Nithin Kamath's Weblog

Imagine yourself waking up one fine morning with a crashed hard disk. How would you feel, all your precious documents, photos and videos all lost in one shot without any warning. That’s where data backups come into the picture and with data growing like never before it is vital not just for enterprises but also for the normal users.

First I will be mentioning the applications I am using to scheduling the auto backup, then I will be mentioning my backup methods.

For the auto backup I am using Cron and RSync. The choice of the applications is a personal one, I choose RSync for making the actual backup because it is a excellent file copying application which finds files that need to be transferred using a “quick check” algorithm which looks for files that have changed in size or in last-modified time.

 
Ideally the backups should go to a separate external backup source, but as I am yet to buy an external HDD, I am saving it to the same HDD. This is where the cloud services come into the picture, I will be using Dropbox and Ubuntu One to ensure that I have at least one copy some place other than my HDD. Even in the above example if you notice I have copied the files into the Dropbox folder from where it will be automatically picked up by the Dropbox client and uploaded to the Dropbox servers. This will ensure that the files are accessible from anywhere.

Now that the backup method is in place the next step is identification of the files which require backup. For me that would be:
1. Documents : All of these are present in one main folder, so this makes backup very easy.
2. Mails and profiles : Having used Thunderbird since early 2005 it has lots of mails so this has to be backed up. Other than the Thunderbird mails, I am looking at backing up the Firefox profile, the Liferea profile and the Pidgin profile folder.
3. Photos and Videos: 25 GB of photos in the past three years.

The first two are easily taken care by Dropbox and Ubuntu One. Only thing to note here is that don’t directly sync your profile folders of Thunderbird or for that matter any application as it will result in a strange situation where at the time profile is getting updated the cloud application also tried to upload. Ultimately give a sluggish performance. So to avoid this always move it to a separate folder. For the photos and video, there is no free cloud service which will provide me 25GB so for the moment only the important ones will go to the cloud servers, rest will be move to the external HDD which I will soon be buying.

There are still a few other things which need backup like my blog which I am still looking at.

This was my backup plan, please comment and let me know about any better options if you know about or if you do it differently.

For reference reason I am putting the whole contents of the crontab below:
05 22 * * 0 rsync -av --delete --progress -exclude=**/*cache*/ --exclude=**/*Cache*/ ~/.thunderbird/ ~/Dropbox/backup/thunderbird/
07 22 * * 0 rsync -av --delete --progress -exclude=**/*cache*/ --exclude=**/*Cache*/ ~/.mozilla/ ~/Dropbox/backup/firefox/
30 23 * * 6 rsync -av --delete --progress -exclude=**/*cache*/ --exclude=**/*Cache*/ ~/.liferea_1.6/ ~/Dropbox/backup/liferea/
05 22 * * 6 rsync -av --delete --progress -exclude=**/*cache*/ --exclude=**/*Cache*/ ~/.purple/ ~/Dropbox/backup/pidgin/

Coming back to the intent of writing this post, during the time I spent there one thing which really hit across and which we hardly notice these days is that of true happiness. In a age where money and success is all that matters, it was a real treat to observe small kids express their happiness which brought about a bigger smile on their parents faces.

My bench was in a strategic spot where in the kids could start seeing the large newly opened playing area with see-saw, swings etc. As the kids came the reactions were worth the watch, I missed not having taking my camera along. Each kid responded differently, some jumped with joy, some pulled their parents to come along faster, others just ran forward in full throttle to the play area.

If I had taken the camera, I would have loved to take a photo of a small boy who came wearing cool orange goggles and the moment he saw the play area, he stood still on his track. After a couple of seconds, he took off his goggles in style with his eyes still popped out. Now thats what I call being wonder struck. After the initial adrenaline rush was over, he put back his goggles and ran to the play area, leaving his parents gasping for air trying to catch up with him.

Yes, this should get us thinking, when kids can be so happy and express it so nicely why can’t we. We can see people all around stuck up with their own life, not happy with what they have and wanting more, most of them filled with anger just looking for trigger to blow.

As we celebrate Independence day, I would say is the right day to get rid of all the cobweb you are caught in. Enjoy the freedom you have been provided and relax, enjoy the world around.

Note: So far this year I have not been able to write much on my blog. So I have thought the only way to revive my blogging area is to write small and quick random thoughts and observations.

It has been a long time since I last blogged, I was just waiting for something which would ring the right cord for me to get back. And here were are, BSNL and their staff always help me getting something to write about, hope to get back with at least one post a week.

Around mid-February I had disconnected my BSNL NIC card connection and had moved to broadband offering from the same provider. Now 4 months down the lane, I am yet to get the Security Deposit and the 10 days additional amount I had paid as rent back.

Getting back the money which was paid as security deposit is looking as much tough as it was to get the device working when I initially took the connection, at that time I had to run around their office every other day asking them for them to get it working. The whole thing is documented read – BSNL NIC Card and Customer Support.

Now that I am facing these many issues in getting back my own money, I thought of documenting this too. The story thus far is:

Feb 19, 2010 : I give a letter to BSNL CSC, Shakarapuram to disconnect my NIC device and handover the device to them.

May 29, 2010 10:30am: Three months are over so head over to their accounts department in DVG road to ask them when I can expect my money back. Once I reach there, they make me wait for 15 minutes and then tell me that for NIC card (which falls under WLL) I would have to contact their office in Palace Road. They point me towards the wall which has the numbers to be contacted. The numbers were 22355772, 22355771 and 22355773. There was an additional number of a JAO 22931179.

May 29, 2010 11:30am: I called at 22355772 to be told that the file has not arrived and they cannot do anything till the file reaches them and the line was disconnected without any opportunity for me to speak.

May 29, 2010 11:45am : Still with hopes I contacted the Junior Accounts Officer’s number (22931179). The person who received the call who I think was the JAO told me that he was not sure and needed to check, so asked me to call back after 10 minutes.

May 29, 2010 12:00pm – 1:00pm : I keep on trying, the number is always busy.

May 29, 2010 4:00pm – 4:30pm : The number is still busy.

May 29, 2010 4:45pm : Finally manage to get through and was told that they have not received the file and they cannot do anything till they receive the file. He tells me that he will send a note to the department from where he is to get the file and at the same time asked me to call them at the numbers 22205392 and 22875567. As it was already 5pm, I thought there was no point in calling the number so kept it pending for the coming week.

June 19th 4:15pm: After missing out on calling them on 5th June and 12th June. I called the JAO directly again. This time he asked me if I had called earlier, I told yes, he told that the file had not yet come and he cannot do anything till the file is received. He mentioned that there are many such complaints and he keeps sending these details to the department concerned but for action it is best if I call them. So he again gives me the number 22205392.

June 19th 4:30pm: Called 22205392, a lady picked up the call and even before I could tell my issue completely; cutting me off she told me to contact the number 22282000 which is of her assistant. Called the number but no one picked up, kept calling till 5pm, but no luck.

So much struggle, already spent over 2 hours of my time on this. Now wonder what would have happened if I do the same to them and do not pay the bill for a couple of months, will they sleep on it. No way, they have 10% penalty if one misses a payment date and disconnection follows. So why this laziness to return back the money they taken from people?

Only thing that makes me laugh each time I visit one of their offices or call them is that they always have network problem or their servers will be too slow for the office staff to work. This for a company which goes by the tag line “Connection India”. A quick suggestion to folks at BSNL, start internally so that people do not have to run around from one office to another to get their grievances addressed then think about India.

That’s the story till now, Next time I call if they give me another number I know which number to ask for “Consumer Court”. What do you think folks, when will I get back my money?