9 ms·

Today is World Backup Day

48 points by pinwale 14y ago

t0 14y ago
Is it worth buying a few extra terabytes to backup? I simply don't have enough free space to even begin backing anything up.
- w1ntermute 14y ago
  You can get a 2 TB external HDD with USB 3.0 for $100[0]. I don't see why not. 0: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822178116 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822178...
- pinwale 14y ago
  Having that much data probably has some worth to you. 3TB external hard drives goes for only ~$120 nowadays.
- ghshephard 14y ago
  For $50/year you can have unlimited backup of your local drives through the various players (I use backblaze, others say good things about crashplan).
  - derekp7 14y ago
    Is there a service about as cheap as Backblaze, but lets you use your own backup client, and doesn't limit which file types you can backup? I would love to find something that gave me a remote Linux account (even on a shared host), where I can put my home-grown backup package, and a half TB or so of storage.
- ValentineC 14y ago
  I use CrashPlan, though there were some issues when I tried to restore deleted files (my fault, really). They offer a 30-day trial. If you try it, like it enough and are willing to wait, they often have promotions for the first year (for Black Friday last year, it was a tiered discount depending on how early you signed up).
  - varikin 14y ago
    There is a promotion for World Backup Day as well (or Reddit?) 40% off. http://www.crashplan.com/backupreddit http://www.crashplan.com/backupreddit
- aw3c2 14y ago
  Imagine losing all your data and thinking "dammit, I would give X of money to get my data back". Find X and decide for yourself.
  - ComputerGuru 14y ago
    Not even remotely correct. I crash my 100k dollar car, and I think, damn, I'd give 100k to get it back. But when insuring it, I don't pay 100k for insurance! You have to take value x probability of loss to arrive at your X.
    - cdjk 14y ago
      Corrected for your risk tolerance, of course. Suppose my data is worth $10k, and and there is a 1/100 chance of data loss (making those numbers up). I'd gladly pay $500 for "data loss insurance" (i.e. backups) to avoid the chance of data loss, even though $500 > (1/100)*$10k. Just multiplying by the probability is what's known as "risk neutral" - it works and is a very good approximation when the dollar amounts amounts are small compared to your net worth. It tends not to be a good approximation when the dollar amounts are higher. Of course, a realistic analysis would also account for the fact the the "data loss insurance" itself is probabilistic, but this is a start.
- DanBC 14y ago
  Some stuff is more important than others. You really need to sort out something for passwords; software registrations; and logins. This is a tiny bit of backup, but it'll make life easier if your drive dies.
huhtenberg 14y ago
Waaaay too commercialized. It's like as if Pi day was brought to you by Wolfram Mathematica with a sprinkle of MatLab coupons. (edit) MathLab -> MatLab
- caissy 14y ago
  Wait a minute, didn't it start out of a Reddit thread a couple of years ago?
  - pinwale 14y ago
    Yep! Well, companies were going to exploit it anyways. I thought why not at least screen them before. I'm just a college student in [redacted] and the site was coded & designed by a guy who just graduated high school in [redacted].
    - kemayo 14y ago
      I'm not convinced that "screening them before" should quite extend to the level of "sponsorship fees" mentioned here: http://goo.gl/E1gKN http://goo.gl/E1gKN
      - pinwale 14y ago
        That was for a proposed advertising package for reddit.com. That definitely isn't coming to me. Why doesn't anyone believe me? I live in my parent's house and I got a broken car. I love HN because it helped inspire me to do something. That's all. I'm almost crying here. :'( Please call me at [redacted] if you don't believe me.
        kemayo 14y ago
        I'd imagine that you're suffering because the community in general is a bit skeptical about trademark enforcement issues, and the pump was primed with that Backupify snafu.
pytrin 14y ago
The legal issues behind this were posted here a few days ago - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5449226 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5449226 The original blog post was removed (for legal reasons?), here is the cached version of it - http://goo.gl/E1gKN http://goo.gl/E1gKN
- pinwale 14y ago
