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Personal backups
"Backups" are backup copies of files. This page tells you how to make backups, so that you don't lose files.
Your files on DICE
Your DICE home directory is backed up automatically, so you don't need to make backups of it. If you lose a file from there, you can get it back:
Your files elsewhere
But what if you save your files somewhere else - for instance on your own laptop, or in a virtual machine? In that case you should make your own backups. (Why? Your laptop could be stolen; you might leave it on the bus; its disk could fail; the building could burn down - all of these things have happened in the School of Informatics.)
Copy them to OneDrive
A simple way to make backups is to copy your files regularly to your OneDrive. OneDrive is cloud-based storage which is provided to the University as part of Office 365. Everyone has their own OneDrive, and it can hold up to 1TB of your files. You can access it as a drive or via a web browser on Windows, Mac, iOS and Android, and via a web browser on Linux.
Windows and Mac users can also have a OneDrive folder on their laptop which is automatically synchronised with their cloud-based OneDrive storage. If you can use this, do - automatic backups are great because you don't have to remember to do them.
Copy them to a USB stick
The idea here is to copy your files to another piece of hardware, such as a USB stick. If you do this, use multiple USB sticks, and keep them in separate places, because you're bound to lose one.
Use a native backup solution
Both Windows and macOS have a ready-to-use backup facility. You should use it if you can.
Copy them to your DICE filespace
A simple way to back up your files is to copy them to your DICE home directory. This can be done with a program such as scp.
Use your DICE filespace directly from your laptop
File storage on DICE uses AFS. If you install AFS on your laptop, you can use your DICE home directory as if it was local storage.
- ⇒ AFS on DICE.
Other backup solutions
There are many backup solutions for personal machines. You should look for one which:
- is respected by reviewers
- copies your files to some other physical location, and keeps them there securely
- is automatic, so you don't need to remember to run it.
It's safest to use multiple backup solutions, in case one fails.
Useful software
You may find these useful: