I can't seem to find anything that "just works", specifically for my mom and grandma. Software requirements are simple: easy enough that they can use it after I set it up, and incremental such that the computer doesn't have to have special power-on hours for it to run a complete backup.
For example, telling them to copy the Documents and Pictures folders and pasting them on an external drive is a no-go, as it would take many hours every time. Telling them to copy only new files to the drive seems error-prone and annoying, and I additionally don't think I could explain that to my grandma. Leaving the drive permanently connected isn't really an option with laptops, and is a cryptolocker risk (I wouldn't be surprised if they click on a cryptolocker sooner or later). Not to mention the risk of fire.
If there is good software, an external drive is a reasonable compromise and a cheap option. The software I found for local backups typically requires more than a single click, and many hard-code the drive letter (which is variable). I also found that my mom plugged in the backup drive exactly zero times over the course of half a year.
For online backup, I would like it to be properly encrypted (I'll manage the key: if I get hit by a bus, they still have the original data). Trying Backblaze, the backup gets stuck on a random picture. Asking support, they say it might be a read lock, which is plausible, but c'mon, Windows and indefinite read locks exist since forever, it should not break the backup completely. I guess I'll implement support's solution (ask mom to reboot) and pay for a month while continuing to monitor it...
Cygwin and rsync (or restic or so) is possible, but requires me to run a server with ~500GB of free space. Scripting it so they only have to click an icon isn't a big deal, but rolling my own seems error-prone, and surely there exists a solution that someone without a unix neck beard can understand?!
What do you use for your loved ones?
Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21153550
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