jdubu Loc: San Jose, CA

I have not delved into cloud storage as I have set up Synology NAS's for my work and wife's interior design business. I recently replaced my NAS work drives with 2 12tb Seagate wolfs for expanded capacity. The second holds business programs and CAD client files that we access every day. Anything we add or change is automatically backed up after completion of work via Synology's Cloud software on my LAN. Photos and business programs reside on the PCs and thus I have 3 copies at any given time. CAD files and design input is on the NAS that acts as a server so we can both access the latest drawings, etc.

Both Synologys automatically back up to an off site Synology located at my sister's house across town for off site storage. Once it was all set up, I just get reports from Synology if there are any problems, like lost connections. Their customer service is absolutely responsive and problems are resolved within a day. I could not be more happy with this product.

kschwegl Loc: Orangeburg, NY

I'd suggest an external USB3 drive or 2, and backup with Acronis Tru Image. Nothing like having an "on site" backup. If you need to restore, just boot off the Acronis recovery CD, select restore, and have some coffee or whatever. That easy, I've did it when I installed an SSD and restored my system to it. Use the old hard drive as a storage device. Back it up as well.

Ken S.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Carbonite will never fail, but Seagate drives will. All my backups are at home. I use two external hard drives and a NAS. One backup drive is almost worthless, so you're smart to buy two. Buy two HGST Ultrstar drives and backup with security.

Here's an excellent deal - HGST Ultrastar Enterprise drive for $170.
https://smile.amazon.com/d/Internal-Hard-Drives/HGST-Ultrastar-HUH728080ALE604-Enterprise-Refurbished/B079TL4TDJ/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1550404220&sr=8-7&keywords=hgst+ultrastar

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I've installed Samsung SSDs, and they came with a cable and software. I plugged the SSD into the computer, opened the software, and it copied the C drive onto the new Samsung SSD. Interesting that the software works only with Samsung SSDs. I tried it with other drives, and it says it can't find the Samsung drive. Clever of them.

queencitysanta Loc: Charlotte, North Carolina

If you have your backup at home and your house burns down, you’ve lost everything. I used a backup at home and carbonate.

yssirk123 Loc: New Jersey

I use Acronis paired to 2 Seagate 8TB USB hard drives (primary and secondary local backup) and Backblaze for off premise cloud backup.

Jaackil Loc: Massachusetts

When your very first statement is incorrect the rest of your rant becomes suspect. FDIC Insurance does not cover up to $100k per account that is false. FDIC Insurance covered up to a Maximum $250k per depositor class per bank. Just saying.
But you are right if carbonite goes bankrupt what protection do you have? But the same can be said for the security of external hard drives. What protection do you have if the drive fails or is corrupted? Couldn’t an individual computer be hacked also and that data stolen too? I highly doubt most individual hard drives have more or better security than most reputable cloud storage vendors. So the OP was asking about options. What option do you suggest? Print the images out and put them under your mattress?

Charlie Schomer

I have used a 4TB Mirrored Western Digital NAS My Cloud for at least 5 years and have had no problem. Before that I have used other Nas devises the mirrored, both drives are Identical. I considered all the on line services but prefer to keep my all photos and and other files under my control. My system cost about $400, but it is mine, under my control. Hope this helps..

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

I use BackBlaze which has gone up to $6/mo but allows b/u of unlimited drives I have 6 hds

bikerguy

About a year ago I got much more serious about our backup plan. Since the PC includes not only photos but lots of important financial data I didn't want to lose nor have it in the cloud. Therefore, my solution is 1) all data is on an external HDD; 2) it is all backed up onto another HDD once a week (or sooner if important data is added using SyncToy; 3) at the end of the month I swap the backup drive for a second backup drive that is sitting in a bank vault about 10 miles away, and; 4) as soon as I get home I synchronize the two drives.

Also, when we travel I put both HDD in a small fire proof safe. It may or may not survive a house fire but I have the full backup in the bank vault.

I do not use the cloud because I do not trust the longevity and\or security of the providers. Pictures on the cloud are ok but never financial data.

Ed Chu Loc: Las Vegas NV

I just renewed Carbonite and it was $59 / yr

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

Backup strategy:

Redundancy. Multiple copies of your backups mitigate possibility of failure of storage media.
Distribution. Multiple locations of your storage media mitigate possibility of local disaster.

I expect my external hard drives to fail although it has never happened*. Furthermore, I expect my data to increase in volume. For those reasons I replace my external hard drives every few years with larger ones. That way I am working with relatively young drives, not too close to failure ages and adequate in size for my data. Placing data on a hard drive and putting it away unused for several years is not a good idea, since the moving parts may eventually freeze up. For that reason my hard drives are synchronized and rotated every so often to distribute usage patterns among them.

I do not expect a local disaster but I plan for it. If my computer catches fire or is fried by a lightning strike it will probably take out the backup drive attached to it. At that point I have another backup drive located elsewhere in the house that I can use to regenerate the destroyed backup. If my house burns down it will probably take out both of those drives, so I have a third drive located a mile away in my barn. The three drives are close enough together that it's fairly easy to get them together for synchronization.

I do not expect a regional disaster but I plan for it. This is where the cloud backup comes in. If I had lived in Paradise CA, even my remote backup drive would probably be destroyed along with the rest of the town, even if I had stored it in the local bank safe deposit box. Cloud backup is distributed on a wider scale than my local model. Also, cloud storage is professionally maintained and uses media that are higher grade than my consumer hard drives. (Assuming of course that I pick a good quality cloud company).



* Although I have never observed a hard drive failure, it's possible that some of my earlier hard drives have failed by now due to non-use. Once they have been replaced in the backup system they are relegated to a box in the basement where they have very little use. The last time I checked any of them was probably about 5-6 years ago at which time I could extract data from all of them except one, and that one was inoperative because it had a proprietary power supply and the power supply had been lost. All the data on all the drives I checked were present on the current backup drives.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

If you have two drives at home and one in the bank, you can synchronize the two at home, take one to the bank, remove your bank drive and leave the one from home, then take the bank copy home and synchronize it. That way you only have to make one 10 mile trip to the bank and you have more backup possibilities at home.

bikerguy

That is exactly what I do. I have the backup drives labeled odd month and even month so I only visit the bank once a month.

tcthome Loc: NJ

I believe your Passports , cash,( paper items, coins, jewelry ) etc. would still be in tact. But cd's & electronics? Would they be able to withstand the heat if the door melts shut?