Acronis True Image... via the bootable rescue disc
Have backed up hundreds of machines over the past 12+ years using this method.
Has never failed...
 
Super clean/lean as nothing is installed... and backup/restore is done completely outside of Windows.

As per my other thread I'm moving from CrashPlan to Carbonite - both cloud based, fully encryptable with a key you can create and control. All good there but you need to pay for it. I've used Acronic (sic) for years. Generally reliable but every so often they really drop the ball with a howler of a release but the next patch usually fixes it. Despite this I would recommend it. Andy

I will never do the cloud thing...that requires internet access if you
want to restore.  That's just not a good idea...I'd prefer it at my disposal
regardless of Internet....YMMV

Cloud based backup is (IMO) a little impractical for a DAW.

• Constant connection and "sync" can/does affect performance
• Our files tend to be large/contiguous (audio/video)... whereas most "office" type files are much smaller (thus more practical for cloud based backup/restore).

 
If you've got hundreds of GB of data to backup, that's a *massive* amount of time to upload.
Download would be significantly faster... but still super tedious compared to local backup/restore.
 
 

Like Jim said, it's a bit impractical if you're thinking of backing up all of your stuff regularly to the Cloud.
 
I suggest getting a large external drive and something like GoodSync Pro (file sync/backup software).  You set it up once to schedule backups of your folders unattended (assuming you leave your HW powered on). 
 
Alternatively (or supplementally), you can use something like Macrium or Acronis to do regular backup images of your system partition/drive, as well as your data folders.  I highly recommend this approach, as it will save you from having to reinstall the O.S. ever again.
 
For multiple drives or a network, NAS is the way to go.  Of course, the more advanced setup, the more $$ you'll have to shell out.  At minimum, you should be backing up your system partition and important data, which should fit on an inexpensive external drive.

I don't find it affects my system at all and you can always pause it if you're using a lot of processing during an editing session. Ultimately it's a matter of choice, I like the set and forget nature of it but as long as you have the discipline to do offline backups or leave a device attached so you can schedule it then local backups are fine. One big advantage of offline backups is that they protect you from ransomware in a way that cloud services don't; as long as you do them regularly that is.

bitflipper
 
Acronis has been doing fine for me, although I haven't had to restore anything yet, and that's the crucial test of any backup software.

 
I recently got a warning from S.M.A.R.T. during boot up of my music computer that one of my drives was failing and that I should back up and replace the drive. After doing some research, I realized that my two internal Seagate 3TB drives were famous for early failure rate. I remember that Apple informed me that they would pay for me to have that Seagate drive replaced on my wife's iMac. Seagate is undergoing a Class Action suit over that drive. https://www.hbsslaw.com/cases/seagate
 
I use Acronis True Image for back up. I replaced the two drives with WD 4TB drives and easily restored all the data using Acronis restore. Worked perfectly!
 
Ironically the drive in my office computer failed a week later and the data on the drive was corrupted.I replaced that drive with a 500GB SSD for OS and applications, and another WD 4TB for Data.  Acronis saved the day again! I just updated to Acronis True Image 2018.
 

bitflipper
Sample libraries are another challenge. I lost a lot of those in the robbery, but fortunately most (but not all) vendors let me re-download them. So when I get a new Kontakt lib nowadays, I copy it to DVD as soon as possible and stash all those disks in shoeboxes far away from the studio.

Now the burglars are going to look all over for shoe boxes!  (Hope not!)
 
Walt

Some interesting reading here Peeps, so thanks.
 
I'll be checking out some of the software mentioned here.
 
cheers
 
andy

I used to use Acronis True Image (the last version I had was either 2012 or 2013).  It failed me twice on restores and it didn't get a third chance and the reason I switched to a different backup application (Macrium Reflect).  I had problems with the Acronis Linux rescue disc (booting up on one PC and running Acronis after boot).  I didn't have a problem with the Acronis WinPE disc but the Acronis procedure (at least when I had it) was a clunky manual procedure to create the WinPE disc, where Macrium had a "painless" mostly automated procedure to create the WinPE disc.
 
I haven't had any problems with disc restores using Macrium Reflect.  

Here's what I do! I have a 1TB USB drive where I installed my OneDrive directory. I use a free program call FreeFileSync that allows me to mirror my project files to my USB drive which in turn mirrors to OneDrive. Initial backup takes a while since it's mirroring the whole drive but afterwards, it only updates files that have changed. I backup every day and it takes about minute.
 
I've always followed the rule, if your data doesn't exist in three places, it doesn't exist. This method meets that intent.
 
As usual, YMMV..