External Back Up Drive

AdamZ

AdamZ

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Feb 24, 2005
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Montgomery County PA
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Display name:
Adam Zucker
So I have an Edge" Disk Go" 80Gig back up drive that I use for my office computers. We have 2 drives and switch them out every other day. Last week they both just decide to stop working so I really need to get a new back up drive that is not too expensive. I'd love it if I could get 80Gig for under $70. I thought I'd just replace them but PC Connection.com where I got them doesn't know when they will have more instock.

Any suggestions?
 
AdamZ said:
So I have an Edge" Disk Go" 80Gig back up drive that I use for my office computers. We have 2 drives and switch them out every other day. Last week they both just decide to stop working so I really need to get a new back up drive that is not too expensive. I'd love it if I could get 80Gig for under $70. I thought I'd just replace them but PC Connection.com where I got them doesn't know when they will have more instock.

Any suggestions?
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You can 500GB-1TB for not much more now:

I like Seagate.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010150414 50001305&bop=And&Order=PRICE
 
If it helps I bought a Qmemory device last year....and it quit last month. grr. I am averaging about one electronic device failure per month, and substandard function on the remaining ones. "the technology is in its infancy"
 
Hey Adam,

I use the mybook drives and pay $120 for a terabyte on a good day; $99 for 500 gig. good deal
 
fdorrin said:
I use the mybook drives and pay $120 for a terabyte on a good day; $99 for 500 gig. good deal
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I also have a 500 GB MyBook drive and it seems to work fine.
 
Newegg.com is where I've gone for all my computer related needs for the last few years.
 
(hijack warning) I just thought of something.

I have a Maxtor external hard drive that is used to backup my main office machine twice a week.

I think I just realized that since this is an external hard drive it's completely un-secured. If someone broke into my office, they could steal this hard drive, take it home, plug it into their computer, and browse away.

Correct?

I guess my password protected computers are also quite easily hacked, but at least it a little something...
 
timwinters said:
(hijack warning) I just thought of something.

I have a Maxtor external hard drive that is used to backup my main office machine twice a week.

I think I just realized that since this is an external hard drive it's completely un-secured. If someone broke into my office, they could steal this hard drive, take it home, plug it into their computer, and browse away.

Correct?

I guess my password protected computers are also quite easily hacked, but at least it a little something...
Click to expand...

Yes indeed, you should lock up your backups if you're worried. On the other hand, if they broke into your office, they could just steal the main computer too.

Some backup software will allow you to encrypt the backup. It slows the process significantly, and if you ever lose the password or your private key or whatever is securing the backup, you're screwed in the event of a data loss. TrueCrypt is similar, but in the event of a disk error you can lose the entire encrypted drive (they may have addressed this in later versions). I do not recommend disk-level encryption (where the entire disk partition is one encrypted file) for backups - the failure rate is unacceptably high. File-level (each file separately encrypted) or block-level (each block of data separately encrypted) encryption is OK as an error only compromises your ability to recover one file, or perhaps one segment of a file.

My recommendation would be to get a decent fire-resistant safe, and put your unencrypted backup drive in it. Anything really really important should get periodically written to optical media and stored in a safe deposit box. Anything really really really really important should be written to multiple optical media and stored in multiple safe deposit boxes, preferably in geographically dispersed areas (like CT and CO).
 
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TMetzinger said:
My recommendation would be to get a decent fire-resistant safe, and put your unencrypted backup drive in it. Anything really really important should get periodically written to optical media and stored in a safe deposit box. Anything really really really really important should be written to multiple optical media and stored in multiple safe deposit boxes, preferably in geographically dispersed areas (like CT and CO).
Click to expand...

Does that make the travel to and from a tax deductible business expense? :)
 
TMetzinger said:
....SNIP....and if you ever lose the password or your private key or whatever is securing the backup, you're screwed in the event of a data loss. ....SNIP....
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Just write the password on the bottom of the device. No one will look there for it. Most of our users passwords are under their keyboards.
Of course the best solution for PASSWORDs is to use an easily to remember FORMAT and a KEY. For the format, use something like an alpha alpha alpha alpha number alpha number (special character if needed like # $ @ % ! > < ). For the alpha part which is the KEY, use the names of rocks, cities, animals, trees, etc. You can then WRITE down the KEY and unless you told someone what the password format was one a public bulletin board, no one could guess it.
On the other hand, if you use this same password for all your devices and accounts, once hacked, you're completely exposed.
Change your password often (30-90 days)and don't use things associated with you like your wife, kid, dog name.
PS: Have a different format for banks and other online financial institutions than you do for your personal online accounts and devices. Less likely to lose it all at once.
 
I just use other people's tail numbers as my passords. Two of them in sequence. That produces a nice alpha/numeric mix. The first tail number's alpha are capitalized the second not...or vice versa. It's easy to remember.

And yes, all online financials are different from other "non-essential" accounts.

BS account passwords, like this one (the one for PoA), are never changed. I change important passwords every 6 months.
 
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gprellwitz said:
Then it might make sense to make sure that your backup is in another country, like, maybe, the Bahamas?:yes:
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I'd think so, a nice, warm, stable country with swiss-like banking privacy laws and no extradition would probably be perfect.

Seriously, depending on the criticality (your business can't run without it being available) and the sensitivity (your business can't run if it becomes public) of your data, none of the things discussed are outrageous.
 
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