Other way of backing up

[Sasha]

Hi There.

I’m new to the forum and I have been using SuperDuper! for about a year now. Just like a lot and has been a lifesaver for a couple of times already. I’m looking forward to seeing a Leopard compatible version.

I do have a question of a different type of back up that someone might help me with/point me in the right direction.

Situation
iTunes library of approx. 130Gb and growing
- Main system = original
- Back-up drive at work = back-up

As you might guess my worst nightmare is that anything should happen with the library and I do make daily back-ups just in case….

I use a 160Gb portable drive to transport the data but since I have an iPod touch I'm adding quite a bit of GB with movie content. As a result is amount of data is growing rapidly.

The worry I have is that the database is becoming too big real quickly to take with me on a portable drive. I was think if there is a software solution that allows me to just take with me the changed and added files with to make the external “back-up” in sync with the original database.

I’m not aware of any tip/trick/software that is able to that.

So:
iTunes library Original => change some files
use mobile device (drive, USB stick, iPod etc) to transport copied files
iTunes library Copy => adds changed/added files in order to make it identical with the original.

Hope that some can help me (point in the right direction).

Perhaps an idea for someone to develop as I can see this becoming a problem for other people as well.

Thanks,
Sasha

[jonault]

I was going to suggest you use a Smart Folder to list all the recent additions to your iTunes library, but I couldn't come up with a set of search criteria that would work reliably. Adding a file to your library doesn't necessarily affect the Created or Modified dates, so looking for new files or recently changed files will not catch everything.

The only thing I can suggest is adding the "Date Added" column to your view in iTunes and sorting on that to find the most recent additions, then control-clicking on each file and selecting "Show in Finder". You can then copy the file to your USB stick (or wherever). It's a bit cumbersome if you have a lot of files to back up, since you have to do each one individually (if you select multiple files in iTunes, the "Show in Finder" option goes away).

Hopefully someone else can come up with a better solution.

[Sasha]

Hi Jonault,

Thanks for your response. I did not think of your suggestion before and it is indeed one way of backing up individual files. But as you mention it does require to to put each file back manually.


It would be great to be able to scan a selected database/folder for changed files and copy them in a separate folder/drive and then to put them automatically in the right place when connected to the remote system.

Perhaps this is possible with automater.

Again thanks for your imput

[ksrhee]

Originally Posted by Sasha

Hi Jonault,

Thanks for your response. I did not think of your suggestion before and it is indeed one way of backing up individual files. But as you mention it does require to to put each file back manually.


It would be great to be able to scan a selected database/folder for changed files and copy them in a separate folder/drive and then to put them automatically in the right place when connected to the remote system.

Perhaps this is possible with automater.

Again thanks for your imput

Why not use Time Machine in Leopard to do this task for you? I think TM has been trashed prematurely by too many people (especially those who might not understand or have tried using options to customize TM--for instance, you can exclude directories or files you don't want to back up)

TM has saved me a few times already in restoring my files and email messages. This is something I couldn't do with cloning my hard disk since I may not realize there is a problem with my files/emails until it's too late.

[Sasha]

Making a back-up on an already attached/internal drive is possible in a number of ways. In a way TM could do this as well. At the moment Im using a old program called Silverkeeper to sync my iTunes folder to an external drive.

I do however maintain another copy on another machine/drive at work. Instead of having to bring a complete copy with me on a portable drive I would just like to bring with me the changed/added files with me.

The directory has become too big to take with me on my portable drive.

Example:
I add a 12 track CD and a film and a Podcast to my iTunes libary. So I add a total of 14 files. By doing this my library files change as well. In total 16 files have changed that I want to bring with to make my copy at work identical.

So instead of bringing the complete 130Gb with me it would be ie. 2Gb for 16 files