为什么您备份数据如此可怕

Every few years I have a panic about losing everything, and in a flurry of activity, I buy hard drives, blank DVDs, and subscriptions to cloud storage services. Then, because I am a geek, I concoct incomprehensible command-line scripts to perform backups. I write commands in a jumble of slashes, colons, and letters:

在过去的几年中，我对丢失所有东西感到恐慌，在一连串的活动中，我购买了硬盘驱动器，空白DVD和云存储服务的订阅。 然后，由于我是一个极客，我炮制了难以理解的命令行脚本来执行备份。 我用斜线，冒号和字母组成的命令：

robocopy "D:\" "H:\D" /MIR /FFT /R:3 /W:10 /Z /NP /NDL

Even as I’m writing these, I’m aware that I will have no idea what they do in a day’s time, let alone when I next come to look at them, years later, in a backup-induced panic. And yet, every time, I fall into the trap of thinking that the more complex and impenetrable the backup, the better the backup. This is flagrantly false and doesn’t stand up to the tiniest bit of scrutiny, but still, I feel satisfied with a good day’s backing up, even if I haven’t backed up any actual, you know, data.

即使我写这些，我知道，我WIL l具备不知道他们在一天的时间做的，更何况，当我旁边来看看他们，几年后，在备份引起的恐慌。 但是，每次我都会陷入这样的陷阱：备份越复杂和难以理解，备份就越好。 这显然是错误的，不能经受最细微的审查，但是，即使我没有备份任何实际的数据，我仍然对一天的备份感到满意。

The problem with backing up is that it is work you don’t want to ever use. You hope the effort will be wasted. When we talk of backing up, we refer to “redundant” systems—literally, systems that are superfluous. And usually, when something is superfluous, you try to get rid of it. But to back up something, a redundant copy is not redundant. The very words for describing backups drive us in logical circles.

备份的问题在于，这是您不希望使用的工作。 您希望这项工作将被浪费。 当谈到备份时，我们指的是“冗余”系统-从字面上看，是多余的系统。 通常，当多余的东西时，您尝试摆脱它。 但是要备份某些内容，冗余副本不是多余的。 描述备份的用语恰恰使我们陷入逻辑圈子。

Backing up is time-consuming. It requires thought, it requires effort, and it requires money. You need to put your backed-up data somewhere, whether that’s a cloud service you pay monthly for or a hard drive that you tuck away somewhere. These things cost.

备份非常耗时。 它需要思想 ，需要努力，并且需要金钱。 您需要将备份的数据放置在某个地方 ，无论是每月支付的云服务还是藏在某个地方的硬盘驱动器。 这些东西要花钱。

More than that, backing up is boring. It has a dull, worthy feeling to it—the digital equivalent of eating your vegetables, meditating for an hour, and going to bed at 10. How many of us, really, want to spend time backing up our data? We know we should, but we get no immediate benefit from it. Like all tasks with indeterminate benefits at some point in the future, it requires effort to motivate ourselves. File it next to upgrading the OS, reviewing the privacy policy, and updating the antivirus (or contributing to a 401(k) and reducing carbon emissions). Who would have thought that backing up would be such an apt metaphor for the failures of the modern world?

不仅如此，备份很无聊。 它有一种呆板的感觉，它相当于吃蔬菜，冥想一个小时并在10点上床睡觉。这实际上相当于我们中有多少人想花时间备份我们的数据？ 我们知道我们应该这样做 ，但我们不会立即从中受益。 就像将来某个时候所有收益不确定的任务一样，它需要努力激励自己。 将其归档，然后升级操作系统，检查隐私策略并更新防病毒软件(或促成401(k)并减少碳排放)。 谁会想到，备份对于现代世界的失败将是一个恰当的隐喻？

Like all things that are good for you, you’re probably backing up wrong. “Backing up to a hard drive that is six inches away from your computer is #notabackup,” programming expert Scott Hanselman writes. In fact, even backing up isn’t a backup. You need “three copies of anything you care about — two isn’t enough if it’s important,” Hanselman adds. Plus, he suggests different formats: “Dropbox+DVDs or Hard Drive+Memory Stick or CD+CrashPlan.” And one of those needs to be off-site. This is starting to sound like a lot of work. Maybe I don’t care about my pictures of loved ones that much.

