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External Hard Drives for Data Backup

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johndu On March 28, 2008




Lisle, Illinois
#1New Post! Mar 26, 2008 @ 15:32:38
Hi guys,

Is EHD is safe for data backup? If it is, which one is the best? What is suggested size? 750GB or 1TB?

Thanks
stumblinthrulife On April 16, 2008

Deleted



Lake Saint Louis, Missouri
#2New Post! Mar 26, 2008 @ 15:36:58
I use a Maxtor OneTouch III. Mine is 200GB. Yours should be purchased based on your requirements. For a home PC 1TB seems excessive. But then, I only backup my important documents.

It rocks. I don't even think about it until a system failure. Then I reinstall, hit the button and everything is back where it was.

Exactly how technology should work - you don't notice it until you need it.
jonnythan On August 02, 2014
Bringer of rad mirth


Deleted



Here and there,
#3New Post! Mar 26, 2008 @ 15:38:36
External hard drives are a great backup solution for most people. I use one myself.

The biggest danger is not having something *offsite* though. If your house burns down with your external hard drive sitting on top of your computer, it won't do you much good.

I use an external hard drive and only take it home one day a week to update it. The rest of the time it's in a cabinet in my office.

Anyway, you don't need a 1TB drive unless you have that much to back up. Add up all the data you're going to be backing up, and get something that big plus 50% at minimum. For instance, if you have 120 GB of used space on your hard drive, and that's the only thing you're going to be backing up, get something that's at least 200 GB. Prices on 500GB external hard drives are very low right now, but, if you can afford it, there is of course no reason not to go for a 750 GB or 1TB drive.

I see that you're 13 so you probably don't exactly have an office where you can keep the drive, and school lockers and so forth aren't very secure locations. You might want to just keep the drive at home and look for an online backup solution for the REALLY important stuff, if you have any.

By the way, if you're using the external hard drive as a backup device, turn it off or unplug it when you're not actively doing a backup with it. It would suck quite a bit if you got a virus or power surge one day that erased or fried your main AND backup hard drives all at once.
stumblinthrulife On April 16, 2008

Deleted



Lake Saint Louis, Missouri
#4New Post! Mar 26, 2008 @ 15:46:39
@jonnythan Said
External hard drives are a great backup solution for most people. I use one myself.

The biggest danger is not having something *offsite* though. If your house burns down with your external hard drive sitting on top of your computer, it won't do you much good.

I use an external hard drive and only take it home one day a week to update it. The rest of the time it's in a cabinet in my office.

Anyway, you don't need a 1TB drive unless you have that much to back up. Add up all the data you're going to be backing up, and get something that big plus 50% at minimum. For instance, if you have 120 GB of used space on your hard drive, and that's the only thing you're going to be backing up, get something that's at least 200 GB. Prices on 500GB external hard drives are very low right now, but, if you can afford it, there is of course no reason not to go for a 750 GB or 1TB drive.

I see that you're 13 so you probably don't exactly have an office where you can keep the drive, and school lockers and so forth aren't very secure locations. You might want to just keep the drive at home and look for an online backup solution for the REALLY important stuff, if you have any.

By the way, if you're using the external hard drive as a backup device, turn it off or unplug it when you're not actively doing a backup with it. It would suck quite a bit if you got a virus or power surge one day that erased or fried your main AND backup hard drives all at once.


you're a far more thorough "backer upper" than I am

I really should get around to setting up a sync with the company online files system. For now, if the house burns down I'll be losing all my data. Though to be honest, it'll be the last thing on my mind...
jonnythan On August 02, 2014
Bringer of rad mirth


Deleted



Here and there,
#5New Post! Mar 26, 2008 @ 15:51:24
@stumblinthrulife Said
you're a far more thorough "backer upper" than I am

I really should get around to setting up a sync with the company online files system. For now, if the house burns down I'll be losing all my data. Though to be honest, it'll be the last thing on my mind...


Having your house burn down sucks quite a bit, I imagine.

But, for the most part, everything in my house besides the residents and a few knick knacks is replaceable (especially when your insurance plan covers the cost of replacement for everything inside of it).

I've got years upon years of digitized pictures, one of a kind MP3s, conversations, priceless emails, etc etc, that are absolutely not replaceable. The stuff on my backup hard drive is, quite literally, my past.

It'd be tough dealing with the loss of my abode and everything in it, but it'd be an order of magnitude tougher dealing with the loss of so many important pictures, documents, emails, yadda yadda.

I take good care of it
angelcake On January 18, 2016
Say whaaa





Eastleigh, United Kingdom
#6New Post! Mar 26, 2008 @ 15:53:51
@stumblinthrulife Said
I use a Maxtor OneTouch III. Mine is 200GB. Yours should be purchased based on your requirements. For a home PC 1TB seems excessive. But then, I only backup my important documents.

It rocks. I don't even think about it until a system failure. Then I reinstall, hit the button and everything is back where it was.

Exactly how technology should work - you don't notice it until you need it.



I have a maxtor one touch....i cant get it to work though
semi_precious_stone On June 23, 2019




, United Kingdom
#7New Post! Mar 26, 2008 @ 15:53:53
@stumblinthrulife Said
you're a far more thorough "backer upper" than I am

I really should get around to setting up a sync with the company online files system. For now, if the house burns down I'll be losing all my data. Though to be honest, it'll be the last thing on my mind...


My idea of backing up is hitting the save button.

I have an external hard drive and the only things I have backed up with any consistency is my music and photos!

I have paid the price a few times, I just never learn!
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