path1 wrote:
Op here...Thanks everybody. I learned something. For some reason I thought the cloud was the answer because there was nothing to keep locally or to lose or break down or get stolen.
Thanks for all the replies.
wnjj wrote:
I'm not sure anyone has mentioned the biggest downside to local external HDD backups. If you leave it connected all the time, your backup will be gone in the event of a fire, theft or even a lightning strike or other power surge. Also, each time you connect the drive there is always the chance of a virus destroying the data on it if your PC is infected. You really need at least 2 drives that you rotate between, storing one in a fireproof safe or off site.
:R
Really? Your PC internal drive has a better chance of crashing and or having a virus than an external drive.
Pretty much a GIVEN that if you are planning to use a external drive as a backup that it would only be attached to said PC for the BACKUP of said files.
Once backup has been completed then disconnect the drive and store it away from the PC.
I FAIL to see why this is such a huge and overblown issue with folks who are touting the use of a THIRD PARTY storage which can and often will lose your data or go belly up without notice.
Your external drive can not hold your data hostage nor will it go bankrupt.
Overall the use of external drives WILL far surpass any third party for reliability.
I think the most robust solution is to use both cloud backup (for continuous short term) home backup (for long term). The cloud service means you never have just one copy and the home backup means you aren't dependent upon a company sticking around. As for not having an Internet connection when you need one, does it really matter how fast you can restore your photo album?
Come back and post in a few years as to how well this works for you when ALL the data you have in the "cloud" mysteriously disappears or worse yet you find YOUR data (IE photos and personal info) being used by OTHER PEOPLE. Once YOUR data has left your home it is NO LONGER YOURS AND PERSONAL.
You have way too much faith in these internet storage bozos and obviously you have not had the learning curve of seat of the pants.
I HAVE PERSONALLY BEEN BURNED by third party internet storage sites. When it happens to you I hope for your sake that you at least spend a couple of $ on your own external drive and place at least your most precious photos on it. It just may be the ONLY remnant of your files you have left in the future.
When folks tell you that they "have been there, and done it" and been burned YOU should take heed and listen.
I recently started using Dropbox with my first ever smartphone (and I'm an EE, go figure). I love the fact that it absorbs all the photos I take on my phone and they are automatically downloaded to my PC as well. When I sit down to spend the time every so often, I back them up on external HDD's or thumb drives so I have my "own" backup too.
We should consider ourselves lucky we live in an age where our memories can outlive theft, fire and quality degradation from aging unlike the days of slides or prints.
While we have seen "advances" in technology, we have also have had advances in THEFT AND LOSS of personal electronic info as people have gotten more used to the ease of storing and exchanging electronic info.
One must now days PROTECT your own personal info (IE pictures and personal identification), for each honest person on the internet you have a good chance of 2 or more bad ones who are looking for good sources of scamming data.
Storing your stuff out on the wobbly web can open you up to scammers taking your identity and once that has been stolen you never can get it back.
path1 wrote:
OP here... Thanks for all the help. Ok I'm going to go with external drive after reading the postings. Let me know if I'm right or wrong with the following question because in the past I had a tape back up and when old computer failed could not put data into new computer for some reason.
Question... With an external hard drive I can just unplug the external hard drive and take to other computer and put on my data on that different computer.
Is that right or wrong (assuming that I also put software into alternate computer prior to first computer failing).
path1 wrote:
OP here... Thanks for all the help. Ok I'm going to go with external drive after reading the postings. Let me know if I'm right or wrong with the following question because in the past I had a tape back up and when old computer failed could not put data into new computer for some reason.
Question... With an external hard drive I can just unplug the external hard drive and take to other computer and put on my data on that different computer.
Is that right or wrong (assuming that I also put software into alternate computer prior to first computer failing).
Thanks for all the help.
wittmeba wrote:2oldman wrote:
You can't, any more than you can know your self-made backups are fail safe.
OL backup is just another tool, not something that's guaranteed 100% reliable.
I never said it's foolproof or guaranteed.
All I'm suggesting is IMO you have a better chance of salvaging your system/data/configuration files from a local source than relying on the Internet.
I read most of the issues posted here and I would recommend the large & inexpensive stand-alone drives for backup. You can save multiple copies just to be sure you double your chance. Of course the entire drive could fail but if your PC and backup drive both fail, I suspect you have more important concerns than data backup.
Most problems I read are internet related - can't connect, download doesn't work, error messages, file doesn't exist, forget a login or password and the list goes on. That kinds sums it up for me.
2oldman wrote:
You can't, any more than you can know your self-made backups are fail safe.
OL backup is just another tool, not something that's guaranteed 100% reliable.
