Lets talk backing up...........again.

desertgrandma · 12-12-2009, 05:52 PM

All right. I messed up, bad, and its time to suck it up and move on.

So..........thanks to all the great posts on the vent and rant thread in answer to my post, I've been given some great ideas.

Both online back up services, and external drives have their pros and cons.

If I go online, I'm trusting someone else to save my data, and it can be an expensive proposition for three computers........except for PilotBob's suggestion about CrashPlan. Even so, I'm still trusting someone else todo maybe what I should be doing myself. I don't know. The big plus here is that I don't have to do anything........its done for me.

If I keep it here, I am responsible, and fire, theft, etc could be an issue. Also, I have no clue how to even begin using one........but I just found someone who can show me. Thats good,..........but now the next questions are:

Is one brand better than another?

What should I look for in a portable external drive? 320, 500, 640GB ?

What should I look for or stay away from?

I like Kazbates idea of the flash drive for backing up the books, also. Can't hurt to have back ups in more than one place, right?

Thanks everyone for your help and advice.

omk3 · 12-12-2009, 06:02 PM

I would think it's mostly a matter of preference.

I don't use online services for the same reason I don't use a kindle - I have an irrational big brother paranoia. But that's just me. Many people feel comfortable using online services, and maybe I'm missing out on something really useful, but well...

I have one flash drive and three external drives of varying sizes. I tend to travel a lot, so I take the flash drive and the most portable of the hard drives wherever I go, and leave the two bigger hard drives with all my backups at my main house.

I'm not sure if brand really means a huge difference in quality as far as external hard drives go, although many people I know will claim it definitely does. I buy whatever comes cheap (but not suspiciously so). As for size, it really depends on your needs.

If you keep your important files on two or three separate places I think you can consider yourself safe enough. At least, that's what I do.

Oh, and sharing your files with friends and family members helps too. Even if you lose all your backups, there's bound to be someone that has kept what you need

mvisconte · 12-12-2009, 06:19 PM

olk3 -- how do you feel about BB (b!g br0th3r) G00gle?

dg -- how much data are you talking about? How much do you use often vs stuff that you just was salted away? I like HDs for putting stuff away for a long time, but organization is a buggaboo for me. I have multiple (multiple) copies of things that I put away but kept on my active drive. and then backed up again, but left on a drive. And then ...

omk3 · 12-12-2009, 06:26 PM

hey, it's oMk3

oh, google is the biggest brother of all, but needs must... I know, I trust google with my mails and my searches, but not with my files. I said it's irrational, didn't I?

kennyc · 12-12-2009, 06:33 PM

DGM, I'd go for a 500G (that's what I did - a Western Digital external) It works great and you can just drag and drop or use any of the backup or file sync programs.

If you are only interested in backing up your books then 500G may be overkill and you could get a smaller one (though they are pretty cheap these days) as well as a couple of flash drives.

desertgrandma · 12-12-2009, 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by omk3

hey, it's oMk3

oh, google is the biggest brother of all, but needs must... I know, I trust google with my mails and my searches, but not with my files. I said it's irrational, didn't I?

I don't think its too irrational. I think it makes sense. Leaning more and more towards an external hard drive.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mvisconte

olk3 -- how do you feel about BB (b!g br0th3r) G00gle?

dg -- how much data are you talking about? How much do you use often vs stuff that you just was salted away? I like HDs for putting stuff away for a long time, but organization is a buggaboo for me. I have multiple (multiple) copies of things that I put away but kept on my active drive. and then backed up again, but left on a drive. And then ...

Pictures and e-books, Calibre and Kindle for pc is what I use most......now I have no more pictures, since I always deleted then from the camera as soon as I downloaded them. I dasn't think of the three years worth of granddaughters pictures which are lost. Oh God........and all the quilts that I made!!

Okay.........gotta go get a Xanex.

omk3 · 12-12-2009, 06:39 PM

I sure hope you manage to get at least some of your files back, desertgrandma. I know some files (like family pictures) are too painful to lose. Haven't you given any of these to relatives? You might get them back this way.

Having said all of the above, me with my three hard drives, I often forget or neglect to backup. I have lost some files this way, and I have lost others by not synchronizing my backups correctly (you lose track if you backup in a lot of places, and in that respect an online places would prove really useful)

kindlekitten · 12-12-2009, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

I don't think its too irrational. I think it makes sense. Leaning more and more towards an external hard drive.

Pictures and e-books, Calibre and Kindle for pc is what I use most......now I have no more pictures, since I always deleted then from the camera as soon as I downloaded them. I dasn't think of the three years worth of granddaughters pictures which are lost. Oh God........and all the quilts that I made!!

Okay.........gotta go get a Xanex.

OH NO!!!!

*HUGS!!!*

WT Sharpe · 12-12-2009, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

... Both online back up services, and external drives have their pros and cons.

