Multiple File Locations?

[Sydney's Mom]

I have Calibrfe pointed to my Dropbox account. Everything has worked fine but now I am reaching my limit. I tried deleting the books I had already read, and keeping the entry, but I am still reaching my limit. I would like to save half of my books on a backup hard drive, but have Calibre point to both directies at once. Is that possible?


BTW, my husband I said I should just pay for more space. But I think he just said that so I would quit nagging him about my invitation. $99 a year seems like a lot. Am I just being penny wise and pound foolish? How do you back up your library?

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom

I would like to save half of my books on a backup hard drive, but have Calibre point to both directies at once. Is that possible?

This is not currently an option.

Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom

BTW, my husband I said I should just pay for more space. But I think he just said that so I would quit nagging him about my invitation. $99 a year seems like a lot. Am I just being penny wise and pound foolish? How do you back up your library?

My free dropbox account is setting at 9 gigs from invitations. If you are still below 5 gigs both Sugar sync (30gig/$50yr paid option) and MS Live Mesh give you 5 gigs of space to start.

[CWatkinsNash]

Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom

I have Calibrfe pointed to my Dropbox account. Everything has worked fine but now I am reaching my limit. I tried deleting the books I had already read, and keeping the entry, but I am still reaching my limit. I would like to save half of my books on a backup hard drive, but have Calibre point to both directies at once. Is that possible?


BTW, my husband I said I should just pay for more space. But I think he just said that so I would quit nagging him about my invitation. $99 a year seems like a lot. Am I just being penny wise and pound foolish? How do you back up your library?

How much do you get in bonus space for an invitee that signs up for a free account? Post your affiliate link - I'll sign up to get you some more space.

Edited to add: My roommate will sign up too. In fact, I think I can get you three total affiliate signups.

[Utopia]

@Sydney's Mom:

Dropbox is a convenient way to use Calibre across multiple devices, but I do think $99/year is a little steep (I may be biased though because I'm kind of frugal when it comes to subscription services).

A better option might be to rack up some bonus space through your affiliate link like CWatkinsNash suggested.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom

I have Calibrfe pointed to my Dropbox account. Everything has worked fine but now I am reaching my limit. I tried deleting the books I had already read, and keeping the entry, but I am still reaching my limit. I would like to save half of my books on a backup hard drive, but have Calibre point to both directies at once. Is that possible?


BTW, my husband I said I should just pay for more space. But I think he just said that so I would quit nagging him about my invitation. $99 a year seems like a lot. Am I just being penny wise and pound foolish? How do you back up your library?

If you are just wanting to back up your library, an external harddrive would cost less than $99/year for dropbox. If you want an offsite backup, Carbonite ($55/year) and Mozy ($60/year) offer unlimited back up for all of your data. Both are probably more reliable than dropbox (online databases that offer free storeage have had a poor history). Only your computer will be able to interface with Carbonite and Mozy. Having multiple back ups, including at least one local and one off site, is highly recommended. Multiple e-book devices can access the same computer. I would suggest keeping your library on your computer, one back up on an external hardrive, and another back up on Carbonite or Mozy. I see no advantage to dropbox unless you have multiple computers accessing your library.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by Lady Fitzgerald

I see no advantage to dropbox unless you have multiple computers accessing your library.

I agree.

[Utopia]

Originally Posted by Lady Fitzgerald

Having multiple back ups, including at least one local and one off site, is highly recommended.

I agree with this completely. For example, although I use Dropbox to access my library across multiple computers, I store the original source files for all my ebooks separately:

Each file is backed up on a remote storage server (via my MobileMe account) as well as locally via an external hard drive. I end up paying a lot for a MobileMe account but it gives me much more value through a bundle of services that are not offered by Dropbox.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by Utopia

I agree with this completely. For example, although I use Dropbox to access my library across multiple computers, I store the original source files for all my ebooks separately:

Each file is backed up on a remote storage server (via my MobileMe account) as well as locally via an external hard drive. I end up paying a lot for a MobileMe account but it gives me much more value through a bundle of services that are not offered by Dropbox.

I had a tough time researching MobileMe because it is one of those dispicable sites that feels it has to put a cookie on my computer before it will let me in. Excuse me, it's my dang computer and I'll decide what goes on it. I did find out some things about it via Wikipedia, however. If you have very much data to back up, Mobile Me could get really expensive. I have 165 GB backed up right now on Carbonite. When (not if) I increase that, it won't cost me a cent more. The more you back up on MobileMe, the more it will cost you. Also, based on a PC World review I read, MobileMe doesn't do anymore than daily backups you have to schedule. Carbonite (and probably Mozy) backs up files within minutes after creation or change and will keep earlier versions for (I think) a week. It runs in the background so you don't even notice it running. As good as daily backups are, any files lost before the backup occurs are gone and lost forever.

Depending on how much you are storing in MobileMe, you might find it more economical to use a combination of Carbonite or Mozy (for backup) and MobileMe (for the other services).

[Utopia]

@Lady Fitzgerald, thanks so much for the tip. I only use MobileMe to backup my ebooks (~ 2500 books using ~ 4GB of space, so it won't become expensive since I don't use it for more than (and don't expect to acquire loads of ebooks over a short period of time)

The rest of my system (~320 GB) is backed up on a 500 GB external hard drive. In addition to that, I'm looking into using SuperDuper as an off-site backup for my computer system as well.

