12-12-2009, 05:52 PM | #1 |
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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, 06:02 PM | #2 |
Wizard
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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 |
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12-12-2009, 06:19 PM | #3 |
pHilosopher kIng
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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 |
Wizard
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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 |
The Dank Side of the Moon
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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. |
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12-12-2009, 06:34 PM | #6 | ||
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Quote:
Quote:
Okay.........gotta go get a Xanex. |
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12-12-2009, 06:39 PM | #7 |
Wizard
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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, 07:27 PM | #8 | |
Professional Adventuress
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12-12-2009, 07:40 PM | #9 | ||
Bah, humbug!
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Quote:
Oh, wait ... I just remembered: HP discontinued the HP Upline service on March 31, 2009. Never mind. Quote:
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. |
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12-12-2009, 07:46 PM | #10 | ||
Enjoying the show....
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Quote:
Thanks KK. Quote:
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12-12-2009, 07:57 PM | #11 |
Bah, humbug!
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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.
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12-12-2009, 08:45 PM | #12 |
Resident Curmudgeon
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A 1TB drive will do fine and it's one of the best for price points.
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12-12-2009, 09:01 PM | #13 | |
Bah, humbug!
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12-12-2009, 09:41 PM | #14 |
Grand Sorcerer
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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.... |
12-12-2009, 09:52 PM | #15 |
Groupie
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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.
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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