Businesses, of course, run regular backups on dedicated hardware, the price of which may well be out of the reach of most home users. However, it is very likely that there is other hardware that can do the job too. If you own a digital video camera and a FireWire-enabled Mac, then you have all the equipment needed to run a small backup schedule. The cost of media is comparatively cheap compared to tape streamers, and you don't need to invest in extra hardware. Your video camera must, however, have the DV-in feature for this to work. You will also need a piece of freeware, DV Backup. This is what sends the data from your hard drive to the videotape, and indeed retrieves it for you when you need to restore the data. It's a far cry from the powers of Dantz Retrospect, but then it doesn't demand traditional backup devices to work with.
It's worth noting a couple of points about consumer-level video equipment. First, the heads in a video camera may not be designed for heavy, sustained use. You may also find DV tapes aren't as robust as proper backup tapes for similar reasons. If you find yourself doing daily backups of important data, you should consider something more robust and purpose-built. However, this method is ideal for less frequent backup use.
Always follow a backup schedule. Use two tapes - do your first backup onto tape A, the next backup goes onto tape B, and then alternate. You may use more than two tapes, so you have a historical backup. Always keep a record of where your last backup is, and remember to note the time index on the tape where the data started. This way, you can locate the last backup easily.
The .dmg format results in very compact files, but if your compressed file exceeds the capacity of a tape, try splitting the source data and creating two .dmg files which can go on one tape each. A 60 minute DV tape will hold 5Gb of data if you have error protection turned on, 10Gb if it's turned off. Importantly, data protection allows the software to recover most data transfer errors.
Other data on your machine that makes it individual to your own use, such as fonts, Poser's runtime data and Freeway Actions, may need backing up too. However, as these are less likely to change often, intermittent backing up to CD-Rs or a separate tape when significant files are added should suffice.
An alternative backup is a DVD burner. In Apple Superdrives, you can burn DVD-RW disks (not DVD+RW), erase and re-use them. Such disks can only be read in Superdrives. The Mac OS doesn't directly support Superdrive DVD-RW features, but you can erase disks from the File menu in Disk Copy.
Do not trust any backup method until you have tested it. Do a full backup and restore. Did the data restore properly? If it did, try it again. Repeating this exercise serves many purposes. First, it verifies that the backup is successful. Second, you get used to the process. Finally, and importantly, it gets you into the habit of making backups and allowing yourself time to do it. Once the habit is there, stick to it. One day you'll be glad you did.
Click 'Next Page' below for the step-by-step guide...Author: Paul Dunning
Backing up to DV tape