Removable storage

[Hans L]

I just realized that the guy I have lunch with once a week is a reliable guy that I would let harbor a removable storage device with an image of my entire hard drive (should my house burn down). So, it is time to finally make a decision to buy what is called (or at least was called) a removable storage device.

From what I am saying above, you can probably figure out that I do not know where this technology stands today. I have a 500 GB external hard drive that I image my hard drive to every night, and I keep a few copies on it (plus some other stuff). However, every image is only 50 GB (standard compression), so a 250 GB model of removable storage would be more than enough.

I figure that a device in a cradle would be preferable, since I would like to avoid having to remove connectors, as bending while you remove and insert ruins the plug and/or outlet quickly.

Apart from that, I have no idea what the specs should be, or what kind of devices there are. I guess a hard drive is what is feasible, but I also wonder where solid state memories stand today?

Would appreciate some advice.

Regards,

Hans L

[GoNz0]

a full image every night !

why not use the microsoft backup tool and do an incremental once a night?

[Hans L]

Well, I have to work that out. With previous software I had, incremental did not remove files on the back up medium that had been deleted on the hard drive. That seems to have changed now, so I'll se what I can do.

However, my post is primarily about a removable backup medium that I can give to my friend once a week or every second week or so.

Regards,

Hans L

[CaptainCrash]

However, my post is primarily about a removable backup medium that I can give to my friend once a week or every second week or so.
Hans L

Would this be the sort of thing you're looking for (obviously with a suitably-sized 2.5" notebook drive)?

[peterb]

If you are really serious about backyups then tape is probably still the most reliable and portable methods - although the initial investment is quite high. An LTO2 device (storage 400 GB compressed - by the drive) will set you back about £500 and you will need a relatively high end SCSI card on top of that (say another £120). tapes cost bewtween £15 and £20 a time and are robust and portable.

The problem with hard drives is that they will fail. Even if they are left sitting on a shelf, can you be sure it will work when you need it?

You may like to consider your hard drive partitioning strategy. Having your user data on a separate partition does make backing up simpler.

There are other devices suitable for backing up - some of which are less expensive than tape. Post back if you need more details.

[Ciber]

How about one of these useful things: http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/s...tml?NOV-HDOCK2

Add any SATA HD and there you go! Like one of these: http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/s...html?MAX-DM80S or these: http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/s...tml?NOV-NBHS60 Advantage being you can have several backups on different drives and it's handy for transferring data and also reading drives from non-booting machines or whatever!

[Hans L]

Thanks you, guys. I''d rather avoid tape drives. If a hard disk breaks, I would discover it next time I tried to put data on it. So, with two disks, backing up each one every second month or so, I would discover a damaged disk and buy a new one.

I see the docking stations. Seems to be what I want. But where do the covers come in? What are they good for?

Regards,

Hans L

[xirokx]

you can setup a scheduler in Windows to backup your data every night

[merple]

Don't trust him.

It may just be me being a nosy sod but after a while I'd be itching to find out what is so important on those drives.

Seriously though, if you have data important enough for you to go to such effort to keep a copy safe, you may as well go the whole hog and keep it at your banks safety deposit.

Personally I would grab a couple of ammo boxes from an army surplus store. As long as the seal is still good and there aren't any holes, it will be air/water/fire proof, so in the unfortunate event of your house burning down your backup will be safe.

Either an external enclosure or a caddy system would be a good idea so you don't have to open up your pc every time.

fwiw I currently have no backup regime even though I know I probably should. Pure laziness.

[Hans L]

you can setup a scheduler in Windows to backup your data every night

That is exactly what I do now. I back up to my external drive.

But, if the house would burn down with the computer equipment in it, it would be disastrous. So, i finally have to invest in hard drives that I can store outside the house.

Regards,

Hans L

[Hans L]

Don't trust him.

It may just be me being a nosy sod but after a while I'd be itching to find out what is so important on those drives.

Seriously though, if you have data important enough for you to go to such effort to keep a copy safe, you may as well go the whole hog and keep it at your banks safety deposit.

Personally I would grab a couple of ammo boxes from an army surplus store. As long as the seal is still good and there aren't any holes, it will be air/water/fire proof, so in the unfortunate event of your house burning down your backup will be safe.

Either an external enclosure or a caddy system would be a good idea so you don't have to open up your pc every time.

fwiw I currently have no backup regime even though I know I probably should. Pure laziness.

If I had a hard drive in a box in the house, the heat from a fire would melt the content inside.

Regarding the need to back up – I lost my first database in the 80's, but never lost anything since, as I back up!!!!!

So, a cradle seems to be the way to go.

Regards,

Hans L