5 ms·

The article is mostly about the fact that the first backup is slow. That was my experience too, but I wouldn't call that a "serious bug" in the context of backu

The article is mostly about the fact that the first backup is slow. That was my experience too, but I wouldn't call that a "serious bug" in the context of backups. I'd call silently corrupted backups a serious bug. There's this paragraph: "Several users have reported to me that they too have experienced serious problems with Time Machine in 10.15.3, both in making first full backups and in trying to restore from existing backups. At least one of these has been reported to Apple as a bug in Time Machine, and has apparently joined several previous reports of the same problem." (My emphasis) Clearly there are people who have what I'd call serious bugs, including people in the comments here. But it doesn't seem to me like anyone has proved that there are replicable serious bugs with Time Machine - although of course just because it's unproved doesn't mean it's not the case, and two backup methods are clearly better than one. I've never had an issue with Time Machine (touch wood) and have found the ability to easily revert to previous versions a godsend sometimes.

Cthulhu_ 7y ago
I've been using Time Machine backups for years (company policy) via an external USB drive, and now that it's full and I only tend to remember it once every couple of months, a backup takes a full workday or more to run. At the same time I've got Arq Backup running to back up my code folder (not everything in there is on accessible git remotes for me), but it's very heavy as well given the number of small files (code + git files). But at least it doesn't end up months out of date I guess. Does anyone have a good backup solution for one's code folder? Large amount of small files (probably tens or hundreds of thousands. It's got a load of node_module folders as well I'm sure)
- atombender 7y ago
  Arq is great, but like all third-party backup solutions, it relies on scanning the file system. See my comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22311053 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22311053.
- stevewodil 7y ago
  Use git and gitignore the node_modules folder. You shouldn't need to back up that directory, the package.json file should have all the required package info
  - crooked-v 7y ago
    Or use yarn 2, where if you check the local yarn cache folder in it's much, much smaller because it's compressed blobs for each dependency.
- serverQuestion 7y ago
  Hook up a timemachine NAS or similar to do the backups wirelessly?
- kylehotchkiss 7y ago
  Probably best to ignore both git and node_modules folders with arq. Arq goes back and validates old backups sometimes (this makes my fans spin up much more than actually backing up weirdly) and both of those folders are going to be scanned and revalidated after the initial backup. Fun fact, rumor on the webs is that a new Arq version is in the works! (Look at their twitter feed for screenshots they sent somebody recently)
  - ValentineC 7y ago
    > Probably best to ignore both git and node_modules folders with arq. I agree with this. I also have (is) `Photos Library.photoslibrary` and (contains) `cache` as my exclusions. The exclusions have made my Arq backups less painful.
    - kylehotchkiss 7y ago
      ValentineC, this is the best hacker news response I've gotten in a long time! Excited to mark those cache folders and stop syncing 200mb every hour.
- happywolf 7y ago
  My code folder is a sym link to a folder in my iCloud drive. The beauty is all my code will be sync'ed to cloud automatically, and the bonus is I can see this folder in every machine that syncs with the same Apple account. I believe this approach works with any cloud drive like DropBox, Google Drive, One Drive, etc.
  - Someone 7y ago
    It also means that you can destroy your ‘backup’ easily, and get your erroneous change synced to every machine that syncs with the same Apple account, destroying most copies of the affected file(s). Unlike Dropbox, iCloud Sync doesn’t version files, so that’s not easily corrected, even if you spot the problem early.