像所有对您有好处的事情一样，您可能备份错了。 编程专家Scott Hanselman写道： “备份到距计算机六英寸的硬盘驱动器是#notabackup。” 实际上，即使备份也不是备份。 Hanselman补充说，您需要“三份关心的东西，如果重要的话，两份是不够的”。 另外，他建议使用不同的格式：“ Dropbox + DVD或硬盘驱动器+ Memory Stick或CD + CrashPlan。” 其中之一需要不在现场。 听起来开始需要做很多工作。 也许我不关心我的亲人那么多的照片。

Is having a good backup strategy a type of peacocking?

拥有良好的备份策略是一种成功的做法吗？

In the past, I’ve tried to find technology to make this go away. There’s a method of setting up hard drives in your computer called RAID, which automatically copies data to another drive. That way, if one drive fails, the data is still safe. No effort or habit change required. You simply carry on, safe in the knowledge that everything is stored on two drives. But this is like taking vitamin pills instead of eating your vegetables. “RAID is not a backup.” It doesn’t stop viruses from spreading, it doesn’t protect against human error, and if your house catches fire, your data isn’t protected. #NotABackup.

过去，我尝试过寻找可以消除这种情况的技术。 有一种在计算机中设置硬盘的方法称为RAID，该方法可自动将数据复制到另一个驱动器。 这样，如果一个驱动器发生故障，数据仍然是安全的。 无需努力或改变习惯。 您只需安全地知道所有内容都存储在两个驱动器中即可。 但这就像服用维生素药片而不是吃蔬菜。 “ RAID不是备份。 ”它不会阻止病毒传播，也不能防止人为错误，并且如果您的房屋着火了，您的数据也将受到保护。 #NotABackup。

And it doesn’t stop there. Joel Spolsky, the software developer who helped create Trello, Glitch, and Stack Overflow, tells us, “The minimum bar for a reliable service is not that you have done a backup, but that you have done a restore.” Backing up effectively is not a case of setting something up and then leaving it. It becomes a lifelong activity of cycling backup tapes off-site and doing test runs of restores and disaster recovery. While all of this is true and correct, it feels so unreasonable to expect me to do this in my personal life. Do I have to run my home computer like a small IT department?

而且不止于此。 曾帮助创建Trello，Glitch和Stack Overflow的软件开发人员Joel Spolsky 告诉我们 ：“可靠服务的最低要求不是您已进行了备份，而是已进行了还原 。” 有效备份不是设置某些内容然后保留的情况。 它变成了终生的活动，即在异地循环备份磁带并进行还原和灾难恢复的测试运行。 尽管所有这些都是正确和正确的，但是期望我在自己的个人生活中这样做实在是太不合理了。 我是否必须像小型IT部门一样运行家用计算机？

When software developer Jeff Atwood’s website suffered a catastrophic data loss, he wrote a blog recriminating himself. “I am an idiot,” he writes. “I suck. No, really, I suck.” And so, I suppose, do we all for not having good enough backups.

当软件开发商Jeff Atwood的网站遭受灾难性的数据丢失时，他写了一个博客来谴责自己。 他写道： “我是个白痴。” “我很烂。 不，真的，我很烂。” 因此，我想，我们所有人是否都没有足够好的备份。

Our digital worlds are ever more complicated. It isn’t even enough to back up your computer (and store an off-site copy, and cycle the backups, and test the restoration). Now you have dozens, maybe hundreds of services and devices storing your data, any of which could have a catastrophic failure at any time. Your phone, iPad, Kindle—all need backing up. As do Gmail, Facebook, this article on Medium. Instagram maybe? What about TikTok? Should I backup my tweets?

我们的数字世界变得更加复杂。 备份计算机(存储非现场副本，循环备份和测试还原)还不够。 现在，您有数十个(也许是数百个)存储数据的服务和设备，其中任何服务和设备都可能随时发生灾难性故障。 您的手机，iPad，Kindle —都需要备份。 与Gmail，Facebook一样，本文在Medium上。 Instagram也许？ 那TikTok呢？ 我应该备份我的推文吗？

Some services offer an “export content” button that downloads a zip file of images, status updates, emails, files, and so on. But now what? Should I have a weekly routine of pressing these buttons, downloading the data, and adding it to my three backups, one of which I store in an off-site safe house? And what about the services that don’t offer such a button? How do I get my stuff out of them?

