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Backup strategies

Backing up your data is one of the most important, yet seemingly trivial, chores that you can perform on a daily basis. Everyone has their own method of backing up data. This document outlines some of the tried-and-true backup methods and maybe a few new ones that you've never thought about.

For more information on developing a viable backup strategy, please contact faculty.support@yale.edu. Support staff are available to consult with you to determine which solution best fits your current needs.

ITS backup service (faculty)

The ITS backup service provides clients with the ability to automatically or manually backup critical files and directories to the backup system. Once the service is running you will be able to restore one of several versions of a file from your desktop computer.

Functions of the ITS backup service include:

• Backup - Scheduled or manual backups of your data and important computer system files.
• Recovery - The ability to recover previous versions of files, or files that have been deleted.

Network Backup is NOT intended to be used for the following:

• Full restore - Does not give you the ability to completely restore a system from scratch, it is only intended to save data files.
• Archive system - This service is not intended to be, and should not be, used as permanent data storage.

Read more about the ITS backup service here.

Removable media (CDs/DVDs/thumbdrives/external hard drives)

Removable media provides a convenient method for backing up data to a personal source. CDs, DVDs, thumbdrives and external hard drives are all acceptable forms of removable media for backing up.

Pantheon account

One method used by people that want to backup data, as well as access it from multiple locations, is to use your Pantheon account. Every user on campus has 50 MB of storage on the Pantheon. When you're at the office you can copy your data to your using file sharing or SSH. When you get home, you can access the data using a modem or broadband connection. This solution works best for people that want to take work home, but don't want to write data to floppy, CD, or other media. Storage on your Pantheon account also creates an "off-site" backup, so if something happens to your personal computer, that important document will still be accessible.

While your Pantheon account provides a way to make your work portable, please keep in mind that 50 MB is not a tremendous amount of space and may not be suitable as a long term storage/archival strategy.

For more information, please refer to the Pantheon help documentation.