Back-up solution help?

[Delnith]

Currently running a secondary windows machine as a server for ark/minecraft and as a plex server. I want to begin backing up my media and am starting with an external hard drive for on site physical backup.

My question is, what is the best way to go about this? I want to be able to back everything up initially and then just query what is there and backup only what is new instead of trying to redo the entire library over and over again. I also want to be able to see each file on the external as a would in the main system.

Aside from just copy and pasting, is there a way to do this? Can I automate it? Any advice would be appreciated.

[Electronics Wizardy]

What os are you running?

 

WIndows has a built in backup tool that does image and file backups, and works pretty well.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

If your data is segregated from the System (OS and program) files, as in a separate drive or partitions for the System files and the data on its own partition or drive(s), then an imaging program is best for the System and a folder/file syncing program for the data.

 

For data to be reasonably safe, it needs to exist in three different places. For most people, this means on the computer, on an onsite backup drive, and on an offsite backup drive. For a drive to be a backup drive, it must be kept powered down, disconnected from the computer, and stored away from the computer except while updating the backups.

 

If the System files are segregated from the data files, imaging software is the best for backing up the System files. An image is roughly the equivalent of a photo negative. It is a "snapshot" of the drive or partition being imaged at tthe time the image was made. Like a photo negative, an image is used to recreate the drive or partition ass it was at the time the image was made. Images need to be stored on a backup drive.

 

I recommend Macrium Reflect Free for imaging.

 

While imaging is necessary for backing up System files, it is too slow and consumes too much drive space for backing up data files. For data, folder/file syncing is far faster (after the initial backup) and far more efficient. A folder/file syncing program, when set to Mirror Mode, works by comparing the source drive (the drive in the computer being the source drive) with the destination drive (the backup drive). It will then copy any new or changed files on the source drive that are on the destination drive to the destination drive. Any files on the destination drive that are not on the source drive will then be deleted from the destination drive. the result is essentially a clone of the source drive on the destination drive. Since only new or changed data is involved (after the initial backup), updating the backup can take very little time.

 

Another feature folder/file syncing programs haave is called Versioning. When enabled (which I strongly recommend), Version will send any files deleted from the destination drive to a user designated folder or drive. This protects you from losing data due to accidental deletion or file corruption.

 

I recommend FreeFileSync for folder/file syncing.