某些 服务 提供了“ 导出内容 ”按钮，可下载图像，状态更新，电子邮件，文件等的zip文件。 但是现在呢？ 我是否应该每周按一下这些按钮，下载数据并将其添加到我的三个备份中(我将其中一个存储在异地安全屋中)？ 不提供这种按钮的服务又如何呢？ 我如何从他们身上拿走我的东西？

We’ve become increasingly connected and rely on the network for our information to have meaning.

我们之间的联系日益紧密，依靠网络使我们的信息具有意义。

When MySpace lost all of its user data, the platform added a small notice on the home screen. “We apologize for the inconvenience,” it said, “and suggest that you retain your backup copies.” Backup copies!? Who were they kidding?

当MySpace 丢失所有用户数据时 ，平台会在主屏幕上添加一条小提示。 它说：“给您带来的不便，我们深表歉意，并建议您保留备份副本。” 备份副本！ 他们在跟谁开玩笑？

In the past few weeks, Canon’s online service lost users’ photos and videos, and Adobe accidentally permanently deleted users’ photos and presets. “We sincerely apologize,” Adobe said. Canon offered its “deepest apologies.” That’s like guests leaving a funeral and shaking hands with the bereaved with Cheeto-covered fingers from the complimentary snacks we paid for. “Sorry for your loss. We’ll be taking $4.99 next month for online storage costs.”

在过去的几周中， 佳能的在线服务丢失了用户的照片和视频 ，而Adobe意外地永久删除了用户的照片和预设。 Adobe表示：“我们深表歉意。” 佳能表示“最深切的歉意”。 这就像客人离开葬礼并从我们所支付的免费小吃中用Cheeto盖着的手指与失去亲人的亲人握手。 “对不起，您的损失。 我们将在下个月收取4.99美元的在线存储费用。”

When I’m going through one of my backup phases, madly trying to save my files to other storage, I can’t help thinking of preppers: usually Americans, usually white, usually men, who build bomb shelters and stockpile food in preparation for the end of the world.

当我处于备份阶段之一时，疯狂地尝试将文件保存到其他存储中，我不禁想到准备者：通常是美国人，通常是白人，通常是男人，他们建造防空洞并储备食物以准备世界末日。

Both are exercises in getting ready for the worst and, consequently, imagining horrible ways things could go wrong. Maybe my computer could be hacked; maybe my house could burn down; maybe society could collapse and we’d all be left rummaging for food in bins. I should probably print out my photos.

两者都是为了为最坏的情况做准备而做的练习，因此，想像出错误的可怕方式。 也许我的计算机可能被黑客入侵了； 也许我的房子会烧毁； 也许社会可能崩溃，我们所有人都会在垃圾桶里翻找食物。 我应该打印出我的照片。

There’s also an unspoken aspiration for rugged individualism, free from society. I won’t be beholden to Dropbox any more than I will to a globalized food supply chain. I find myself wondering if backing up is a geek-acceptable, 21st-century form of masculine-encoded chest-beating: catching a wild boar replaced with setting up Apple’s Time Machine. In her book How to Be a Woman, Caitlin Moran jokingly notes that “what really makes a man ‘alpha’ is avoiding pugilism… and, as a bonus, knowing how to reinstall Adobe AIR when Twitter goes down on your laptop.” Although I wince at the suggestion that only men can fix a laptop, I wonder if this passing quip contains some truth. Is having a good backup strategy a type of peacocking?

坚固耐用的个人主义也有一种不言而喻的渴望，那就是远离社会。 我不会像去全球化食品供应链那样迷恋Dropbox。 我发现自己想知道备份是否是极客可接受的21世纪男性编码的胸部跳动形式：赶上野猪，而不是设置苹果公司的Time Machine 。 凯特琳·莫兰(Caitlin Moran)在她的《 如何成为女人》一书中开玩笑地指出：“真正使男人成为'alpha'的人是在避免夫……而且，此外，知道在Twitter不在笔记本电脑上时如何重新安装Adobe AIR。” 尽管我对只有男人可以修理笔记本电脑的建议感到畏缩，但我想知道是否通过了这个玩笑。 拥有良好的备份策略是一种成功的做法吗？

Even the most ardent backer-upper has likely omitted something.

