Having a good backup strategy is critical to having a positive computing experience. I hate to say it but things happen to computers, they freeze, documents get deleted accidentally, and components stop functioning but there is nothing more catastrophic than a hard drive failure. Logic board, video, and network failures are a pain, but can easily be repaired. A hard drive failure means that all the documents you have so carefully saved over the years are suddenly gone. Without a good backup they are gone forever. 
The strategy we have at FCS for teacher computer backups is simple. Teachers are to put copies of their files on the server. The servers are backed up each night. By placing your files on the server you are assuring that the files you have worked so hard to create are safe for you to use in the future. This backup process is simple: 

 

1. Connect to the appropriate server over the network. 
   
2. Copy your files to the correct place. 
   

 
The only complicated thing is keeping track of which files you have changed since the last time you copied your files. There is an easy solution - keep all your files in one folder, say your Documents folder in your home directory. When it is time to back up your documents simply move your entire documents folder to the server and replace the old folder there. FYI - unfortunately our servers have limited storage space, therefore videos, music, and pictures should be backed up in other ways (i.e. DVD’s, external hard drives, etc.). 

Connecting to the Server -

 
Your personal folder is located on the staff server. To connect to the staff server you can browse the network: 

 

1. Open a window in the Finder (the easiest way to do this is to click on the Finder icon in your doc). 
   
2. Click on the Network icon. 
   
3. Click on My Network. 
   
4. Double Click the Staff Server (your window may look slightly different from the image displayed here, just click around on folders in the Network pane until you find the Staff Server). 
   
5. Enter your name and password. 
   
6. Select your name from the list of shares (if an item is grey that means you are already connected to that item). 
   

 

Your Folder on the Server -

 
Your folder on the staff server has several folders inside it. In fact, you will recognize the folder names as the same as those on your computer. Don’t just drop your documents into your personal folder, put them inside one of these other folders. Everyone (including students) has access to items placed directly in the first level of your folder. Items placed inside the existing folders (i.e. Desktop, Documents, Photos, and Movies) are secure from prying eyes. The easiest thing to do is drag the Documents folder on your computer into your Documents folder on the server. Follow these directions to do this: 

 

1. Open two finder windows, if you already have the server window open, simply press Apple-N to open another window. 
   
2. In one window navigate your way to your server Documents folder. 
   
3. In the other window make your way to your local home directory. Don’t confuse these two windows! If you do you will over write all of your local documents! 
   
4. Drag your documents folder from the local window to the server window. 
   
5. Wait patiently while your files fly magically across the network.
    
   

 
One note - in the image displayed here you can easily tell the difference between the server volume window and the local volume window. The local volume is selected using the little house icon, the server volume is selected with the network icon. 
FYI - to back up stored email and your personal settings be sure and copy the Library folder from your home directory as well as your documents. 

Your Sites Folder -

 
One special folder on your server volume is the Sites folder. This folder is live on the internet and allows you to easily put a personal website on the internet. Any file in this folder named index.html becomes your home page. You access these web pages by pointing your browser to: 
http://www.fresnochristian.com/~yourshortname. 
Your short name is the same as the name of your personal server folder. Mine is dmartens, so I can get to my website by directing my browser to: 
http://www.fresnochristian.com/~dmartens. 
Your short name may be a different format, but it will be some combination of your first and last name. 

@ August 24, 2007 2:03:05 PM PDT ( )