backup procedure and setup

gallantman

Needs help / suggestions with setting up a backup procedure for a friends business....

- 1 x eMac and 1 x powerbook - networked together;
- mainly PS and InDesign files spread across both machines (going back 4 years);
- personal photos and iTunes on Powerbook;
- email on both machines to backup;
- have 4 year old ZIP drive (Iomega ?) never used but not sure if its right for the job. Neither machine had DVD writer.
- should I put a directory structure in place to make backup easier ?
- what sofware can I use to automate process ?

I would appreciate any comments and suggestions.

GM.

K.O.Kiki

Do NOT rely on ZIP drives!! :eek:
If the drive borks it, any disk put in it will basically destroy itself; when you then try the disk out in another drive, it'll bork that drive -- i.e., if either one single disk or drive screws up (which is gonna happen soon), all your data is toast.

Here's a better idea: get an external HDD for <€150. IIRC, an imaging app like SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner should be able to help you create exact images of his machines' HDDs.
And then do some DVD backups (external drive), just in case.
And seeing as this is a business, do it at least once a month.
Also: Google.

Sad Professor

I don't bother with backup programs, most of them are rubbish. I just do it manually or if I'm doing a complete backup I use Disk Utility to restore on to an external drive or image file. Much faster I find.