Backup solution(s) for the home user

[Salem]

Prompted by Dani(https://www.daniweb.com/community-center/meta-daniweb/threads/543808/what-do-you-think-of-my-questions), what do y'all use for backing up your home computer(s)

• Backup? What's that? Never heard of it.
• If it's important enough, I'll print it out.
• Whatever will fit on a USB thumb drive / CD / DVD.
• Full backup to local detachable storage.
• Full backup to privacy enhanced cloud like mega.nz.
• Full backup to vaguely trustable cloud like dropbox.
• Full backup to god-awful privacy invading MS-OneDrive or Google Drive.
• Something else.

[Reverend Jim]

You should never use a thumb drive for backup. Unlike SSDs, thumb drives use cheaper components with a much shorter lifespan. They are useful for exchanging information (sneaker-net) but their use as long term storage is not advised.

I keep a 4TB hard drive attached to my file server. Periodically I will do a robocopy to update a similar (normally unconnected) drive. So I have at least three copies of everything, one of which is usually unmounted.

There is little use in using an SSD as a backup. It's too expensive per gig. SSDs are very useful for online access because of their high speed access, but backups don't need high speed.

Any files I can absolutely not stand to lose (family photos/videos & tax files) I make sure to copy to yet another drive that I store off-site.

I never store anything in the cloud that I can avoid. I use Microsoft Teams to chat with my two sons, and any files that are exchanged automatically go into online Onedrive storage. Any files I want to keep I just copy to local.

As I've mentioned before, I only use C: for OS and apps. All of my user files, other than temp files, are on D:. I use Macrium Reflect to take a full partition image of C (stored on D) so in a pinch I can restore the image if I break Windows.

[Dani]

So don’t use thumb drives for backup. Don’t use SSDs for backup. Don’t use cloud services for backup. Sooo … backup only to hard drives with moving parts that aren’t as durable as SSDs when it comes to being tossed in and out of storage boxes and stored in the attic?

What do I do if I have old photos I want to backup for 20+ years, and don’t exactly have space in the drawer of my ultra-minimalistic computer desk, nor do I want or need them handy?

[Reverend Jim]

I never said to not use SSDs for backup. They are a reliable way to store data. As for mechanical failure of regular hard drives, yes, this can happen, but likely not for 3-5 years of continuous use. My Dell laptop has been running continuously for longer than that with no problems. A hard drive for offline storage does not run continuously. What I said about SSDs is that their biggest advantage is speed. I replaced the internal hard drive in an older ASUS laptop and its performance increased dramatically. If you are creating offline backups, speed is not a big enough factor IMO to warrant the added cost. At my local Staples, a 4TB external HD is $185. A 4TB SSD is $490. For a savings of $300 I don't care if a backup takes a little extra time. And by using robocopy, only differences need to be copied.

What do I do?

Make two copies and verify their integrity from time to time. The reason I hate cloud storage is that what is available today may not be available tomorrow. Companies go out of business. Companies change their policies. They are not reliable.

BTW, in my 50 years of using mainframe, micro, and personal computers, I have never lost a single file due to backup failure. That has to count for something. It has been said that nothing succeeds like success.

So don’t use thumb drives for backup.

Feel free, but don't complain when you go back and the drive is unreadable. Or, like hard drives, make several copies. Good luck keeping them, in sync.

[Reverend Jim]

Further, SSDs wear out faster the more they are written to. It should be noted that if you are using an SSD as a primary drive and you are also running with limited RAM then your system may spend excessive time swapping pages in and out. If this is the case then your drive may wear out prematurely.

[SCBWV]

I believe I read that magnetic tape outlasts them all, although safe storage would be an absolute must. M-Disc is claiming a 1,000 year lifespan with their products. I have no clue how their Blu-Ray and DVDs differ from the norm.

[Dani]

Back in the early 2000s, I backed up all of my photos and videos of my dad (who had just recently passed away at the time) onto two newly purchased LaCie external hard drives for the mac (the old Firewire ones that matched the Apple cheese graters). Basically they were the original version of something like this. I figured I'd back up to two separate drives in case something happened to one of them. After backing up what I wanted to, they got stuffed into a plastic tote with a bunch of other random stuff and stored in a corner of the spare/guest bedroom.

About 5 or so years later, I pulled them out to copy the photos onto a newly purchased computer, and both hard drives were completely unreadable. I tried everything and absolutely had no way of recovering the contents.

[Reverend Jim]

That's why I have one backup on site and one off site. In my case it's to protect in the case of fire or theft. Storing them together means whatever affects one affects the other. I also have my photos and videos online, so I have three copies at all times.

Sorry you lost your photos.

[Dani]

Actually, if I recall correctly, they ended up being stored in different plastic totes, for what it's worth.

Either way, I now use Google Drive, MS OneDrive, and iCloud. For things that require a bit more sensitivity (mostly business-related stuff such as contracts and that type of thing), then Dropbox.

[Dani]

OK, so, to keep this discussion going, what's the worst hdd failure you've ever witnessed?