Dropbox is insurance for your backup
Recently I had a few issues with my hard drive (ahem). I have no computer at Uni, so all my PhD work is on my Macbook. About a week ago, my hard drive suddenly died, with little more than a whimper.
Of course, I have a backup system. I have wireless Time Machine backups to a Time Capsule at home, so all I have to do is turn my Laptop on at home and it will back up any changes. Unfortunately, on “black Thursday” my time machine backup was 10 days old. This effectively meant that I lost my most recent work, but had a backup of all my main files.
Luckily, although not cheaply, I got all my data back from my hard drive. However, I realized I needed a system to backup my most recent work.
Free insurance for your most recent work
When I got my Macbook back, my first job was to install DropBox. This is an online file sharing service, which has the ability to keep local files in sync with online backup. The service is recently out of private beta, so is available for anyone who wants to sign up.
Anyone can sign up for an account and download windows, mac, or linux software. After installation, Dropbox shows up as a folder on their system, which can contain files like any other folder. Any changes to those files are uploaded to the online server (encrypted onto Amazon S3 server). The files can be used offline.
So my new workflow is a minor alteration of what I used to do. I keep a “Working” folder on my dock, which contains any files and folders I am currently using. Unfortunately, the Dropbox folder can’t be put on the dock, but I can have it within my “Working” folder. I keep all my current work in my Dropbox. Even when my Time Machine backup is getting a little old, Dropbox will keep all the things vital to me.
Points to remember
Dropbox Security
Dropbox does not automatically keep your files secure. A friend and DropBox aficionado, Scott Bristowe, recommends using TrueCrypt (free and open source) to encrypt sensitive files within your drop box. Basically, this creates a volume that is password protected. Restricting the volume to a small number of files speeds up performance.
Computer Sharing
If you use multiple computers, Dropbox can keep your files synced across multiple computers, even if they run different operating systems. The only catch with this is that you need to have admin privileges on your computer to install the software. It should only be installed on a private computer or a password protected account.
Disclaimer
If you have followed this, you will realize I am not using Dropbox as my main backup. This is technically possible, but the free account is only 2G, and the professional account is 50GB. I recommend using another system for your main back up.
Drop box has lots of other cool features, so I recommend you check out the video here, or stay tuned for an upcoming post.
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