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Category: Workflow

  • My Best Practice Backup Strategy for Small Business

    Updated: 2022-03-17

    Click, click, click… Ever experienced the panic when your hard drive starts making that sound? I have. And of course I didn’t have a proper backup strategy in place.

    For a long time I had trouble keeping up with making backups. Finally I figured out the solution: I needed to automate it.

    It’s been 8 years now since that day. Things have worked out really well since I decided to implement a proper backup strategy for my small business.

    Data Backup Strategy – The Risks

    Beyond the day to day aspects of running a small business, my entire life’s work sits on my hard drives. It would be terrible to lose that.

    There are several types of risks I wanted to protect my data against.

    Hard drive failure

    I’ve had several hard drives fail in the past. It’s crucial to understand that all mechanical drives will fail at some point. It’s only a question of when. Even brand new drives as well as SSD ones can fail.

    Ransomware attack / hacking

    Even though I think I’m pretty well aware and protected against such things, it makes sense to prepare against ransomware, malware and hacking.

    I will mention here that as part of my ransomware backup strategy, I’m also using Nord VPN which hides my traffic and provides protection against threats.

    Physical disasters

    These would include things like fires, power surges and flooding. I’m doing what I reasonably can to prevent these things, but again – you never know.

    Theft

    Unfortunately, computers are prime targets for theft and burglaries. While I am taking measures to not become an easy target, you can never rule out the possibility of crime.

    Requirements

    Besides covering the risks mentioned above, there are three main requirements I wanted my backup strategy to meet.

    1. Fully automatic backups

    In the past I’ve dealt with backups manually. Eventually I realised it’s busywork that I could easily automate.

    Not only that. An automated backup process is far superior in frequency and consistency.

    Everything backup related needs to be automated and require little to no maintenance. It relieves me from having to remember to do it manually. One less thing to worry about.

    2. Off-site backup copy

    The only way to cover for physical disasters or theft is to have a second backup off-site. This is where cloud backup comes in.

    3. Version history

    What if I accidentally deleted something? My automated backup system would mirror that change.

    Or maybe at some point I want to return to an earlier version of a project or a file?

    I needed a solution that incorporates version history.

    The 3-2-1 Backup Strategy

    I decided to implement the 3-2-1 backup strategy. Many think it’s the best backup strategy for small business and personal use alike, because it’s straightforward and affordable but still covers a lot of ground.

    The idea is to have three copies of your data:

    1. The primary data (your computer and drives)
    2. A local backup (stored on a separate device to your primary copy)
    3. An off-site backup

    The 3-2-1 method is a best practice backup strategy that is widely recommended. It’s not perfect, but it gets you a long way with a very modest investment. It’s a good option for small business backup strategy.

    I ended up with a data backup strategy that consists of two components:

    1. A cloud backup with version history of my computer and all external drives. For this I chose Backblaze.
    2. A bootable clone of my system drive. I went with Get Backup Pro for this.

    1. Cloud backup with version history

    I researched lots of different options for cloud backup. I ended up choosing Backblaze. Their service is one of the cheapest but still has great features for a cloud backup strategy.

    Backup strategy - Backblaze
    Backblaze is super straightforward to use.

    Backblaze features in a nutshell:

    • Unlimited storage space and bandwidth. You can back up your computer and all your external drives without worrying about limits or extra costs.
    • 30 days version history by default, extendable to 1 year or forever.
    • Fully automatic. You can set up scheduling as well, but I prefer to have it continuously update changed files into the cloud.
    • Free and easy file recovery.
    • Affordable.

    If you need a more advanced solution, there’s Backblaze Business. With it you can do Veeam, NAS, server and computer backups with centrally managed admin and extended version history.

    I have now been using Backblaze for 8 years without any issues. It gives me great peace of mind. I don’t have to think about it at all – it just works and my backups are always up to date.

    You can read my full article about Backblaze here.

    2. A bootable clone backup

    I always have projects to work on and deadlines to meet. I don’t want to risk any downtime.

    A bootable clone backup ensures that if my main drive fails, I can simply boot up from the clone and continue working.

    I decided to use the Get Backup Pro software to create a clone of my main drive. Get Backup Pro comes with the Setapp software bundle which I’m already using for all kinds of tasks in my small business (check it out, it’s pretty great). If you wanted to buy it separately, it’s $19.99.

