Trust, but Verify
(Updated July 21, 2009: Note that from version 2.00 the button text has changed from Backup Details to Browse Backup.)
How can you be sure that your remote backup is in good shape?
The first way is to click the Backup Details... button from either the local or remote backup logs. The log shows you the files that were included in the most recent backup. Backup Details allows you to browse every file and folder in your backup (click each screenshot to see a larger version):
Backup details behaves just like Windows Explorer. You can browse the drives and folders included in your backup on the left and then view the contents of a folder on the right. Double-click a folder on the right to open the folder. Double-click a file to see the Backup History view:
Backup History shows you each version of a file that Cucku has backed up. It also shows you if the version has been sent to your backup partner. Looking at the file above you can see that all three versions of the novel I started work on this morning have been sent to my partner (in this case myself).
Cucku doesn't stop at sending the files to your partner, it also checks periodically to make sure that your partner actually has each version of each file. You can control this process on the Advanced page of Cucku Backup Settings:
By default your local backup is verified every seven days and your remote backup every thirty days. You can change these defaults if you'd like to check more or less frequently. You can also run either a local or remote verify by checking the appropriate box. Local verify runs immediately, remote verify the next time you connect to your backup partner.
Lastly I'd recommend testing to make sure you can restore a file. Pick any file from your partner in the Restore Wizard and restore a copy to your desktop. After you've been backing up for a while try restoring an older version of a file. This is the best way to be confident that your backup is working. It's also a good idea to be familiar with how to restore files in case you ever need to do it for real.
Labels: Tips
posted by Rob on Thursday, April 09, 2009
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