If I go online, I'm trusting someone else to save my data ...

If you do go with an online service, make sure it's with an established and reputable company. You don't want to store all your files online only to wake up one morning and find that the service has been discontinued. That's why I went with Hewlett-Packard's Upline service. I know Hewlett-Packard is a respected and established company that can be trusted to keep my data safe for years to come.

Oh, wait ... I just remembered: HP discontinued the HP Upline service on March 31, 2009.

Never mind.

Quote:

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

... Leaning more and more towards an external hard drive ...

Could be your best bet.

Perhaps you could arrange with a trusted associate to store your most important files elsewhere. I've thought about doing that, but it seems like it would be a real pain in the patootie.

desertgrandma · 12-12-2009, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by omk3

I sure hope you manage to get at least some of your files back, desertgrandma. I know some files (like family pictures) are too painful to lose. Haven't you given any of these to relatives? You might get them back this way.
)

I've got emails out to everyone that I can remember sending picures to, hoping there are still a few out there. Unless they do like I do.......enjoy them for a while then delete......

Quote:

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

OH NO!!!!

*HUGS!!!*

Thanks KK.

Quote:

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

If you do go with an online service, make sure it's with an established and reputable company. You don't want to store all your files online only to wake up one morning and find that the service has been discontinued. That's why I went with Hewlett-Packard's Upline service. I know Hewlett-Packard is a respected and established company that can be trusted to keep my data safe for years to come.

Oh, wait ... I just remembered: HP discontinued the HP Upline service on March 31, 2009.

Never mind.

.

Are you serious? Did they really do that? While I really like the idea of someone else doing it for me......maybe I'd better do it myself......I"m just not sure how much more learning this brain can do!

WT Sharpe · 12-12-2009, 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

... Are you serious? Did they really do that? ...

To be fair, they gave ample notice ahead of time so that anyone who had important files stored on their servers could retrieve them, and they did refund money that had been paid in advance, but yes; they really did that. I thought I had found the nearly perfect solution with their Upline service, but then it went away. I've always been leery to store my files online, but assumed they would be about as safe and secure as anyone. I certainly didn't expect that they would just drop the service. I haven't used an online storage solution since, and don't expect to.

JSWolf · 12-12-2009, 08:45 PM

A 1TB drive will do fine and it's one of the best for price points.

WT Sharpe · 12-12-2009, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

A 1TB drive will do fine and it's one of the best for price points.

I bought this one less than a month ago when my old external HD became filled to capacity, and so far it's working like a charm. Plug and play simplicity.

Greg Anos · 12-12-2009, 09:41 PM

DG, here's my two cents worth (for what it matters).

How do the Big Boys do it?

Multilevel and off-site Back ups. The bank I first programmed for shipped a copy all their files off-site every night. And weekly backups. And quarterly backups. and Yearly backups...

So you need at least two external drives. One at the house, one somewhere else (safety deposit box?) Before you laugh at that, think how much you've spent on data. And that's not even including the priceless stuff (priceless because you can't recreate it at any cost.)

Rotate the off-site and on-site every three months. Sync 'em up with your current data and put one back off-site.

And let's face it, we individuals who are not programmers will load 99% of our data as static files, never changing. Pictures, music files, e-books, they don't change. So every three months is good enough. Keep a USB drive handy for anything you get that you can't risk losing and keep it handy with the computer. Clean it out after every three month swap.

If you do that, hard drive crashes will become just a nuisance....

Rootman · 12-12-2009, 09:52 PM

Being an IT guy I baxkup EVERYTHING multiple times. I was shocked when I actually stopped and figured out how many copies of everything I DO keep.

Laptop at work
Desktop at work
32GB Thumb drive (just for documents and downloads)
500GB Passport USB drive
Home laptop
Home server
4 count 'em 4 backups to a 1TB USB drive at home

That makes 10 copies! I've just gotten burnt to many times by hardware or human error. So I just kept adding more and more copies.

Haven't lost anything in years.

12-12-2009, 05:52 PM	#1
desertgrandma Enjoying the show.... Posts: 14,270 Karma: 10462841 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Arizona Device: A K1, Kindle Paperwhite, an Ipod, IPad2, Iphone, an Ipad Mini & macAir	Lets talk backing up...........again. All right. I messed up, bad, and its time to suck it up and move on. So..........thanks to all the great posts on the vent and rant thread in answer to my post, I've been given some great ideas. Both online back up services, and external drives have their pros and cons. If I go online, I'm trusting someone else to save my data, and it can be an expensive proposition for three computers........except for PilotBob's suggestion about CrashPlan. Even so, I'm still trusting someone else todo maybe what I should be doing myself. I don't know. The big plus here is that I don't have to do anything........its done for me. If I keep it here, I am responsible, and fire, theft, etc could be an issue. Also, I have no clue how to even begin using one........but I just found someone who can show me. Thats good,..........but now the next questions are: Is one brand better than another? What should I look for in a portable external drive? 320, 500, 640GB ? What should I look for or stay away from? I like Kazbates idea of the flash drive for backing up the books, also. Can't hurt to have back ups in more than one place, right? Thanks everyone for your help and advice.

