by Lisa Cooke | Nov 12, 2016 | 01 What's New, Cloud Backup
Backing up your genealogy with Backblaze is a critical move if you want to protect your family history. Let us answer your questions and share with you how the cloud backup service Backblaze can be the answer to effectively backing up and protecting all your genealogy data.
Recently, we received some great questions concerning the cloud-based computer backup service, Backblaze, one of our trusted sponsors of The Genealogy Gems Podcast. The answers to these questions will give you with the confidence to put a reliable cloud backup plan in place so that your family history remains safe and secure.
What is Backblaze?
Backblaze is an online back-up tool that stores copies of your computer files, and allows you to restore them in case your computer is lost, stolen, or destroyed. It offers unlimited storage and supports every type of file, including large video files and genealogy tree files.
Once installed, Backblaze works 24/7 through your internet connection to save every change you make. Backblaze also keeps your files safe offsite (at their data centers) with 24-hour staff, biometric security, and redundant power.
Unlike Evernote or Dropbox which are designed to allow you to work with your files across multiple devices, Backblaze is “set it and forget it” protection should the worst happen.
While you can sign-in and access your files from multiple devices, it’s primary purpose is to provide a back-up plan so you can restore your data if something happens to your computer. While external hard drives are great for when your computer crashes, they can’t help you if they are destroyed in a fire or flood along with your computer because they were both in the same location. Off-site backup and multiple copies (redundancy) are key when it comes to protecting your precious genealogy research.
Answers to Your Questions about Using Backblaze for Cloud Storage
Q: I am excited to begin using Backblaze for the first time! However, I am a bit uncertain of how to actually begin. Can you walk me through it?
A: Lots of our readers are a little uncertain when it comes to using something new. We have created a blog post titled “How to Download Backblaze in 4 Easy Steps” that will walk you through it!
Q: I have a number of computers at home and I also have a network drive. What does Backblaze cover? Will it back up everything?
A: No, and here are the details. You can have multiple computers backed up on your account, but each computer will require its own subscription (about $6/month). Backblaze can back up all file types and storage is unlimited, so large files from your hard drive are not a problem. It also backs up every time you make a change to a file and your backup will always have the most current version. You can view and restore your backed up files at any time via download, USB flash drive (mailed to you,) or USB hard drive (mailed to you.) Backblaze does not however support the backup of network drives.
Q: Does Backblaze also save earlier versions of my files like Dropbox does?
A: Yes. You can locate earlier versions of files or even files that have since been deleted. To learn how to do this, follow the step-by-step directions in this article from Backblaze.
Q: I live in a fairly remote location, and have a limited Internet data plan. Will Backblaze use a lot of data?
A: Backblaze, as with any Cloud backup service, does require a strong internet connection and could take days or weeks to completely back up your entire computer. This will depend quite a bit on how much data you have on your computer. If you have a limited data plan or slow internet, you could experience delays or what appears to be high data usage while the initial backup is occurring. Here is a link to a helpful page on the Backblaze website called “Bandwidth Speed Test to Backblaze”where you can test your internet speed. Backblaze is designed not to “throttle” or slow down the flow of uploads. It strives to use your full internet bandwidth. However, you do have the option to set it to slow down the backups. The “Bandwidth Speed Test to Backblaze” page provides instructions on how to throttle your download speed so that it doesn’t use up as much bandwidth. While this will cause your initial backup to take longer, it can clear help ease up on the data usage and allow for your other internet activity. You can also pause backups, or set them to start manually or at scheduled intervals. Once your initial backup is complete, the data usage should slow down.
Q: Because Backblaze backs up my computer automatically and instantly, what happens if I get a virus. Will that also be transferred to Backblaze?
A: From Backblaze blog
“Since Backblaze is…continuously running online backup solution and is not locally connected to your machine, all of your backed up files would be available for restore with minimal or no data loss (depending on the last backup time before the machine was infected).”
A Note from Lisa About Backblaze and Genealogy
“You’ve heard me talk about Backblaze on the podcast, and why it’s my first choice when it comes to backing up my precious genealogy research and personal files. I met their CEO Gleb Budman at Rootstech and after lots of research, I decided that Backblaze was the best cloud backup service out there! Maybe you’re still on the fence about it or maybe you’ve been putting it off, unsure of how complicated it is to set up or if it’s really worth the cost. So I got in touch with our friends over at Backblaze and we’ve set up a special offer for those of you have not yet begun protecting your data.”
by Lisa Cooke | Sep 16, 2016 | 01 What's New, Records & databases |
Scandinavian genealogy records for this week pique the interest of researchers all over the world. Large collections of records for Sweden and Finland are among the list of new and updated genealogical records. Other collections include records for London, Ireland, and the United States. Oh! One last thing. We’ve added a Google search strategy you won’t want to miss!
Sweden – Church Records
FamilySearch recently updated a collection of church records for Sweden titled “Sweden, Gävleborg Church Records, 1616-1908; index 1671-1860,” this week. The collection includes church records from the county of Gävleborg. These church records include clerical surveys; registers of birth, marriages, and deaths; move-in and move-out lists; confirmations; and church accounts.
