Apr 30, '09 07:30:01AM • Contributed by: Anonymous
Here's my advice: forget anything clever and just use CrashPlan. I can't say enough good things about this piece of backup software. I've used it for two years now. It's very easy, and it works perfectly with FileVault. There are a couple of requirements to get it working, though:
- You'll need the $60 CrashPlan+ to get continuous backups; the free version only backs up once a day.
- It's important to customize the installation so the backup engine is installed at the user, not system, level. This is the only way that CrashPlan can see individual files in your FileVault archive (only when logged in, of course). They cover this (briefly) in this FAQ entry.
CrashPlan+ satisfies my desire for security, as the software encrypts my data before it leaves my MacBook. And since it uses a different sort of encryption than Filevault, I feel happier that I've spread my risk of one or the other form of encryption/decryption having a problem.
I hope my experience with CrashPlan helps someone. As mentioned above, it's been around for a few years and I'm amazed it's not better known. It's cross-platform, too. If you've found a better way to back up a FileVaulted machine, please share -- I'm no expert when it comes to computing (I'm a doctor, not a programmer).
[robg adds: I have only the most basic level of knowledge of FileVault, having never even used it. (I use encrypted disk images for those few things, such as financial files and scanned social security cards, that I'm fairly paranoid about losing to someone else.) So if there are other ways to get continuous, versioned backups of a FileVault directory, please share in the comments. I tried searching Apple's support site, but couldn't find anything relevant to FileVault and Time Machine.]
