Request for methods to detect/avoid files becoming corrupted and then backed-up
I've owned Acronis True Image for a while now, but I haven't put it into regular use. I soon plan to do so. One possible problem has me worried. I'm concerned about the possibility of a file somehow becoming corrupted (software issue or hardware issue, aka silent corruption/data rot) and then that corrupted file being backed up. After however many generations of backups have been recycled, the only backup I would have of that file would be the corrupted version. Here is a simple example to illustrate:
1) familyphoto.jpg is saved to drive c:
2) familyphoto.jpg is included in a full backup on drive d:
3) familyphoto.jpg is corrupted on drive c:, with several sectors changing values
4) familyphoto.jpg is included in an incremental backup on drive d:, but this is a corrupted version
5) several other incremental backups are done
6) another full backup is done on drive d:, which includes the corrupted version of familyphoto.jpg
7) the previous full backup and incremental backups are deleted to save space
8) familyphoto.jpg is accessed on the c: drive and found to be corrupt. The full backup on d: is used to restore the backed up version of familyphoto.jpg. The backup is also found to be corrupt. There is no way to get the non-corrupt version of familyphoto.jpg, since the backups containing the non-corrupt version have been deleted.
I am curious if anyone else has come up with a scheme to avoid this issue. My only thought is some other software that would periodically compare a pre-identified set of source files that the end user has determined should never change, with the backed up versions of the files, and notify the end user if a difference is found, combined with a backup scheme that keeps at least some number of previous days of backups at all times, such that there will be time for the end user to act on the notification and get the non-corrupted version of the file(s) from the backup files that contained the file(s) before the corrupted file was backed up.
I searched the forums for the word "corrupt", but most of the discussions were about corrupted .tib files rather than the topic of corrupted files within the .tib.
Thanks for any help you can provide.
David
David,
The simple answer to your question is this. Ensure you have multiple back ups of your data to one of more destinations and at multiple locations. Cloud, offsite, physical, etc. With this solution implemented, you will always have at least one good copy of your data and protection against fire, flood, acts of the all mighty, theft, corruption, etc.