Backing up in my world

I know that Tyler was talking about backups recently, and I have to say that using S3 might very well be an option for me with my server. I have to do the math to see if it would be a better deal.

For the home comprooders, however, I know I'm going to let .Mac expire. Honestly, it's mostly because the backup client that Apple provides kinda sucks (it backs up big incremental files with no indication about what's inside). 30 gigs for $200 a year isn't horrible, but it's not quite enough either. Besides, I can upload whatever my disk can hold on my own server by enabling WebDAV.

So I've been trying to find a client that does that, and does a file-for-file copy of what you have, including deleting files you deleted, to any device or networked drive. Sounds so simple, but I couldn't find anything that did it. Deja Vu sounds like it'll do exactly what I need, so I'm going to give that a try. I might need a new server though if I want to truly backup my entire home folder. I don't like the idea that all of my photos and music could disappear if my house was hit by a meteor.

Using S3 then to backup the usual server stuff and my own stuff that's up there, that would be a super ideal solution. I just have to see if the Windows JungleDisk client restricts access to the S3 "drive" to the machine itself. With a known port number, I don't want that flapping around on Intertubes.

Time Machine for local backup is sweet. I haven't needed it, but the never think about it nature is exactly what backing up should be.