Location: Somerset County NJ (via St. Mary Parish)
Posts: 10,908
Thread Starter
Data Backup Recommendations
I didn't see a thread; I thought this might be a good topic to get some different viewpoints. After my recent HD scare (the MOBO died), I want to look at serious Backup options.
I like the idea of using a separate HD because it's a one-time charge, but it's vulnerable to being pilfered, misplaced, or damaged by water/fire, etc. I like the idea of on-line storage such as Carbonite or Mozy, but it's ~$60/year and how knows how private your data is in their servers and according to this article the first backup can take many, many days. There may also be some hybrid solutions--perhaps attachments to emails or free on-line services (Picasa for digital photographs).
I burned CD's 18 months ago; and left them at my Mom/Dad's house, but I'm not reliable enough to keep doing that (as evidenced by the fact that I haven't burned backups in 18 months).
What are your preferred methods of backing up your data and what do you recommend to those of us who aren't diligent in making regular backups?
I have a WD Raptor 10K RPM hard drive for my OS and all of my apps - OS, games, programs, etc.... It's only around 75GB but I don't need much space on my apps drive.
I have two large hard drives arranged in a RAID 1 array for the mirrored redundancy. I'd like to run RAID 5, but it's a bit more costly. RAID 1 gives me the assurance of mirroring but I can run it easily on a software controller. On these hard drives, I keep my photos, music, torrents, documents, research, etc... Basically everything that would be a pain or impossible to replace if something went wrong.
I also make sure that I run a pretty robust anti-virus program because the RAID 1 will repeat everything - even the bad stuff.
It really is there in case one hard drive breaks down - which I've had happen - and I have another drive with all of the information saved.
I also backup to a hard drive in an external enclosure - I just picked up the Icy Dock for this purpose as an upgrade over my old enclosure.
This hard drive is larger than all of my other ones and is partitioned three times.
The first partition is for a disk-imaging copy of my desktop. And I use Acronis True Image as my image software of choice.
The second partition is for my wife's computer.
The third is for some selected locations on my desktop.
I've never used an online option - just a little wary. I'd rather have control/access to my data and am too paranoid to use the online options. Plus, I'd rather the initial expense and then not have to worry about it.
I turn all paper docs to be saved into PDFs. Then I use AXCrypt to encrypt it all. Mozy takes over from here and sends on up. I encrypt pictures too so I can keep control of them. Mozy's interface is clean and superb. Amazon has S3 storage which is cheaper than Mozy, but I think you need to have access to another program to actually do the backup process for you (sometimes freeware, sometimes not). The initial backup via online will take a bit depending upon amount of data and ISP upload speed (I have FIOS so upload speed is smoking). But as other have stated, I have also gone to a separate HD but I still believe you need offsite access due to other issues out of control (tornados, traveling and need access to files, etc).
If you are going to do a complete reload with new partitions, then Razor's ideas are grand too. If you wanted to get super secure, you could run TrueCrypt on the 2nd data partition, and then back up one file, allbeit a LARGE one and not a true ability to do incremental backups.
Location: Somerset County NJ (via St. Mary Parish)
Posts: 10,908
Thread Starter
Quote:
Originally Posted by RazorOye
Personally, this is the system that I run.
I have a WD Raptor 10K RPM hard drive for my OS and all of my apps - OS, games, programs, etc.... It's only around 75GB but I don't need much space on my apps drive.
I have two large hard drives arranged in a RAID 1 array for the mirrored redundancy. I'd like to run RAID 5, but it's a bit more costly. RAID 1 gives me the assurance of mirroring but I can run it easily on a software controller. On these hard drives, I keep my photos, music, torrents, documents, research, etc... Basically everything that would be a pain or impossible to replace if something went wrong.
I also make sure that I run a pretty robust anti-virus program because the RAID 1 will repeat everything - even the bad stuff.
It really is there in case one hard drive breaks down - which I've had happen - and I have another drive with all of the information saved.
I also backup to a hard drive in an external enclosure - I just picked up the Icy Dock for this purpose as an upgrade over my old enclosure.
This hard drive is larger than all of my other ones and is partitioned three times.
The first partition is for a disk-imaging copy of my desktop. And I use Acronis True Image as my image software of choice.
The second partition is for my wife's computer.
The third is for some selected locations on my desktop.
I've never used an online option - just a little wary. I'd rather have control/access to my data and am too paranoid to use the online options. Plus, I'd rather the initial expense and then not have to worry about it.
Where do you keep your Icy Dock? Is it safe in the case of a fire?
Where do you keep your Icy Dock? Is it safe in the case of a fire?
We have a small fireproof safe where it resides. But room is getting tight - we plan on getting a new one when we move into the new house in August.
Since it is an enclosure, I swap out a couple hard drives. I keep a hard drive at my mother in law's house and every few weeks when I visit, I'll bring it back here and update it and bring it back to her place.
So that's my last last hard drive - it only gets updated every few weeks but is kept offsite.
Which is why I prefer an enclosure than just a pure external hard drive. I can swap out multiple drives.
What do you use? I have a flat bed scanner but it cannot keep up with all the paper I have coming into my house.
I scan them @ work. We have a high speed MFD (scan, copy, print, etc) and that is how i get it into PDF.
Did you create a personal encryption key and is it your understanding that it is so secure not even Mozy can access your data?
I use the Mozy encryption. I believe it in, and it is fine. But for when files are on my pc, I use the AXCrypt. Also, this was to answer questions above about trusting a 3rd party.
i don't trust my info, in anyones hands, but unfortunately most of your info is already online with those who own the info.
sigh.. my own created stuff. if something i worry about making sure isn't lost.. dvd r/w's are cheap, store in small space, and easy to have multiple copies.
i sure as heck, ain't sending it across http.. not even using ssl. not i.
I think that is counter productive also...I am sure you bank online, or check a credit card online, yet you do that over SSL...you are signing into saints report via HTTP, email is either S or not, and some of those same bank accounts are tied to them...if u want to take extra steps, say putting all files into a zip, then encrypting that zip with a 3rd party app that is fine...but just running from it, when it is almost already done is puzzling
Data Backup Recommendations
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