Online backup services

[kate_nepveu]

Do you use an online backup service that you'd recommend? I'm looking at Mozy and Jungle Disk, but that was on a very quick look.

(My absolutely-essential files are on a USB drive that I carry at all times and automagically e-mailed to myself once a week, and we both have external hard drives; but it would be really good to have offsite backups of everything if it can be done without too much fuss.)

Comments

[jrittenhouse.livejournal.com]

Depends on how big 'everything' is.

There's a couple of options I can think of, but it depends on how many files, how organized you want them, and if you have the money to do it.

For me, the household has a few hosting accounts, and each of them has well over a gigabyte of space on them. More like uh, 300 Gigabytes. Per each. At around $6 a month (paid yearly) that houses my web stuff, and could house a crapload of files. As in need-to-backup-remotely files.

Considering that also gives you the website for your personal evile schemes, all the email you can eat, etc., it's not a bad deal. Then all you'd need would be a FTP client to upload and download the little buggers.

(I just went in and looked at the two sites you mentioned....quite interesting. I think I'd go with Jungle Disk between the two. Do note that the gotcha here is not the storage, it's the up and down and access and the cost of the software...)

Me, I'd be more concerned with the backup time for a large amount of data onto one of these things; even at my cable modem rates, 4 gigs of stuff is gonna take a bit, and most places I run into otherwise don't have that sort of throughput...

[kate_nepveu]

I like the idea of a service because that way it can run in the background and I don't have to worry about where I left off FTP'ing stuff.

And it's probably edging towards triple digits--Chad has bought a *lot* of music on iTunes, for instance--so I know it will be a very long-term project, but this is a long-term "in case the house burns down" kind of thing. (That music, for instance, is kept three places: his computer, his iPod, and his external hard drive that backs up his computer. However, all three are usually in the same place, our house.)

I do backups to DVD of most of my data, and am going to look at safe deposit boxes or suchlike soon, but it would take me weeks to burn all his music. (Though since hard drives have gotten so cheap, and since my external drive is getting full, I may just get us new ones and then store the old ones; but that won't address future purchases.)

Just noodling with the idea now.

[krfsm.livejournal.com]

The place I'm working at (Diino.com (http://www.diino.com/)) offers 2 GB storage for free, but demands that you use their client.

[kate_nepveu]

Yeah, see prior comment; I'm wondering if it's practical to store a lot more than that.

[jrittenhouse.livejournal.com]

I don't think so.

In the case of one's digital hoarding, like mp3s or photos, you're far better off doing something like this:

(1) getting serious archival-quality DVDs and making two reference sets; one in a safe deposit box nearby, and the other with a reliable person who is stable and lives in a good neighborhood. Buy them a fireproof small safe or something and hand them the set, and every so often, you archive out volume 220, 221 and 222 to DVD, and take the copies to your archival sites.

(2) same sort of thing, but instead of a DVD, you use a bare HD - I'd suggest SATA these days - or a external setup. One day every month or so, you have two of the drives available. You do the backup, take/send the things off to their hidey-holes, and retrieve one of the older sets for the next time you do this. You might get away with only two sets, but I'd recommend three.

Needless to say, it's a solid deal for making sure Everything Is OK. I wouldn't do this with 'working files', because they change too much. It's overkill for mindless crap, or only a few files; this is 200-500 Gig territory.

I wouldn't use the FTP solution for anything bigger than a DVD disk size of file-collection.

[kate_nepveu]

Thanks. Would you concur with the comments about archival DVDs here: http://adterrasperaspera.com/blog/2006/10/30/how-to-choose-cddvd-archival-media/ ?

[jrittenhouse.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've referred people to that before. I don't totally buy his DVD+R comments, but it can't hurt.

See also:
http://adterrasperaspera.com/blog/2006/12/09/what-real-taiyo-yuden-media-looks-like/
and my own page on the subject:
http://journal.memnison.com/things-to-check-into/archival-dvds-and-cds/

[kate_nepveu]

Thanks. I buy Verbatim discs which a check of tells me are the good kind, so I'm set there.

[jrittenhouse.livejournal.com]

Most excellent!

[ginger-blue.livejournal.com]

I've been using Mozy. It took forever to upload everything (8.2 GB) the first time--several days of leaving the computer on, if I remember--but was easy to configure and it's been unobtrusive since then. Since I've had it I haven't needed to recover anything that wasn't on my external hard drive, though.

[kate_nepveu]

Thanks.