Nice guide, thanks!
One thing I'd like to add on the backup pool section is that when choosing 1st backup pool it's worth considering one of the PPS pools out there. At least for me when I'm mining on a stable pool for a day I still get up to 40 or so shares submitted to my 1st backup pool, for some reason or another. And if that pool was score based or proportional, I'd get diddly squat for my shares, but on PPS pool I'm getting at least something. And given time it all adds up. =)