Backup strategy (@Mario - Macrium Reflect)

[RobiWan]

Hello,

it is not the first time that @Mario mentioned his backup with Macrium reflect. I use the software myself for many years, but in a different form of backup (not file, but disk backup)
So I am very interested in how you realized it. Can you please describe it a bit? It is not the only software that can backup changed blocks, so I think it will be interesting for others as well.

Cheers Robert

[Mario]

I do both disk- and file-based backups with Macrium Reflect. It can do both.
I do disk-based backups for my regular daily, weekly and monthly backups.

I do file-based backups to backup selected folder hierarchies frequently into the cloud and to keep many generations of them.

[Jingo]

Same here.. I have reflect running 6 backups each evening at different times to create differential and (when needed) full backups.  Hands off, works great and the restores work easily as well (always take the time to try and do a restore now and again).

[Mario]

Macrium Reflect is one of the applications I happily pay for.

It has saved by buttocks more than once over the years.
And the dreaded task of replacing a dead system disk (with Windows installation and all that) has become something that is easy and quick to do. I had to do this two times in 5 years (workstation with heavy use).

Also important, backups run automatically and in the background, without interfering with my work. When there is a problem, I get messages and emails. I only need to remember to swap disks and to run the monthly backup. All else is automated.

For cloud-based backups it is very important that Macrium can encrypt the backup files. I don't trust any cloud provider with my business or personal data. Anything is encrypted locally before it goes into the cloud - to be safe and GDPR-compliant.

[frankdarwin]

Macrium Reflect is one of the applications I happily pay for....

I have also been using Reflect for years. Before that, I used several other backup tools. None of them could hold a candle to Rflect.
It is very reliable, fast and flexible. I no longer fear a system crash or data loss.

[sinus]

For cloud-based backups it is very important that Macrium can encrypt the backup files. I don't trust any cloud provider with my business or personal data. Anything is encrypted locally before it goes into the cloud - to be safe and GDPR-compliant.

You mean, you do load finally only backup-files (mrbak) from Macrium to the cloud?

[Mario]

You mean, you do load finally only backup-files (mrbak) from Macrium to the cloud?

I don't let Macrium do file backups directly into the OneDrive folder. It does not offer encryption for file-based backups the last time I've looked. Only for disk-based backups you can enable strong encryption.

For file-based backups I let Macrium store the backups on a virtual disk provided by a software called BoxCryptor (from a German company). Everything stored on that virtual disk is automatically encrypted. OneDrive only ever sees and backups the encrypted files. For all software this virtual disk looks like a regular disk. If Boxcryptor is not running or the disk is not mounted the data cannot be decrypted. Very nice.

This schema will not longer work, though.
The core technology of BoxCryptor was purchased by DropBox last week. DropBox wil integrate the BoxCryptor tech into their commercial products or something. Maybe Microsoft offers the same at some point.

But like all US vendors they are not only required to scan everything uploaded for specific contents, but they may be also required by US entities to deliver the contents of your cloud storage for a wide range of reasons. Which is why DropBox, OneDrive, GoogleDrive (especially) are all not considered GDPR-compliant and hence cannot be used to hold data from EU citizens. And I just don't trust them.

I can replace BoxCryptor with the free and open source software VeraCrypt (tested that already) or with Cryptomator or similar. I will evaluate these over the next couple of months. Boxcrytor will continue to work for the foreseeable future, so there is no rush.

My key points are:

a) everything related to backups is automatic (to avoid Mario messing things up by forgetting something)
b) everything is encrypted locally and nothing unencrypted ever goes into the cloud
c) I can easily (manually or, better, automatically) verify that backups worked and are accessible frequently.
Macrium e.g. comes with a command line tool named "verify.exe" for that purpose.

[sinus]

Thanks a lot, Mario,
very interesting. I will try to do something equal for me here. The stress here is on the word "try". 

[Mario]

I was mistaken. Macrium can also encrypt file-based backups.

I've also switched from BoxCryptor to Cryptomator because DropBox bought the core technology of BoxCryptor and I don't see any future for it.

Cryptomator works the same, but is open source and has a German company behind it.

[rick42]

I also use Macrium, happily.
Am looking at https://proton.me/drive for encrypted cloud storage. Any thoughts or experience with it as a backup location?
Thanks

[Mario]

Tip: If you have an Office 365 Family license (about 75$ per year?) you get 5 TB (5,000 GB) in OneDrive on top.
Each user can store up to 1 TB, which is plenty for normal people backup requirements I suppose.

That's the cheapest offering I've found so far. And I get the full Office suite on top, which I use anyway.

[Carlo Didier]

I have been using iDrive (not from Apple!!!) for my encrypted online backups for years now and I am very satisfied.
They currently offer 20TB for less per month than you pay for the Adobe Photography plan.


I also do local backups on my NAS (with GoodSync for data and Macrium for system backups) which has snapshot functionality for backup history and which in turn mirrors snapshots to a second NAS which is at a friends home. I know, it's a bit of overkill, but I've been responsible for backups in my company for years, so ...

[RobiWan]

OneDrive only ever sees and backups the encrypted files.

Why do you not use MS vhdx Files (Discs) with BitLocker?

[loweskid]

In the latest issue of the UK magazine 'Computer Active' it states - "In sad news for users of Macrium Reflect Free.....the excellent free backup program is being retired.  Although you'll still be able to use the current version of the software (Reflect 8 Free), it will no longer be updated and won't receive security fixes after 1 January 2024"

It goes on to recommend Hasleo Backup Suite 3 as an alternative (I've never heard of this but I'll have a look at it).

[thrinn]

In the latest issue of the UK magazine 'Computer Active' it states - "In sad news for users of Macrium Reflect Free.....the excellent free backup program is being retired.  Although you'll still be able to use the current version of the software (Reflect 8 Free), it will no longer be updated and won't receive security fixes after 1 January 2024"

It goes on to recommend Hasleo Backup Suite 3 as an alternative (I've never heard of this but I'll have a look at it).

This is only valid for the Free edition, I assume? Strangely, even for the free version, I do not find this information on the official Macrium web site.
For me, it is worth some money to have a reliable backup solution, therefore I am using the paid version.

[Mario]

I have two paid licenses for Macrium Reflect because I use it on two computers. It's reasonably priced and, at least in my case, has paid for itself many times.

Just yesterday Windows failed to restore itself from Hibernate (unknown reason, many months since it did that last).
One source code file was somehow damaged (only binary garbage remaining).

I could restore the file from my source control system easily enough (which is backed up by Macrium and into the cloud).
If this did not work, or if a file would have been affected that is not under source control, I could have restored the file from the automatic Macrium file-based backups which run 3 times a day, or the image-based backup in the evening.
And that even for several weeks back.

Since I do regular backups (after learning things the hard way many moons ago) I have never lost a file.
And I have many files and many of these are important.