Tag Archive for Backup

Tips And Tricks To Save You Time: Mirroring Remote Servers

  

Do you spend a lot of time in FTP programs, or perhaps SFTP and WebDAV?

If you are not regularly backing up your files, you should be.

Every time you make more than just a minor change — and even then, if there is risk of corruption — you should have a backup.

Backups to your local machine work great in these days of fast connection speeds and cheap local storage.

The best way to not spend an inordinate amount of time doing this is to use a mirroring algorithm, one that checks the files based on modify date and time and automatically only downloads the ones you need.

Keep a local directory on your hard drive that you use for these “mirror-downs” — when you need to make a backup, which should be often, initiate a mirror-down. When it is finished, simply duplicate the directory and retain the duplicated directory as a dated snapshots of your remote servers. Leave the mirror-down directory active: it will save you tons of time the next time you need to backup the particular remote server you are working on.

Always following the same, efficient path will cut down on the time you spend backing up, and the results of following this methodology will pay off in spades the first time you need to restore one file.

If you are running Mac OS X, Panic makes a great piece of software calledTransmit. You can pick up a copy for a reasonable $29.95, and using it’s “mirror-down” and “automatically detect server time offset” features will garner you an incredibly high ROI.

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