Similar to the fantastic
Dropbox utility, Spideroak offers a cross platform utility that backup and sync your files to a server on the internet. Spideroak is available for the following systems: Ubuntu Jaunty (
32 bit,
64 bit),
Debian Etch,
Debian Lenny,
Fedora 10,
Mac OS X,
Slackware 12.1,
Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon,
Ubuntu Hardy Heron,
Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex,
Windows. All your data is fully encrypted with a combination of 2048 byte RSA and 256 bit AES - not even the employees at Spideroak can decrypt your files - so don't loose or forget your password.
Spideroak offers a 2 gig free account. The major difference between Dropbox and Spideroak is that Spideroak offers more control: you can select the folders you want to sync, while Dropbox creates a single folder that you use to drop files into.
One of my readers had a question about backing up the Garmin Training Center database file UserData.bin, see post
here. At that time I suggested using Dropbox to backup the Garmin files. After thinking about it for I while, I realized that Dropbox would be a poor solution for this particular problem. The data files are stored in a separate folder than the Garmin Training Center program files. Spideroak would be the perfect solution for this backup requirement.
Download Spideroak from
here while you are inside your Virtualbox Windows guest virtual machine. You create your Spideroak account inside the Spideroak utility after downloading and installing the software.
To backup the entire Garmin Traning Center you have to select the following two folders:
C:\Garmin ... your location might be different
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\GARMIN
Note: The 'Application Data' folder is hidden. You have to click on the 'Hide/show hidden folders/files' option first before you can see the Garmin folder in the list.
If you click on the View tab, you can see the listed files and folders that you have elected to backup. Scroll down the list, to the userdata.bin file and click on the file. On the right of the window is a 'grippy' area. Click and drag this to the left. This is where you get to see the historic versions.
I haven't had the opportunity yet to restore from a previous version. I will sync the Garmin watch everyday this week and attempt a restore at the end of the week and see what happens. I will come back to this post and update with my findings.
The number of online services that offer this kind of backup is increasing and things are getting better and better. I've created a list of online backup services
here.
Update 8 Sept:
I ran into a slight problem with the Garmin Training center software. It seems that the software does not update the last modified date and time stamp on the database files. This prevents Spideroak from detecting file changes and will only take a backup once and never again.
I then downloaded a utility from
http://no-nonsense-software.com/freeware/, called Setfiledate. This utility allows you to change the date and time stamp manually. This is what it looks like:
The moment you update the date and time stamp, you will notice Spideroak kicking into high gear (backing up the file). After the backup as been made you can view the historic versions. To restore a previous version is as simple as selecting the version you want and then clicking the download option.
If you want to use your HTC Touch Pro as modem, you might be wondering what kind of changes you would have to make to get it working on Linux. The short answer is: absolutely nothing. If you have Windows XP you need to install active sync. On Linux you just connect the cable and the network manager takes care of you.
