Backup strategy with Sandbox involved

[camner]

First, I've read the Intro to the SD user guide, which recommends a rotating backup (weekly and monthly). Makes sense.

I have not been doing a weekly, but I have been doing a monthly, both on and off site, and I'm thinking of adding a weekly.

So, here's my dilemma...(maybe not a dilemma but a point of uncertainty!).

I use a Sandbox so that all system updates and anything else affecting the Library folders, etc. are done to the Sandbox. With my monthly strategy, I would do this:

1. backup my main volume to an external volume
2. clone (carefully!) the Sandbox back to the main volume

At that point the main volume and the Sandbox would be in an identical state. And, my backup would always be between 1-2 months old in terms of the current state of affairs. I'd never clone/backup the Sandbox.

Now with bringing in weekly backups, what to do? Backup the Sandbox weekly? Clone the Sandbox back to the main volume weekly before or after the backup? What makes sense here?

Or, perhaps with weekly backups I don't need to worry about a Sandbox at all because I could always restore back 1 week if something gets hosed?

Thanks in advance for people's advice.

[dnanian]

You never back up the Sandbox. In general, things you install to the Sandbox are always things you can install again, so backing it up kind of makes no sense.

Also, it generally doesn't make sense to let the Sandbox get too far ahead of the base. If you've been running on it for a week, whatever you installed to it is likely safe, no?

[camner]

Thanks for your prompt reply. That settles the question of whether to backup the Sandbox.

Then that just leaves the question of how to handle the "matching" of the Sandbox and the main drive.

I'm hesitant to clone back the Sandbox to the main drive without backing up the main drive first (better safe than sorry...I once hosed the main drive when cloning back by doing the cloning back wrong!). If I do that, the main drive backup will always be between 1-2 weeks old (unless I back up the main drive again AFTER cloning back the Sandbox).I could just manually install everything on the main drive that was installed in the previous week on the Sandbox, but since so many programs now update themselves (or at least prompt for updating), I'm concerned that preferences, the Application Support folders, etc. may be out of date and installing whatever I manually installed won't bring them up to date.

[dnanian]

I agree, I'd definitely always back up the main drive before updating the sandbox. Remember that the most critical things (your home folder) are always on the main drive and will always be backed up, so always back that up...