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The Cloud etc
Simon - 3/10/13 at 04:34 PM

Peeps

We have quite a lot of photos/docs etc on the work pc which we'd obviously like to protect in the future (having already had hd failure), so what would be your recommendations.

External hd or the Cloud (whatever that is )

Your suggestions gratefully received

Cheers

Simon

Mr Whippy - 3/10/13 at 04:48 PM

Buy more than one hard drive, there cheap these days

I tried the cloud and all it did was slow everything down

loggyboy - 3/10/13 at 04:56 PM

Get a twin HDD NAS - (buffalo or similar)
Not only can you access them from any PC on your network (or online if you set it up), you can set them up in RAID so the two drives mirror each other and your data is automatically backed up.

designer - 3/10/13 at 06:20 PM

I have an external hard drive for most of my stuff, but I use the free Amazon Cloud for word docs I use frequently, because it is wherever I go.

mookaloid - 3/10/13 at 06:44 PM

dropbox

coyoteboy - 3/10/13 at 07:14 PM

Cloud storage isn't feasible without a high speed broadband link, especially not for large amounts of data. I have a 2Tb twin drive NAS with RAID to provide my own cloud, the only thing it doesn't protect against is a fire at home.

coyoteboy - 3/10/13 at 07:15 PM

Cloud storage isn't feasible without a high speed broadband link, especially not for large amounts of data. I have a 2Tb twin drive NAS with RAID to provide my own cloud, the only thing it doesn't protect against is a fire at home.

Barkalarr - 3/10/13 at 07:43 PM

quote:
Originally posted by mookaloid
dropbox


+1

used it for the past 2 years and it's been a dream !!!
I moved everyone in the office over to it.

Irony - 3/10/13 at 07:50 PM

I wouldn't use anything that requires remote access such as drop box or the cloud. Storage is cheap. Buy two memory sticks and copy the files. Done for £20 and you don't require a net connection to retrieve storage.

nick205 - 3/10/13 at 09:04 PM

Get your own external Network Attached Storage (NAS)HDD in a RAID setup like Loggy suggests. Then, if you're net connected, use a cloud backup service to create an offsite back-up (in case of fire etc.). Schedule the service to run overnight so its not chewing bandwidth during the day. The initial back-up might take a while to upload, but thereafter the service just updates the days changes each night, not the complete data.

Daddylonglegs - 3/10/13 at 09:13 PM

Another vote for a NAS, I've got ours on the WiFi so we can all use it any time. Also connectable via the internet from anywhere you have it. I often use mine when travelling with work anywhere in the world. If you've got internet, you've got access

dhutch - 4/10/13 at 04:11 AM

My backup is a bit adhoc, sadly, but I would go for having a copy of everything on your desktop pc, and on a usb hdd which is normally unplugged, with a copy of family photos on the could as well. Or, on a second hdd stored off-site, such as parents/work/etc.

At that point, you have better than almost everyone, and better than a single hard copy.

USB HDDs can be encrypted if your worried about privacy. NAS drivers also good if you have more than one pc or smart tv.


Daniel

jossey - 4/10/13 at 06:40 AM

Depend how many you mean.

I use a usb pen 64gb
N on my nas drive

Can't see both failing....

britishtrident - 4/10/13 at 07:35 AM

First a warning avoid RAID especially hardware RAID like the plague, unless you really know what you are doing it will actually increase you chances of data loss.

Text and Spread sheets documents will fit on a USB stick or SD card.
USB memory sticks also have drawbacks they easily suffer mechanical damage and they are can be used for other purposes and over written too easily. SD memory cards are more robust and a have a read only tab.

For long term backing up and archiving of photos andDVD RW is probably the best solution, either use your normal DVD writer program or use Google Picasa (which is free and the best way I have found to manage photos) to create DVDs

For day to day back ups a NAS is the way to go use a a proper backup program such as Cobian backup (which is 100% free http://www.cobiansoft.com/index.htm ) to do automatically scheduled backup of your home directories.
It is best to do both an incremental back up and a less frequent full backup.

NAS drives connect to your home network like a PC but also have a USB connection.


For backing up passwords book marks and emails if you use the Firefox browser or Thunderbird mail program you can use MozBackup to create back up files of your emails, email settings, passwords, bookmarks and addons..
There is also an extension Password Exporter for Firefox and Thunderbird that will allow you to backup passwords only.

scudderfish - 4/10/13 at 08:12 AM

Whatever you do, make sure it's automated. Backups are boring and if you or someone else has to do something to do them, then they will get forgotten. If it is automated then the computer does the boring stuff for you, and it gets done.

Not having a recent backup can make your life very exciting though.

hughpinder - 4/10/13 at 09:48 AM

You don't say if the amount of data you want to back up, but I'm assuming it will fit on a single1 or 2TB disk that is relatively cheap to buy. I would use a NAS drive for an automated daily backup (you can back up other computers to this too). This can however be corrupted if it backs up a corrupted disk, and this is a risk with raid too. For that reason I'd recommend a second external disk (perhaps a usb portable drive) that you plug in (say) once a month to manually back up, after you've confirmed the system isn't already corrupt of course! This would also protect against a fire, as you keep the disk offsite, and only loose 1 months data maximum.
You could put the network drive in a different location in the building to the PC too, as this means a fire in one room doesn't distroy both.
Regards
Hugh

RichardK - 4/10/13 at 11:07 AM

Dropbox for data www.dropbox.com
Flickr for pictures http://www.flickr.com/ you get a TB free!

Cheers

Rich

Irony - 5/10/13 at 01:08 PM

Can't say how much I disagree with online storage such as the Cloud or Dropbox or Flicker. The whole point is that if some breaks in or the business burns down you can retrieve the storage. How can you retrieve data if thieves have taken your router/modem etc etc? It would take a week to get a new one delivered. At my business, everyday the internet is down it costs £10,000 in lost earnings. Double that if all data is missing as well.

loggyboy - 5/10/13 at 01:31 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Irony
Can't say how much I disagree with online storage such as the Cloud or Dropbox or Flicker. The whole point is that if some breaks in or the business burns down you can retrieve the storage. How can you retrieve data if thieves have taken your router/modem etc etc? It would take a week to get a new one delivered. At my business, everyday the internet is down it costs £10,000 in lost earnings. Double that if all data is missing as well.


Cloud shouldnt be a replacement for an on-site phsycal back up. BUT - Having ONLY onsite backup is more dangerous that having ONLY cloud backup. Fire or theft of an onsite back up is not retreivable at all, so much worse than being down for the hours or day or 2 it would take to set up a temporary running system/server for a stolen one for a small businness. Med/large businness is different of course but they (should) have more backup and emergency procedures set up.

stevebubs - 5/10/13 at 05:06 PM

I have an external USB HDD and just use SyncBack to synchronse the directories I'm interested in.

For double safety, the USB drive is actually attached to a Raspberry Pi and as a result, also acts as a NAS and media server. However for what you're after, simply having it plugged in the back of the machine should be sufficient.