The digital images span the years of 1616-1908, however the records that are searchable by index (at this time) only include the years between 1671 and 1860. When browsing through the digital images that have not been indexed, you will want to search by parish, then by record type, and lastly, the volume and year.
Finland – Church Records
MyHeritage has published an impressive collection of 33 million Finnish historical records! This collection of church census books and pre-confirmation books were kept by the Lutheran Church in Finland. The reason these records are so important is that the Lutheran Church was the state religion for hundreds of years. Because of that, the church records essentially cover the entire population of Finland.
In rural areas, the church book records are organized by village, farm, and household. Within the cities these records were organized by quarter or street.
It is important for researchers to realize that Finland was part of Sweden until 1809. Church census records and pre-confirmation records were consequently written in Swedish until the mid-to-late 1800s. Don’t forget – FamilySearch wiki will give you a language cheat-sheet so you can get help with translating!
United Kingdom – London – Post Office Directories
London Post Office Directories 1842, 1851 and 1861, a browse only database at this time, is now available at Findmypast. You can browse over 1.5 million records from three London Post Office Directories. These directories include lists of traders, bankers, people employed by the crown, lawyers, and other officials. Though not indexed, they list names alphabetically by surname. You may be able to find your ancestor’s occupation, business address, or even their home address!
United Kingdom – Westminster
This collection from Westminster, Poor Law and Parish Administration includes over 1.7 million records. The parish administration was over several commissions and these records include bastardy papers, admissions, examinations, pauper records, valuations, and work house records.
Because there are so many different types of records in this collection, the amount of genealogically valued data will vary. Transcripts and digital images of the original documents are provided and can be searched by name, year, place, and record type.
Ireland – General Register Office Records
Irish Genealogy.ie has just released millions of personal records online for free! Births, marriages, and deaths are from the General Register Office. The expanded database includes the Birth Records Indexes from 1864 to 1914, the Marriage Records Indexes from 1845 (1864 for Roman Catholic Marriages) to 1939, and the Death Records Indexes from 1864 to 1964. To search these records, click here. You will find them under the Civil Records menu heading.
United States – New York City, Philadelphia, & Washington D.C. Newspapers
18th-century newspapers from three early capitals of the U.S. are new on the Chronicling America website. Browse through these digital newspapers for information about your ancestors. Nearly 15,000 pages have been added from The Gazette of the United States (New York, N.Y. and Philadelphia, Pa., 1789-1801), the National Gazette (Philadelphia, Pa., 1791-1793), and the National Intelligencer (Washington, D.C. 1800-1809). For even more information on how to boost your genealogy success using newspapers, check out Lisa’s book, “How to Find Your Family History in Newspapers,” in a digital e-book or traditional book form.
More Gems on Scandinavian Genealogy Records
Our Genealogy Google Guru Lisa Louise Cooke has a few more ideas for gaining access to more records and information about your Scandinavian ancestors. Here’s what Lisa says:
“You’ve probably already tried searching with Google to find more on your ancestors. But have you searched in Swedish, Finnish, or Norwegian? Start by going to Google Translate and entering your search query in English.
Google Translate will detect that you have typed in English. You’ll need to select the desired language from the drop-down menu in the box on the right. Above, I’ve selected Swedish. Google Translate has now translated my query. Highlight and copy the translated text.
Next, go to the Swedish version of Google, which you’ll find at https://www.google.se/. Paste the translation in the search box. I’ve changed “Otter” back to the actual name of the town “Otterstad,” because I didn’t need that to be translated! Here are my search results:
Notice, each webpage search result has a link you can click to “Translate this page.” Click it and you’ll go to that page, but it will appear in English!
I’m thrilled to see my husband’s great-great-grandfather’s name in this bottom result. I’m off to work on this family…have fun with Google Translate and the Scandinavian Googles!” – Lisa
Isn’t th
at an awesome search strategy?! This is exactly the kind of outside-the-box thinking Lisa is known for which she covers more in-depth in her book The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox Second Edition. In fact, there’s an entire chapter in the book about how to use Google Translate in exciting, innovative ways for genealogy.
Here are the links Lisa sent me for the various Scandinavian Googles:
And finally, here’s more on Scandinavian research from our website:
by Lisa Cooke | Jan 29, 2014 | 01 What's New, Family History Library, FamilySearch, Libraries, Research Skills, RootsTech
Whether you’re going to RootsTech next week or not, at some point in your genealogical research you’ll want to use the Family History Library (FHL). The FHL, located in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, has 6.875 billion historical records on microfilm, which contain an estimated 20.6 billion names. That’s a lot of ancestors!
The FHL and its sponsor organization, FamilySearch International, are busy digitizing and indexing all those records, but it’s going to take some time. And some of those records may never be digitized because of publication rights limitations or other issues. So you should know how to access all those great microfilms!
Yesterday I republished Episode 16 of the original Family History: Genealogy Made Easy podcast. It features a great interview with Margery Bell on using the Family History Library. The show notes have updated tips on using the online catalog. Click here for some must-have tips on preparing for your visit. You’ll get a lot more out of your limited time in the library if you know exactly what information you’re looking for and where you’re going to look for it!