- cpach 7y ago
  If you use git, even without remotes, then perhaps use rsync or rclone to sync those repos to one or more storage areas? Could be sent to an SSH server, Google Drive, Backblaze B2 or whatever you like.
- de_watcher 7y ago
  You publish it on the Internet.
- oefrha 7y ago
  I have an hourly cron job that rsyncs my code folder to another one with venv, node_modules, Rust target directory etc. excluded. I only back up that folder. That cuts out most pointless small files and saves a lot of space too. I haven’t had much problem with .git folders because (1) I can only work so fast so the delta is usually fairly small; (2) periodic rsync cuts out a lot of intermediate changes. But if you still need to optimize, maybe you could repack .git too.
- leotaku 7y ago
  I back up my entire home directory, including all gitted code projects twice daily using restic. It seems to work for now.
- 72deluxe 7y ago
  I use FreeFileSync periodically. Relying on a cloud-based system always seems dodgy to me, since they sometimes get "confused" over which is the master. I also put my code into Fossil for an easy-to-copy and move .db file.
- akvadrako 7y ago
  Borg Backup is quite good. It doesn't take advantage of FSlogger, but otherwise is well designed.
- bayindirh 7y ago
  It's not a Mac-centric solution but, all of my computers' crucial folders are sycned to each other via syncthing. Desktop computers also back them up to another disk via backintime (an advanced backup tool built on rdiff). This gives me realtime replication and two co-located backups. It's fire & forget kind of setup.
- simonh 7y ago
  If the backup disks is full, I'm not surprised doing a backup takes ages. It's got to go through purging stuff on the fly alongside backing up new stuff and constantly rebuilding indexes, which will grow and trigger even more purging requiring more re-indexing. Horrible. Your backup disk should always have some free working space for it to run efficiently. Can't you reducing the retention period so you always have some working space free, or just get an appropriately sized backup disk? Time Machine backups should run in just a few minutes automatically every hour on a well configured system.
- ValentineC 7y ago
  > Does anyone have a good backup solution for one's code folder? Large amount of small files (probably tens or hundreds of thousands. It's got a load of node_module folders as well I'm sure) I've been using Duplicacy (along with Arq and Time Machine) which is amazing at speedy backups and deduplication. However, I've found that restores require quite a bit of CLI-fu [1]. Considering a move to Restic, because they have a killer feature which allows one to mount a snapshot as a FUSE filesystem [2]. [1] https://forum.duplicacy.com/t/restore-command-details/1102 https://forum.duplicacy.com/t/restore-command-details/1102 [2] https://restic.readthedocs.io/en/v0.3.2/Manual/#mount-a-repository https://restic.readthedocs.io/en/v0.3.2/Manual/#mount-a-repo...
- makecheck 7y ago
  It’s definitely good to add more to the exclusion list for Time Machine (using System Preferences), since it might pull in very large things that you just don’t care about. For example, take a look at some things in ~/Library.
- Tagbert 7y ago
  Can’t you just keep the external drive connected so that it does small incremental backups all the time? I have a local external drive on a usb hub. I also have Backblaze for offsite backup. Neither one requires active management
ioltas 7y ago
When it comes to backup, the time it takes for the backup to complete is not a property that matters the most in my opinion. The time it takes to restore the backup matters, and being sure that the backup is able to restore and is not corrupted matters even more.
- tomatocracy 7y ago
  A backup which takes so long that the user aborts it before it completes (say if it's from a laptop to an external USB drive and user wants to take the laptop out with them) IS a problem though.