I'll add Carbonite and Mozy to my list of options.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by Utopia

@Lady Fitzgerald, thanks so much for the tip. I only use MobileMe to backup my ebooks (~ 2500 books using ~ 4GB of space, so it won't become expensive since I don't use it for more than (and don't expect to acquire loads of ebooks over a short period of time)

The rest of my system (~320 GB) is backed up on a 500 GB external hard drive. In addition to that, I'm looking into using SuperDuper as an off-site backup for my computer system as well.

I'll add Carbonite and Mozy to my list of options.

If you decide on Carbonite, getting it from here will get you two free months in addition to the 15 day free trial.

Edit: I took a look at SuperDuper and apparently it just gives you a local clone of your HDD, which is fine. But, say, you have a fire or get burgled (God forbid!), you could loose your computer and every back up you have. While you would have to rebuild your OS, programs, etc. from scratch on a new computer, you still would have your data if you were using an online backup.

A good way to simplify rebuilding from a major disaster (assuming a Mac will let you do this; I just do windows) would be to partition your HDD so the OS and program aee on a boot partition and all your data is on the remaining partition. Even better would be if you could use an SSD for a boot drive and keep data on a conventional HDD. You could clone the boot partition or drive onto an external drive and keep it somewhere offsite like in a safe deposit box. You wouldn't have to update it very often since most people don't add or delete programs very often. It also would be a good idea to keep copies of any disks with programs on them in an offsite location. A list of your program keys should also be kept somewhere offsite (online or elsewhere). I keep the installation files of all programs I download in a folder that is backed up by Carbonite (program installation files are not normally backed by Carbonite but one can tell it to very easily).

What I like most about Carbonite is if I get lazy or absentminded (at my age, both happen frequently), I'm still protected.

[chyron8472]

So, you'd say that Carbonite is probably the best bet for remote backup?

Not that this is the Carbonite Support forum, but how do I change what files it will backup by default? I hate getting a warning message every time I tell it to backup somthing it wouldn't by default.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by chyron8472

So, you'd say that Carbonite is probably the best bet for remote backup?

That or Mozy. Carbonite is $5/year cheaper plus the link I gave will give you 2 months free. I've heard Mozy is just as good but I'm familiar with Carbonite since I've been using it for the past two years. Keep in mind Carbonite is not a replacement for a local backup since it only backs up data files. It won't back up your OS, program files, drivers, etc. The best local back up is an image or clone of your drive on an external drive that doesn't stay hooked up to your computer except when making the backup.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by chyron8472

...Not that this is the Carbonite Support forum, but how do I change what files it will backup by default? I hate getting a warning message every time I tell it to backup somthing it wouldn't by default.

As far as I know, you can't tell it to change which files it will backup by default. Many of them you can manually tell Carbonite to back up (right click the file, click Carbonite on the menu that drops down, and tell it to back up the file). The only files that I have that Carbonite won't back up by default that I want backed up are program installation files I've downloaded (I hang on to them in case I have to reinstall a program) and data files located within program folders. Once I manually tell Carbonite to back up those files, Carbonite will back them up and continue to back them up whenever they change. The files that trigger the warning are files that have to be installed, such as programs. A backup of those will not do you any good anyway since they have to be installed and merely copying them back usually will not work. Those are best backed up locally as part of an image of the HDD or a clone of the HDD. Image of HDDs are better for restoration since you don't have to manually replace the HDD like you would with a clone. Some imaging programs will allow you to recover indivdual files. Of course, you can recover individual files from Carbonite.

No back up by itself is a complete solution for backups. Even if Carbonite imaged or cloned your computer, there is always the chance the company could go belly up (not likely, though). Local backups can fail, be stolen, or destroyed in a disater. The minimum would be an offsite backup and a local one. Most offsite backups (such an external HDD in a safe deposit box) have the disadvantage that there is time between between backups. Also, one has to remember to do the backups. Carbonite eliminates the space between backups and, since it does it for you, the danger of forgetting to make the back up. Carbonite is best for individual file recovery although your data will be safe if a disaster does occur. A new HDD can be built in a new computer should that happen.

[chyron8472]

Yes, and I'm no novice to reformatting my PC (given that I built it from parts in the first place.)

Thanks alot for the info.


idk what it was doing then. I was trying to tell it to download my music- which it seems that was what it complained at length about, but I have since found the 'backup files of this type' box and it shut up.


edit: back on topic, I now have dropbox and carbonite running on the same machine =p. I do only use dropbox for calibre2opds though so I can reach my calibre library remotely.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by chyron8472

Yes, and I'm no novice to reformatting my PC (given that I built it from parts in the first place.)

Thanks alot for the info.


idk what it was doing then. I was trying to tell it to download my music- which it seems that was what it complained at length about, but I have since found the 'backup files of this type' box and it shut up.


edit: back on topic, I now have dropbox and carbonite running on the same machine =p. I do only use dropbox for calibre2opds though so I can reach my calibre library remotely.

Did the problem happen during the trial period? During the trial period, there are a few filetypes, such as mp3, that Carbonite won't backup unless manually instructed. Once you pay for it, it's less fussy. It's been long enough, I completely forgot about that. Sorry.