PCFormat Forum Archive

Hey guys

So, I'm sure we all have our stuff backed up, be it to external HDDs, RAIDed HDDs, DVDs, online etc. I'm curious to know how you have your stuff backed up, specifically with online backups.

I've got quite a lot of stuff backed up to DVDs, as well as a backup server I have here in my home. These are all local backups though, so if my home were to burn down tomorrow, I'd have nothing. I do have a whole lot of photos backed up on my Picasa account, but not all of them.

I've always wanted to have EVERYTHING on my machine backed up online, but I've just never had the bandwidth to do that. Fortunately though, we now have affordable uncapped ADSL in SA, so online backups are a total possibility.

A fantastic service called Carbonite allows unlimited online backups for $55 a year, which is about R33 a month, which sounds totally worth it.

I'm seriously considering opening an account with these guys. Do any of you use something like this? Is there a better option?

I backup anything I deem valuable to DVD.

Unfortunately for me, everything I deem valuable others deem disgusting... so I have to hide my DVD folder on top of my wardrobe.

I've heard a few ads for Carbonite on streaming radio, never tried them though. Sounds decent (then again, that's the whole idea behind advertising). I think they do have a trial option you can try?

I do not do online backups ... I always use externals and DVDs unfortunately the problem of something happening to the house (like DJV mentioned) I would also lose all my information! It is something I have often thought about to be honest. Perhaps online backups are not a bad idea, but I am not so sure. At least with photos it is easy, bookface or Photobucket etc etc can all be used. But for documents and music and movies ... I am not sure!

americantsm1 wrote:But for documents

I use Google Docs.

D3PART3D wrote:

americantsm1 wrote:But for documents

I use Google Docs.

That's fine if you want Google employees reading your erotic Simpsons fanfiction...

jamin_za wrote:

D3PART3D wrote:

americantsm1 wrote:But for documents

I use Google Docs.

That's fine if you want Google employees reading your erotic Simpsons fanfiction...

I'm sure they've got better things to do

My family does local backups to a 3Terabyte RAID 5

We're getting 2x500GB drives so I then copy that back up onto individual 640GB drives, which will be kept in different locations - a fireproof safe in the main house and somewhere in my attic. (Currently doing this with an old 320GB and a spare RAID Ready tera Drive)

Also, my dad and I do backups to 2.5" external drives that go with us most of the time.

I'm also going to start doing my backups online now. I actually don't have any backups whatsoever, which isn't ideal.

WiK1d wrote:I'm also going to start doing my backups online now. I actually don't have any backups whatsoever, which isn't ideal.

What's your plan Wik? Something like Carbonite as well?

I actually have no plan yet

All I know is if my drive dies now I lose about 20 gigs worth of updates, need to get a 2tb drive to back up all my update files and music :'(

so I have to hide my DVD folder on top of my wardrobe.

Not anymore though, huh?

I back up to a mixture of DVD's and HDD's. Online backups would still take forever on the slower connections, unfortunately.

WiK1d wrote:I actually have no plan yet

In the same boat. already lost 2 drives

I back up to 2 external drives (one of which is at work and the other at home, so if the house does burn down its safe (well at least the last weeks worth of works). I have all my original Music and SW CDs also backed up to both drives and to additional CDs(those that work anyways). I don't trust the net to leave any back ups online. I don't keep movies and series etc on a PC, i have Multi choice for that.

Our company has 3 1.5tb drives for our office backups, data gets backed up to these and they get circulated between users daily, there is also a fourth NAS device in a fireproof container

I dont have a backup system in place. Why? Well the only thing I would ever want to keep on a backup are my games and since I will probably go Steam with all this 4mb uncapped doing the rounds all the games are backed up for me already. My DVD's are a great concern to me and if I make a copy of them I am a pirate even though I want a backup . Best thing to do? Build a bunker in your backyard and store everything in there...

Anakha56 wrote:Build a bunker in your backyard and store everything in there...

Store all your backups in the bunker in your yard?
But then where would you keep all the dead bodies?

jamin_za wrote:

Anakha56 wrote:Build a bunker in your backyard and store everything in there...

Store all your backups in the bunker in your yard?
But then where would you keep all the dead bodies?

Your complex, where else?

Haha, I knew this was about Carbonite before I opened it, since we listen to the same podcasts...

I'm also considering doing some important things that way, once I have uncapped ADSL. All these solutions are great for people with bandwidth, but makes it harder for most of us in SA...

A fool trusts his data to a hard drive. I burn really important stuff to a DVD and/or print it out if it´s a document which I file.

I currently have drop box which gives me 3gigs of free storage. Itś really quite good but its designed not to be a backup system, more an access anywhere and share.

Itś nice that you can get decent storage now for little cost per year. Definitely use it over a hard drive anyday. we are trying to get out clients onto online backups.

I backup to hdd's and occasionally DVD's for images Very NB stuff across diff hdd's and emailing myself (docs' etc)

and emailing myself

Yeah, I've been doing some of this as well. You can send files up to 25mb with yahoo with unlimited storage.

So I found an awesome service called MozyHome. It's less than $5 a month for unlimited backups. Anyone used these guys? I'm busy uploading right now

My New backup strategy is as follows.

One Primary 80 or 160 Gig Drive. On this goes Windows, Office and a few other software installations.
Games will be getting an entire drive to themselves for installs, Patches, VCD's ETC. (Most of my games are legal, so I still need to make VCD's)
Music, Documents And Anime will probably get an entire drive to themselves.
Series and Movies will be getting an entire drive to themselves.

This means that if another virus hits my C drive, I just format and reinstall. Nothing goes into the documents folder. Nothing to Backup on it. It also means I can take the smaller PC to a Lan and just hook up my Games Drive.