1Tb external drive – clicky one button = backup done when I head off to bed once a month or so.
All good pics uploaded to Flickr, so that will remain pic backup resource as well. I was considering a Dropbox account, but would need to plug into somewhere with fibreoptic first time, not our rural broadband…

No backups=unrealistic trust in tech.
I like having 3 lines of defence
Time machine backups-immediate fallback
offsite weekly backup – just in case
online backblaze backup – extra assurance and a touch of immediacy

Does it work?
before xmas I dropped the 640GB drive that was almost full of my music and Aperture originals (formerly ‘masters’). It worked OK afterwards for a day or two. Until I came to a few files that were obviously mangled. Unplugged the drive, got a fresh one and restored everything to its rightful order.

I have a NAS and several old hdd’s full of copies of stuff, but these aren’t really backup’s are they? A backup should be to some sort of incorruptible media such as tape, or laterly dvd. I used to do regular DVD backups but lapsed for a while, and so am now in the position of needing to backup quite a lot more than is practicle to std DVD.
Haven’t the cash off-hand for a blue ray recorder, but this is seemingly the way to go.

How much data can a blue ray store?

I use Time Machine for plug in and forget, but dropbox for stuff i want to be able to access at different locations. Every once in a while i clean dropbox up and move stuff to spideroak or google drive.

incorruptible media such as tape, or laterly dvd. I used to do regular DVD backups

DVDs generally last around 5 years before they start to deteriorate, less if you use cheap generic ones, so I’m not sure “incorruptible” is exactly accurate. 😕

I think thats being a tad ingenuous Graham, DVD like CD should last for up to 30-100 years if stored correctly. Though no, there’s no guarantee, but are you suggesting a hdd in a NAS has a better life expectancy?
Or what would you suggest as an alternative for home use?

DesB:
Capacity
25 GB (single-layer)
50 GB (dual-layer)
100/128 GB (BDXL)

theflatboy – Member

anyone using a raspberry pi as backup manager? I am thinking about getting one as an XBMC media centre and that + a NAS would be an obvious backup option.

just to ask this again in case anyone has any light to shed?

Not sure that the Pi would bring anythign to the process?

My NAS came with Memeo backup which manages the whole process for all the devices on the network.

I find the safest way is to print everything off, that way I have a hard copy that’s kept safe. 😛

wwaswas – Member

Not sure that the Pi would bring anythign to the process?

yeah i see what you mean, actually – being a bit dim there. so would have the NAS doing its NASy business but also connected to the pi to get stuff off it to play through the AV system.

don_simon’s Simpsons movie collection;

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzNzlzRY7TE[/video]

DVDs generally last around 5 years before they start to deteriorate

That’s what they said when CDs & DVDs first came out. I think I’ve only ever seen 1 disk become unusable just due to age.
The first CD I bought was in 1990 (Teenage Fanclub “Everything Flows”) and it’s still fine 🙂

I think thats being a tad ingenuous Graham, DVD like CD should last for up to 30-100 years if stored correctly.

Quality of DVDs varies enormously – 5 years would be doing well if you are using no-name DVDs from the supermarket and you won’t be seeing 100 years unless you are using expensive archive quality DVDs with stabilized dyes and special plastics.

The American Library of Congress has done some good work on this. Here is the simple guide to their recommendations (PDF).

In one study they artificially aged DVD products:

There were fifteen DVD products tested, including five DVD-R, five DVD+R, two DVD-RW and three DVD+RW types. There were ninety samples tested for each product. Fig. 6 shows the results for DVD media. Overall, seven of the products tested had estimated life expectancies in ambient conditions of more than 45 years. Four products had estimated life expectancies of 30-45 years in ambient storage conditions. Two products had a estimated life expectancy of 15-30 years and two products had estimated life expectancies of less than 15 years when stored in ambient conditions.

— http://www.loc.gov/preservation/resources/rt/NIST_LC_OpticalDiscLongevity.pdf

The first CD I bought was in 1990 (Teenage Fanclub “Everything Flows”) and it’s still fine

BIG difference between a pressed CD and a writable CD that has reactive dyes in it.
(think printed book versus notebook in biro)

Or what would you suggest as an alternative for home use?

DVDs + Cloud backup. Make it someone else’s problem.

😀

They still said bought CDs would deteriorate!

They still said bought CDs would deteriorate!

They got better at pressing CDs.

There have been advances in writable DVD/CDs too – but ultimately you have a dye that reacts to light and can break down over long periods of time. Archival DVDs use a more expensive stabilised dye to improve their lifetime, but you won’t find them in five-packs at Poundland.

We bought an external drive and just copy over everything about every two months

You’re OK with losing 2 months worth of work? Don’t mean to pick on you, but … ouch 🙁

A while ago I had 2 external backup HD fail more or less simultaneously. Sh1t happens. Now I have 2 Time Machines, 2 HDD with my photos duplicated (one of each off-site), documents on Dropbox, and online Backblaze backup. Paranoid? … not really 🙂

a dye that reacts to light

A-ha! So don’t leave them out on the windowsill?

My photos are on 2 hard drives at home and a third at work. If it’s not on at least 2 devices in 2 separate locations then it isn’t backed up. The fire or theft that takes out your computer is can take out your back up as well.

DrJ – Member
You’re OK with losing 2 months worth of work? Don’t mean to pick on you, but … ouch

I’d be really frustrated to lose even a day’s work.

A-ha! So don’t leave them out on the windowsill?

Definitely don’t leave them in any kind of light. Storing them properly can triple their lifetimes*

But the dye starts to break down eventually anyway.

* (note: the ones in that LoC/NIST study were properly stored with only temperature and relative humidity varied and they used optimal recorders etc)