The incident
This Friday, as usual, I edited a web page template file in Sublime Text 2 remotely. Suddenly I realized *ALL* the content were gone without any sign. Then I got a prompt which indicated the connection to the remote server was terminated. With the "Save on focus" feature enabled, the file were overwritten with a blank page. No matter how many times I pressed the Ctrl-Z (Undo) hot-key in order to restore the original work, the canvas stayed the same with the blank status.
I remembered that I have backed up files in a safe location. When I open the archive, I saw other files within the directory but not the one I attempted to recover. Realizing that I excluded that specific file previously, I have lost hope at that moment.
At last, I finally retrieve the file back from virtual machine snapshot from the remote server. Luckily I am.
The gains
I have learnt several things after this incident.
First, you have to verify the backup procedure. What files do you need to back up? How often do you initiate the backup procedure? Is the backup routine running automatically?
Second, you need to test the restore procedure. How can you ensure the file restoration works in the way you desired? We are told by others that we cannot pretend that it would work without testing. Now I totally believed in it.
Third, you should have a backup and restoration solution that works with version control. Without version control, damaged files get copied all over the places. You cannot get access to the content even if they are archived.
There are ways to backup you file with less hassles.
Third, you should have a backup and restoration solution that works with version control. Without version control, damaged files get copied all over the places. You cannot get access to the content even if they are archived.
There are ways to backup you file with less hassles.
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