  I can explain. It was just a misunderstanding with Backupify! Backupify is cool. The name was trademarked because some shady companies were creating ransomware/shitty software and using World Backup Day to promote it. The lawyer was just overzealous with the stupid notices. :( I apologized to Rob about the other day. But anyone can use the name! We just wanted to protect our visitors. I am just a college student and the site was hand-coded & designed by this awesome redditor who just graduated highschool.
- rikacomet 14y ago
  hmm, though I question, who decided that is a the world backup day, its still is clear that it doesn't matter much, just like many other XYZ days that I don't follow. But I don't see the need of legal actions around such a thing.
  - pinwale 14y ago
    It was an idea from a reddit thread. I getting hammered in this thread, and I don't if anyone can see this. but the Backupify thing was a misunderstanding. It's okay to use World Backup Day! I had some trouble with scammy companies and I wanted to protect people from thinking we were endorsing them. That's all
    - rikacomet 14y ago
      ah then its okay, don't worry if someone says BS about you. As long as you are right in your place, stay confident. It will only hurt, if you take it that way, just don't. I can freaking declare this as the 'LOVE RIKA DAY' :P who cares about it anyway? if someone does, then good!
davidw 14y ago
At least here in Italy, it seems to be more about 'restore' than backup.
- deeths 14y ago
  To point out the old adage: "Amateurs backup. Pros recover." While backup day is a great reminder for folks, "make sure your backup can actually recover" day seems like the one more people would benefit from.
derekp7 14y ago
I wonder if this would be a good time to mention that I think I've got my new open-source snapshot backup tool (up on Github) ready for a larger testing audience? I'm a bit nervous about promoting it too widely until I'm sure that it is stable enough, but if anyone wants to test it in a non-critical setup, I'd appreciate any feedback.
- roryokane 14y ago
  Link: https://github.com/derekp7/snebu https://github.com/derekp7/snebu
  - derekp7 14y ago
    Thanks, I always forget to post the link. I've also got a Github page at www.snebu.com (this is mostly the Github auto generated web page based on the readme, with a Google Analytics stub in it so I can see if anyone is downloading it). Just to give a bit more information, I started off with using the rsync/snapshot method (rsync to a remote drive, then cp -al to create hard links into a snapshot directory). But I didn't like that the clients needed to have root access to the backup server (yes I could resolve most of that through fancy ssh authorized_keys file scripting). Also I needed compression (was using ZFS with compression originally). So I designed "snebu" (simple network backup utility) to store compressed files on the backup server similar to how Git stores objects (using the sha1 checksum to name the files), and I keep all the metadata in an Sqlite database. That way, I have the simplicity of something like rsync, but with some of the features of the heavy-weight backup programs (like Bacula, Amanda, etc) but with a slightly easier setup. I'm in the middle of re-writing the documentation, so I'm sort of looking for feedback on if the current docs don't quite explain things good enough. Thanks.
robmay 14y ago
Backupify didn't take the post down for legal reasons. We took it down because I talked to the founder of World Backup Day and he explained it was all a misunderstanding. As a tech company CEO who has to deal a lot with lawyers, I'm not surprised this happened. Most of us in tech view lawyers as a necessary evil to be used sparingly. Lawyers often view themselves as protectors of original ideas. They often don't understand the social structure in which most techies operate. So, I'm sure as a 20 something college student who hasn't experienced this yet, you lean on authority. If you have a bad experience with the first World Backup Day and someone tells you lawyers can prevent that, then you go and find a lawyer. The right thing to do would have been to use the community to police it and point out the scammers, but it's hard to understand the dynamics of these interactions until you have been through them. Let me just say that Backupify supports World Backup Day, and intends to be a sponsor sometime in the future. We are on good terms with the founder, and I think his attorney was just a bit overzealous with enforcement. My expectation and understanding of the future is that World Backup Day will belong to the community, and anyone will be able to discuss it, but to be a formal sponsor and be listed on the WBD site will be a paid option. I think that sounds fine.
lquist 14y ago
Fitting that this comes a day before April Fool's