12-12-2009, 09:52 PM	#15
Rootman Groupie Posts: 181 Karma: 478 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: Android & FBReader	Being an IT guy I baxkup EVERYTHING multiple times. I was shocked when I actually stopped and figured out how many copies of everything I DO keep. Laptop at work Desktop at work 32GB Thumb drive (just for documents and downloads) 500GB Passport USB drive Home laptop Home server 4 count 'em 4 backups to a 1TB USB drive at home That makes 10 copies! I've just gotten burnt to many times by hardware or human error. So I just kept adding more and more copies. Haven't lost anything in years.

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12-12-2009, 06:02 PM	#2
omk3 Wizard Posts: 1,454 Karma: 37243 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Europe Device: pocketbook 360, kindle 4	I would think it's mostly a matter of preference. I don't use online services for the same reason I don't use a kindle - I have an irrational big brother paranoia. But that's just me. Many people feel comfortable using online services, and maybe I'm missing out on something really useful, but well... I have one flash drive and three external drives of varying sizes. I tend to travel a lot, so I take the flash drive and the most portable of the hard drives wherever I go, and leave the two bigger hard drives with all my backups at my main house. I'm not sure if brand really means a huge difference in quality as far as external hard drives go, although many people I know will claim it definitely does. I buy whatever comes cheap (but not suspiciously so). As for size, it really depends on your needs. If you keep your important files on two or three separate places I think you can consider yourself safe enough. At least, that's what I do. Oh, and sharing your files with friends and family members helps too. Even if you lose all your backups, there's bound to be someone that has kept what you need

12-12-2009, 06:19 PM	#3
mvisconte pHilosopher kIng Posts: 208 Karma: 429751 Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: An imperfect world Device: Laptop, laptop, desktop, phone (HTC, HTC, Asus, Asus, LG rah!)	olk3 -- how do you feel about BB (b!g br0th3r) G00gle? dg -- how much data are you talking about? How much do you use often vs stuff that you just was salted away? I like HDs for putting stuff away for a long time, but organization is a buggaboo for me. I have multiple (multiple) copies of things that I put away but kept on my active drive. and then backed up again, but left on a drive. And then ...

12-12-2009, 06:26 PM	#4
omk3 Wizard Posts: 1,454 Karma: 37243 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Europe Device: pocketbook 360, kindle 4	hey, it's oMk3 oh, google is the biggest brother of all, but needs must... I know, I trust google with my mails and my searches, but not with my files. I said it's irrational, didn't I?

12-12-2009, 06:33 PM	#5
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,872 Karma: 118716293 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	DGM, I'd go for a 500G (that's what I did - a Western Digital external) It works great and you can just drag and drop or use any of the backup or file sync programs. If you are only interested in backing up your books then 500G may be overkill and you could get a smaller one (though they are pretty cheap these days) as well as a couple of flash drives.

12-12-2009, 06:39 PM	#7
omk3 Wizard Posts: 1,454 Karma: 37243 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Europe Device: pocketbook 360, kindle 4	I sure hope you manage to get at least some of your files back, desertgrandma. I know some files (like family pictures) are too painful to lose. Haven't you given any of these to relatives? You might get them back this way. Having said all of the above, me with my three hard drives, I often forget or neglect to backup. I have lost some files this way, and I have lost others by not synchronizing my backups correctly (you lose track if you backup in a lot of places, and in that respect an online places would prove really useful)

12-12-2009, 08:45 PM	#12
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,976 Karma: 128903378 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	A 1TB drive will do fine and it's one of the best for price points.

12-12-2009, 09:41 PM	#14
Greg Anos Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,248 Karma: 35000000 Join Date: Jan 2008 Device: Pocketbook	DG, here's my two cents worth (for what it matters). How do the Big Boys do it? Multilevel and off-site Back ups. The bank I first programmed for shipped a copy all their files off-site every night. And weekly backups. And quarterly backups. and Yearly backups... So you need at least two external drives. One at the house, one somewhere else (safety deposit box?) Before you laugh at that, think how much you've spent on data. And that's not even including the priceless stuff (priceless because you can't recreate it at any cost.) Rotate the off-site and on-site every three months. Sync 'em up with your current data and put one back off-site. And let's face it, we individuals who are not programmers will load 99% of our data as static files, never changing. Pictures, music files, e-books, they don't change. So every three months is good enough. Keep a USB drive handy for anything you get that you can't risk losing and keep it handy with the computer. Clean it out after every three month swap. If you do that, hard drive crashes will become just a nuisance....

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