How I Back Up My Blog and Other Online Stuff

Posted on January 8, 2010 by LJ Earnest
Categories: Lifehacks

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Most of us have some sort of back up scheme in place for our home computers. (If you don’t, please get one. Now. (See an article I wrote on backups).

But have you ever considered backing up your online stuff? Don’t think crashes don’t happen. This blog went wonky on me one night and without the backups, I never would have gotten it back up.

Here is how I backup my online items:

Google Docs

I make sure I keep a copy of all my Google Docs on my home laptop. I also sync some of them with my iPod Touch using Awesome Note.

Google Contacts

My Google contacts sync with my Palm desktop using CompanionLink, and also with my iPod Touch.

Email

I have my GMail set to back up to my laptop using POP mail. (See the Lifehacker Article)

Blog

The blog consists of two parts: the database and the files. I use WordPress, which lends itself to backing up very easily. The database itself is backed up using a WordPress plugin called WordPress Database Backup. This backs up the database automatically every night and emails me the resulting file.

The files, which don’t change very often, get backed up once a month using SyncBack (see How To Back Up A Website). This is an automatic backup tool made by 2BrightSparks.

Mozy

I have to throw this plug in here, because Mozy has saved my skin on more than one occasion. Mozy takes specified folders and pushes them up, securely encrypted, onto their servers. It restored not only my work notes, but 15 days worth of my novel. That was well worth the small amount I pay for unlimited backups. All of the items that I backup to my hard drive are also backed up to Mozy, ensuring I have a good backup offsite.

Photo by bobbigmac

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