    Backup strategy - Get Backup Pro
    Get Backup Pro interface. You can set up many different types of backup tasks.

    The initial creation of the clone takes some time. After that, the daily backing up happens quickly. Get Backup Pro uses incremental backups (it only updates what has changed).

    Your data backup strategy?

    I’m quite happy with this backup solution. It protects me against ransomware, physical disasters, theft as well as my own mistakes.

    The combination of Backblaze and Get Backup Pro is very cost effective (not to mention I get the 200+ other apps that come with Get Backup Pro in Setapp).

    For additional security, I’m using Nord VPN to hide my traffic and threat protection.

    You don’t have to adapt this strategy as it is. Whether you’re just looking for a cloud backup strategy or a comprehensive backup strategy for a small business, you can consider these elements as a part of your solution.

    How are you dealing with backups?  Any tips, ideas or further thoughts? Let me know in the comments.

  • What Sample Rate and Bit Depth Should I Use?

    I often get questions about what is the best sample rate and bit depth to use. So let me break it down in a simple way.

    This article is updated in October 2021.

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  • Production Advice From Metalheadz Artists

    The fourth installment of the iconic Platinum Breakz album series on Metalheadz is out now. I’m happy and proud to be a part of it and wanted to celebrate the release by doing something a little bit special. I wanted to bring you guys some knowledge straight from the trenches.

    So I took to it and spoke to many of the artists featured on the album. I asked them to share advice on things they find useful in their music creation process. It goes without saying these guys are all at the top of their game so I was as interested as anyone else about picking some brains! In this article I will also expand and share some further thoughts of my own on each topic. Let’s see what they’re saying…
     

     

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  • Secret Feature in Ableton Live: Show Devices / Plugins on Tracks

    One of the things I have been missing in Ableton Live is the ability to see all of the devices/plugins of all of the tracks at once. It’s a bit annoying having to hop tracks to see what devices each one has loaded up.

    Well, one of you (thanks Martin) pointed me out to a solution. Ableton have in fact created the feature to show device slots in Live but left it out for some reason. However with a little tweak we can make it happen.

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  • Breaking Workflow

    This is a guest post by Kim Lajoie. I recently came across his blog and felt very much connected to his way of thinking. So I invited him to write a little something for me and here we go! I’ll let Kim take it from here. Why should breaking workflow become a part of your workflow?

    You probably get stuck sometimes.

    I know the feeling. I’ll be looking at a half-finished song and my brain is fixated on the next step. But the solution isn’t coming to me.

    As you probably know, I tend to be pretty organised in my workflow. Step 1 is followed by Step 2, which is then followed by Step 3. Kick and snare and hats. Then background percussion. Then bass. Then chords or arps. Then melody. Then repeat for B-section. Then arrangement. Then automation. And on and on it goes.

    ‘Organised’, however, can sometimes look like ‘rigid’. And when it’s time to write a melody but no melody is coming to me, ‘rigid’ tends to look more like ‘uncooperative’. Sometimes the solution is to take a break and let it stew in my subconscious for a day or two. Sometimes the solution is to take inspiration from something outside the genre I’m working in. Sometimes the solution is to start with something exceedingly simple and build on it.

    But sometimes the solution is to break workflow.

    Maybe I can’t solve the bassline because it can’t be solved yet – it needs the chords and the melody before it will emerge. Maybe I can’t solve the background percussion because it’s can’t be solved yet – the drums are already too full or complex.

    Sometimes it makes sense to do things in a different order. Route around the problem.

    More broadly, I worked on a collaboration a few years ago where the singer had recorded scratch vocals but was having difficulty scheduling time to record the final vocals. Rather than stall the project, I actually went ahead with the mix using the scratch vocals, knowing we could record the final vocals later and it wouldn’t be much work to fit them in.

    If you’re getting stuck, it’s probably because you’re trying to solve the wrong problem. Rather than beating yourself up and/or slowing things down, sometimes it makes sense to move on. Tackle things slightly out of order.

    The great thing about plans is that you can always change them.

    Kim Lajoie is a Melbourne music producer specialising in composition, project management and digital audio technology. 

  • Take a Break

    What is your concentration span? There’s a limit.

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