Use Other Versioned Backup Software - Take Control of Backing Up Your Mac - page 116

CrashPlan Tips

If you use CrashPlan or CrashPlan+, I urge you to pick up a copy of
my book Take Control of CrashPlan Backups , which includes extensive
details about how to get the most out of CrashPlan. In the meantime,
here are a few brief tips to keep in mind:

• Skip system files: CrashPlan can't restore your computer

to a bootable state, even if you back up every single file. So save
yourself time and space. Include only the /Users folder and
any other personal files or applications you can't easily reinstall.

• Here, there, and everywhere: You can back up your Mac

to more than one destination—an external hard drive, another
computer you own, a friend's computer, or (for an extra fee)
CrashPlan Central. (Consider buying an extra hard drive and
asking a friend to keep it hooked up to her computer to serve
as a destination for your backups without using up your friend's
valuable disk space.) Use multiple destinations, if possible, for
extra data protection—and note that if you prefer, you can back
up a different set of files to each destination.

• Avoid data caps: If your ISP imposes data caps (see Cloud Cover

Increases ) , using CrashPlan to back up your Mac over the Internet
(either to CrashPlan Central or to someone else's computer) could
eat up all your transfer quota in a hurry, leading to penalties such
as extra fees, slower service, or worse. The CrashPlan blog has
a post with tips about avoiding data caps, including reducing the
maximum bandwidth CrashPlan uses and limiting the total amount
of data you back up online. You can also (for a price) seed your
initial backup by sending CrashPlan your data on an external drive.