48 points by pinwale 14y ago

t0 14y ago

Is it worth buying a few extra terabytes to backup? I simply don't have enough free space to even begin backing anything up.

w1ntermute 14y ago
You can get a 2 TB external HDD with USB 3.0 for $100[0]. I don't see why not. 0: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822178116 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822178...
pinwale 14y ago
Having that much data probably has some worth to you. 3TB external hard drives goes for only ~$120 nowadays.
ghshephard 14y ago
For $50/year you can have unlimited backup of your local drives through the various players (I use backblaze, others say good things about crashplan).
- derekp7 14y ago
  Is there a service about as cheap as Backblaze, but lets you use your own backup client, and doesn't limit which file types you can backup? I would love to find something that gave me a remote Linux account (even on a shared host), where I can put my home-grown backup package, and a half TB or so of storage.
ValentineC 14y ago
I use CrashPlan, though there were some issues when I tried to restore deleted files (my fault, really). They offer a 30-day trial. If you try it, like it enough and are willing to wait, they often have promotions for the first year (for Black Friday last year, it was a tiered discount depending on how early you signed up).
- varikin 14y ago
  There is a promotion for World Backup Day as well (or Reddit?) 40% off. http://www.crashplan.com/backupreddit http://www.crashplan.com/backupreddit
aw3c2 14y ago
Imagine losing all your data and thinking "dammit, I would give X of money to get my data back". Find X and decide for yourself.
- ComputerGuru 14y ago
  Not even remotely correct. I crash my 100k dollar car, and I think, damn, I'd give 100k to get it back. But when insuring it, I don't pay 100k for insurance! You have to take value x probability of loss to arrive at your X.
  - cdjk 14y ago
    Corrected for your risk tolerance, of course. Suppose my data is worth $10k, and and there is a 1/100 chance of data loss (making those numbers up). I'd gladly pay $500 for "data loss insurance" (i.e. backups) to avoid the chance of data loss, even though $500 > (1/100)*$10k. Just multiplying by the probability is what's known as "risk neutral" - it works and is a very good approximation when the dollar amounts amounts are small compared to your net worth. It tends not to be a good approximation when the dollar amounts are higher. Of course, a realistic analysis would also account for the fact the the "data loss insurance" itself is probabilistic, but this is a start.
DanBC 14y ago
Some stuff is more important than others. You really need to sort out something for passwords; software registrations; and logins. This is a tiny bit of backup, but it'll make life easier if your drive dies.

huhtenberg 14y ago

Waaaay too commercialized. It's like as if Pi day was brought to you by Wolfram Mathematica with a sprinkle of MatLab coupons. (edit) MathLab -> MatLab

caissy 14y ago
Wait a minute, didn't it start out of a Reddit thread a couple of years ago?
- pinwale 14y ago
  Yep! Well, companies were going to exploit it anyways. I thought why not at least screen them before. I'm just a college student in [redacted] and the site was coded & designed by a guy who just graduated high school in [redacted].
  - kemayo 14y ago
    I'm not convinced that "screening them before" should quite extend to the level of "sponsorship fees" mentioned here: http://goo.gl/E1gKN http://goo.gl/E1gKN
    - pinwale 14y ago
      That was for a proposed advertising package for reddit.com. That definitely isn't coming to me. Why doesn't anyone believe me? I live in my parent's house and I got a broken car. I love HN because it helped inspire me to do something. That's all. I'm almost crying here. :'( Please call me at [redacted] if you don't believe me.
      - kemayo 14y ago
        I'd imagine that you're suffering because the community in general is a bit skeptical about trademark enforcement issues, and the pump was primed with that Backupify snafu.