即使是最热心的支持者，也可能忽略了某些内容。

This drive for independence belies how connected everything is. We rely on connected systems to give our data meaning in the same way that we rely on global infrastructure to provide food and products. I think up clever ways to protect my data through increasingly outlandish situations. But if my house were destroyed and the internet collapsed, I’d probably have other things on my mind than restoring my old tweets from nano-engraved stainless steel.

这种争取独立的动力掩盖了一切之间的联系。 我们依靠连接的系统来赋予我们的数据含义，就像我们依靠全球基础设施来提供食物和产品一样。 我想出了一些聪明的方法来通过日益古怪的情况保护我的数据。 但是，如果我的房子被毁，互联网崩溃了，除了用纳米雕刻的不锈钢恢复我的旧推文，我可能还会想到其他事情。

Looking at the data I exported from Facebook, I wonder about the value of it. It contains every group I’m a member of, every item I’ve liked, and most bizarrely of all, “off-Facebook activity”—a list of random IDs received by Facebook from other apps, quite literally meaningless without a corresponding database entry. On April 20, Facebook received “597615686992125” from TikTok. I’d hate to lose that.

查看我从Facebook导出的数据，我想知道它的价值。 它包含我所属的每个组，我喜欢的每个项目，以及最奇怪的是“ Facebook外活动”，这是Facebook从其他应用程序接收到的随机ID的列表，如果没有相应的数据库，这实际上是毫无意义的条目。 4月20日，Facebook从TikTok收到了“ 597615686992125”。 我不想失去那个。

If Facebook had a catastrophic data loss or went bust, my exports from it would be useless. It would be nice to have the photos, but our data is given meaning by its context. The group names mean little without the groups themselves. Outside of Twitter, I’m not sure tweets would be useful. Even the ones that don’t age badly have a limited shelf life. How often do we go back and look at old tweets? We’ve become increasingly connected and rely on the network for our information to have meaning.

如果Facebook遭受灾难性的数据丢失或破产，我从中的出口将毫无用处。 拥有照片会很好，但是我们的数据由上下文确定。 没有组本身，组名的意义不大。 在Twitter之外，我不确定鸣叫是否有用。 甚至那些没有老化的也有有限的保质期。 我们多久回来看一次旧推文？ 我们之间的联系日益紧密，依靠网络使我们的信息具有意义。

There’s a good chance your approach to backups is as imperfect as mine. Even the most ardent backer-upper has likely omitted something. But we live in the real world. The perfect is the enemy of the good. And none of this is to say you shouldn’t back up. You certainly should. And there are tools that make it easier: Time Machine and iCloud for Apple, Backup and Restore for Windows. But our attempts are destined to be partial and imperfect.

您的备份方法很有可能像我的一样不完美。 即使是最热心的支持者，也可能忽略了某些内容。 但是我们生活在现实世界中。 完美是善的敌人。 这些都不是说您不应该备份。 你当然应该。 还有一些工具可以简化操作：Time Machine和Apple的iCloud，Windows的备份和还原。 但是我们的尝试注定是不完整的。

It’s not our fault. We’ve all been caught in a world of unreliable drives, inconsistent services, and fragmented technology. There is only so much effort we can put toward this. So I run my too clever by half scripts and continue with my occasional, half-hearted backing-up strategy that backs up some things some of the time. And I hope that I never have to use them.

这不是我们的错。 我们所有人都陷入了一个不可靠的驱动器，不一致的服务以及技术零散的世界。 我们只能为此付出很多努力。 因此，我只用了一半脚本就太聪明了，然后继续执行偶尔的，三心二意的备份策略，该策略有时会备份某些内容。 我希望我永远不必使用它们。

We rushed to the internet, with its half-formed systems and processes, and are doing the best we can. We didn’t have to back up books and DVDs. This is all new to us.

我们冲入了拥有半成品的系统和流程的互联网，并且正在尽力而为。 我们不必备份书籍和DVD。 这对我们来说是全新的。

翻译自: https://onezero.medium.com/why-youre-so-terrible-at-backing-up-your-data-352042f11ce1