Backing up data

Hemmel posted a question/comment about what I'm doing for backup, and I figure it is a good time to address that.

I am a photographer by profession and I have a lot of data which I can't afford to lose.

Currently my main machine is an Intel based Mac Pro with 4 internal drives, each of them at 1TB. One of them is strictly the OS with apps and general / personal documents, personal pics, iTunes library,etc.. AND the TV shows for PLEX. Two of them are photography drives , holding only RAW files / JPGs and related client files and the 4th one is for the movies for PLEX.

Backup - I have a 1 TB external drive which I use for Time Machine to backup the OS drive.

I have a 5 bay eSata box which I use SuperDuper to backup all four of the main drives with SuperDuper. I am in the process of changing this, though. For 2 reasons. The first is that this unit is REALLY loud. Its like having a turbine engine running in your room. It is definitely something which I only turn on to back up, and otherwise it is off. This is an issue because I've noticed I lose track of doing backups and I've gone weeks without backing up, which is not good. Second reason I am changing is because I've run into several issues where the drives do not mount even though the unit is on. Actually now, I can't get them to mount at all.

Rather that continuing to mess with it, I jsut gave up and decided to go with the Drobo unit. The version 2 has firewire 800 (finally), is supposed to be nice and relatively quiet (based on reviews and youtube vids) and seems like a good all around choice with overall positive reviews.

The only thing I was hesitant about was the whole RAID thing which means that 4TB worth of drives = 2.x TB worth of drives. Before it was one to one which was nice, but really, my OS drive, even though it is 1TB, is far from full, and so on, so calculations from the Drobo calculator and adding up the current data I have revealed that the current 4TB worth of drives I have for backup will do just fine in the Drobo.

I'll be using SuperDuper to automate the backup process to the Drobo, and intent for it to stay on/go to standby so it can always be backed up.

At the end of the day, the Drobo is not cheap - $350, and neither is filling up a bunch of drives. For me, I end of having my business fund all this and write it off. But really, unless you're running lots of drives, and just have a primary drive on your main computer, or even just on the mini, let's say 1TB, you can get one external drive and use super duper, or time machine, and probably be good to go.

I know I recently had my main OS drive crash. Having come from a windows world, I was so anxious, thinking oh great, my machine is down, work is at a standstill, Time Machine won't work, etc... But that wasn't the case.

I went to Best Buy, picked up a new drive for $100. Pulled out the old one, slid in the new one, put the OS disc in, formatted the drive, then it came up that it sees Time Machine has a copy and would I like to restore. Click Yes. 3 hours later, I came back and the machine looked just like it did the night before. I didn't lose any data, and literally only required me buying a new drive, installing it, putting a disc in, and clicking "yes". This is a far cry from the pain of a friend I have who is currently going through a BSOD on a windows machine. Its been 6 days and he is still down, trying to work it out between himself and a local repair company.

If you have a good backup workflow, please post so others can see as well. Thanks!