pytrin 14y ago

The legal issues behind this were posted here a few days ago - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5449226 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5449226 The original blog post was removed (for legal reasons?), here is the cached version of it - http://goo.gl/E1gKN http://goo.gl/E1gKN

pinwale 14y ago
I can explain. It was just a misunderstanding with Backupify! Backupify is cool. The name was trademarked because some shady companies were creating ransomware/shitty software and using World Backup Day to promote it. The lawyer was just overzealous with the stupid notices. :( I apologized to Rob about the other day. But anyone can use the name! We just wanted to protect our visitors. I am just a college student and the site was hand-coded & designed by this awesome redditor who just graduated highschool.
rikacomet 14y ago
hmm, though I question, who decided that is a the world backup day, its still is clear that it doesn't matter much, just like many other XYZ days that I don't follow. But I don't see the need of legal actions around such a thing.
- pinwale 14y ago
  It was an idea from a reddit thread. I getting hammered in this thread, and I don't if anyone can see this. but the Backupify thing was a misunderstanding. It's okay to use World Backup Day! I had some trouble with scammy companies and I wanted to protect people from thinking we were endorsing them. That's all
  - rikacomet 14y ago
    ah then its okay, don't worry if someone says BS about you. As long as you are right in your place, stay confident. It will only hurt, if you take it that way, just don't. I can freaking declare this as the 'LOVE RIKA DAY' :P who cares about it anyway? if someone does, then good!

davidw 14y ago

At least here in Italy, it seems to be more about 'restore' than backup.

deeths 14y ago
To point out the old adage: "Amateurs backup. Pros recover." While backup day is a great reminder for folks, "make sure your backup can actually recover" day seems like the one more people would benefit from.

derekp7 14y ago

I wonder if this would be a good time to mention that I think I've got my new open-source snapshot backup tool (up on Github) ready for a larger testing audience? I'm a bit nervous about promoting it too widely until I'm sure that it is stable enough, but if anyone wants to test it in a non-critical setup, I'd appreciate any feedback.

roryokane 14y ago
Link: https://github.com/derekp7/snebu https://github.com/derekp7/snebu
- derekp7 14y ago
  Thanks, I always forget to post the link. I've also got a Github page at www.snebu.com (this is mostly the Github auto generated web page based on the readme, with a Google Analytics stub in it so I can see if anyone is downloading it). Just to give a bit more information, I started off with using the rsync/snapshot method (rsync to a remote drive, then cp -al to create hard links into a snapshot directory). But I didn't like that the clients needed to have root access to the backup server (yes I could resolve most of that through fancy ssh authorized_keys file scripting). Also I needed compression (was using ZFS with compression originally). So I designed "snebu" (simple network backup utility) to store compressed files on the backup server similar to how Git stores objects (using the sha1 checksum to name the files), and I keep all the metadata in an Sqlite database. That way, I have the simplicity of something like rsync, but with some of the features of the heavy-weight backup programs (like Bacula, Amanda, etc) but with a slightly easier setup. I'm in the middle of re-writing the documentation, so I'm sort of looking for feedback on if the current docs don't quite explain things good enough. Thanks.

robmay 14y ago

Backupify didn't take the post down for legal reasons. We took it down because I talked to the founder of World Backup Day and he explained it was all a misunderstanding. As a tech company CEO who has to deal a lot with lawyers, I'm not surprised this happened. Most of us in tech view lawyers as a necessary evil to be used sparingly. Lawyers often view themselves as protectors of original ideas. They often don't understand the social structure in which most techies operate. So, I'm sure as a 20 something college student who hasn't experienced this yet, you lean on authority. If you have a bad experience with the first World Backup Day and someone tells you lawyers can prevent that, then you go and find a lawyer. The right thing to do would have been to use the community to police it and point out the scammers, but it's hard to understand the dynamics of these interactions until you have been through them. Let me just say that Backupify supports World Backup Day, and intends to be a sponsor sometime in the future. We are on good terms with the founder, and I think his attorney was just a bit overzealous with enforcement. My expectation and understanding of the future is that World Backup Day will belong to the community, and anyone will be able to discuss it, but to be a formal sponsor and be listed on the WBD site will be a paid option. I think that sounds fine.

lquist 14y ago

Fitting that this comes a day before April Fool's