Why oh why, Western Digital???

Seemingly, the totality of my work knowledge can be contained on a single disc, an 700-MB CDR.

I was backing up my documents on my work computer and pared down my files I wanted to keep to fit on a single CD – not sure how to view that fact. And oh yeah, the CD is only half full.

Aww, wait… I didn’t bother to verify if the disc is actually readable and usable. Perhaps that’s a better testament to my totality of work knowledge?

(And win a new iPad!). First off, this Saturday, March 31, is designated as World Backup Day 2012. This is the first I’ve ever heard of this “event” but in this day and age of Internet memes and causes, I’m not surprised.

So on World Backup Day, please remember to save all your precious files. You never know when your hard drive will stop cooperating. To encourage backing up your files, many participating commercial vendors are offering up deals and prizes. My favorite online backup company, Backblaze, is offering up the chance to win a new iPad by trying out their service. Read the official rules here.

Try out the Backblaze trial and if you like the reassurance that your files are protected off-site by Backblaze, sign up for an account.

If you’ve been waiting for a data storage solution that’s expandable and redundant, look no further than Drobo. And yes, I am now a Drobo affiliate aka a Drobo Champ.

I’ve been using BackBlaze, and it’s been going well so far. It literally took months for the initial online backup to complete, but I kinda expected as much moving over 260-GB worth of data. After the initial backup, new files and updates are continuously backed up in no time.

Cost is very reasonable at $95 for a two year plan so that’s like $50 a year for peace of mind that your data is safely stored in times of emergencies.

Give a gift to yourself and sign up for BackBlaze.

Here’s what my backup plan currently includes (of course, things change).

Mac OS X Time Machine. This built-in Mac OS feature has saved my bacon on occasion and even though my current Time Machine drive lost its mind temporarily, it’s rebuilding and backing up gigs of stuff.

Backblaze. Speaking of gigs of stuff, how long does it take to back up gigs of stuff online? I’m not sure, but I still got Backblaze blazing away. There’s about 200 gigs to go…  Have you signed up?

VaultPress. This is my most recent addition to my backup plan. How do you keep your words (and everything else) on WordPress safe and protected? You store them in a vault, a VaultPress. Since I got a Golden Ticket, I figured I’d try this service in its startup stages.

So if Big Boi asks, my backup plan is Time Machine, Backblaze, and VaultPress!

Essentially, VaultPress is a premium service to protect your (WordPress) blogs. It’ll backup all your WordPress work so if any bad juju happens, you won’t have to cry like missing a World Cup penalty kick. Sign-ups for early access to VaultPresss are now being taken, and if you’re lucky, you’ll soon get a Golden Ticket.

Don’t worry, Backblaze is there for you. Install the software, and you’re off! Backblaze automatically backs up your data in the background. But the best proof is to try it yourself.

During June aka Backup Awareness Month, you can test drive Backblaze and be eligible to win an iPad! Actually you and me could win iPads so you gotta Backblaze now.

Start backing up here.

Before doing the SMC reset though, I think I screwed myself using Disk Utility to see if I could repair my internal drive. Anyways, after booting off the Leopard DVD, one of the options available is restore from Time Machine backup. I selected that and about five hours later, my iMac was back in action. For some reason, I had to run through a OS X Mail app import but all my settings and email were still there.

If you haven’t done so already, get Leopard and a big external drive, and let Time Machine save your bacon.

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