Cthulhu_ 7y ago

I've been using Time Machine backups for years (company policy) via an external USB drive, and now that it's full and I only tend to remember it once every couple of months, a backup takes a full workday or more to run. At the same time I've got Arq Backup running to back up my code folder (not everything in there is on accessible git remotes for me), but it's very heavy as well given the number of small files (code + git files). But at least it doesn't end up months out of date I guess. Does anyone have a good backup solution for one's code folder? Large amount of small files (probably tens or hundreds of thousands. It's got a load of node_module folders as well I'm sure)

atombender 7y ago
Arq is great, but like all third-party backup solutions, it relies on scanning the file system. See my comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22311053 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22311053.
stevewodil 7y ago
Use git and gitignore the node_modules folder. You shouldn't need to back up that directory, the package.json file should have all the required package info
- crooked-v 7y ago
  Or use yarn 2, where if you check the local yarn cache folder in it's much, much smaller because it's compressed blobs for each dependency.
serverQuestion 7y ago
Hook up a timemachine NAS or similar to do the backups wirelessly?
kylehotchkiss 7y ago
Probably best to ignore both git and node_modules folders with arq. Arq goes back and validates old backups sometimes (this makes my fans spin up much more than actually backing up weirdly) and both of those folders are going to be scanned and revalidated after the initial backup. Fun fact, rumor on the webs is that a new Arq version is in the works! (Look at their twitter feed for screenshots they sent somebody recently)
- ValentineC 7y ago
  > Probably best to ignore both git and node_modules folders with arq. I agree with this. I also have (is) `Photos Library.photoslibrary` and (contains) `cache` as my exclusions. The exclusions have made my Arq backups less painful.
  - kylehotchkiss 7y ago
    ValentineC, this is the best hacker news response I've gotten in a long time! Excited to mark those cache folders and stop syncing 200mb every hour.
happywolf 7y ago
My code folder is a sym link to a folder in my iCloud drive. The beauty is all my code will be sync'ed to cloud automatically, and the bonus is I can see this folder in every machine that syncs with the same Apple account. I believe this approach works with any cloud drive like DropBox, Google Drive, One Drive, etc.
- Someone 7y ago
  It also means that you can destroy your ‘backup’ easily, and get your erroneous change synced to every machine that syncs with the same Apple account, destroying most copies of the affected file(s). Unlike Dropbox, iCloud Sync doesn’t version files, so that’s not easily corrected, even if you spot the problem early.
cpach 7y ago
If you use git, even without remotes, then perhaps use rsync or rclone to sync those repos to one or more storage areas? Could be sent to an SSH server, Google Drive, Backblaze B2 or whatever you like.
de_watcher 7y ago
You publish it on the Internet.
oefrha 7y ago
I have an hourly cron job that rsyncs my code folder to another one with venv, node_modules, Rust target directory etc. excluded. I only back up that folder. That cuts out most pointless small files and saves a lot of space too. I haven’t had much problem with .git folders because (1) I can only work so fast so the delta is usually fairly small; (2) periodic rsync cuts out a lot of intermediate changes. But if you still need to optimize, maybe you could repack .git too.
leotaku 7y ago
I back up my entire home directory, including all gitted code projects twice daily using restic. It seems to work for now.
72deluxe 7y ago
I use FreeFileSync periodically. Relying on a cloud-based system always seems dodgy to me, since they sometimes get "confused" over which is the master. I also put my code into Fossil for an easy-to-copy and move .db file.
akvadrako 7y ago
Borg Backup is quite good. It doesn't take advantage of FSlogger, but otherwise is well designed.
bayindirh 7y ago
It's not a Mac-centric solution but, all of my computers' crucial folders are sycned to each other via syncthing. Desktop computers also back them up to another disk via backintime (an advanced backup tool built on rdiff). This gives me realtime replication and two co-located backups. It's fire & forget kind of setup.
simonh 7y ago
If the backup disks is full, I'm not surprised doing a backup takes ages. It's got to go through purging stuff on the fly alongside backing up new stuff and constantly rebuilding indexes, which will grow and trigger even more purging requiring more re-indexing. Horrible. Your backup disk should always have some free working space for it to run efficiently. Can't you reducing the retention period so you always have some working space free, or just get an appropriately sized backup disk? Time Machine backups should run in just a few minutes automatically every hour on a well configured system.
ValentineC 7y ago
> Does anyone have a good backup solution for one's code folder? Large amount of small files (probably tens or hundreds of thousands. It's got a load of node_module folders as well I'm sure) I've been using Duplicacy (along with Arq and Time Machine) which is amazing at speedy backups and deduplication. However, I've found that restores require quite a bit of CLI-fu [1]. Considering a move to Restic, because they have a killer feature which allows one to mount a snapshot as a FUSE filesystem [2]. [1] https://forum.duplicacy.com/t/restore-command-details/1102 https://forum.duplicacy.com/t/restore-command-details/1102 [2] https://restic.readthedocs.io/en/v0.3.2/Manual/#mount-a-repository https://restic.readthedocs.io/en/v0.3.2/Manual/#mount-a-repo...
makecheck 7y ago
It’s definitely good to add more to the exclusion list for Time Machine (using System Preferences), since it might pull in very large things that you just don’t care about. For example, take a look at some things in ~/Library.
Tagbert 7y ago
Can’t you just keep the external drive connected so that it does small incremental backups all the time? I have a local external drive on a usb hub. I also have Backblaze for offsite backup. Neither one requires active management

ioltas 7y ago

When it comes to backup, the time it takes for the backup to complete is not a property that matters the most in my opinion. The time it takes to restore the backup matters, and being sure that the backup is able to restore and is not corrupted matters even more.

tomatocracy 7y ago
A backup which takes so long that the user aborts it before it completes (say if it's from a laptop to an external USB drive and user wants to take the laptop out with them) IS a problem though.