacement.

• Simple: I can retrieve (or have mailed) a new physical copy until a true replacement happens.
• Automatic: Order two copies when getting cards, license, etc. The only non-automatic part may be putting the second copy into safe storage, depending on how you decide to do that.
• Flexible: Very few limitations on the type of wallet, how much it can store, the content in it and the copies, and where/how the storage can happen. One could even do a physical copy in wallet and a digital copy for backup for a different set of advantages/disadvantages.

Scenario - A Travel Accident

Let’s now consider how I can keep in contact and think about accidents/death. This is a really broad and personal topic but let’s boil it down. For keeping in contact, do all communications the same way (i.e. email, phone calls, texts, whatever) after the trip plans are set.

• Simple: My loved ones know exactly where the information is and should know how to retrieve it (if desired) later.
• Automatic: I just follow a routine and the format is basically the same every time.
• Flexible: I can change the medium if necessary to accommodate unique circumstances but still use the same one to reference another to keep it all in the same place (i.e. a phone call to check an email for more information).

So what if I go missing, get sick, or get seriously hurt/injured? Include travel plan information, as well as current/possible commitments that need to be addressed during the length of travel before I make the trip.

• Simple: I only need to send two things every time I travel.
• Automatic: I just follow a routine and the format is basically the same every time.
• Flexible: People have the necessary (but not hopefully too much) information by the time I leave. Plans (and communications) can change and adapt if plans change as required. There is also a time component that is variable in the communications part just prior to departure. It can be worked around by having a quick communications template or making documents prepared ahead of time in event of special circumstances.

Scenario - Bad or Lost Data.

Finally, let’s think about how I can keep data safe on my computer (or any electronic device for that matter). Your setup may have different requirements than mine - I will attempt to keep it more generic rather than get lost in the details. Basically, you will need something that can store/retrieve data over time and do it in multiple places for any and all devices. While that may sound hard, having it fit all three criteria may be difficult without proper forethought and research. My current solution is an automatic backup of my main computer and use a specific set of common consumer services to both sync and archive all data in many different physical locations.

• Simple: I backup all data and only use a few services.
• Automatic: I will never forget or miss a critical backup point because the computer will handle it for me. The only non-automatic part is doing a few test restores to verify that backups function the way I hope they will.
• Flexible: I can swap out devices, services, storage locations, and software as need be. The data can (and should be) easy to move with it. The platform and devices may limit or change what options are available to you. My specific implementation will be discussed in a separate post.

In terms of backup, we geeks and nerds obsess and worry constantly about our precious bits. We care about the data we use and collect much more than the average person. We also like to have things in their proper place (at least in the way our brains work). This definitely transfers over to the analog world too - we have our favorite things that we love!

In our society, it is prudent for most people to at least identify what’s important and make sure a plan is in place. That’s really is what backups are all about - being conscious of possibilities, responsible for yourself and your actions, and mindful of others in the event of the worst happening. For most people, it hopefully only takes one bad experience to learn and adapt, rather than accept it as something that cannot be changed. It’s usually not a question of whether something can happen. Anything is possible - but you are ready for it when it does? That determines all that you can do.