What is everyone using for computer backups?

[alloy]

I lost my main shop computer on Saturday. I have it on a section of my work bench and about 5 feet away I was using a cutoff disk in my vise and the disk exploded and scored a bulls eye on my laptop screen. I'm sure the ssd drive is intact, but with no screen I can't get to it. I ordered a new screen and hopefully I'll be able to change it out. I also ordered another identical laptop computer and a little drive enclosure that supposedly I can use to access the ssd drive and pull the files off it.

But I think it's time to get some kind of off site automatic backup for my files. So what is service is everyone using for this? There are a ton of places. I need something along the lines of the KISS principal since I'm not a computer nurd.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[mmcmdl]

External Hard Drive. HDD preferred for long term storage. Make sure you plug it in and browse through your files every so often to keep things working good. ( from my son )

All my knowledge is stored in my head and also in the clouds ......................which I consider to be the same place !

 

[Reddinr]

I suggest just a USB external hard drive, nothing special. Keep it safe somewhere in a different building. Put it in your pocket if you have to bug out due to dangerous abnormally sunny weather in WA.

I personally don't trust online services much. I've turned off microsoft's one-drive for example. If you read the (long) service agreements, many don't do much to guarantee data security or privacy. I have put selected documents onto goggle-drive to share with others from time to time.

 

[jwmelvin]

I typically try to keep important files in one of several places:

Dropbox/Google Drive/iCloud Drive - good for general accessibility. Large files/usage requires ongoing fees.

Network Attached Storage (NAS) - a local storage device, good for larger files that would be more expensive to store in cloud services. This is somewhat a relic of computer audio, but I’ve always found it handy to have a large local drive. I use a double-redundant RAID setup on Linux mostly because I’ve lost data in the past and I like to tinker with computers.

I have my NAS backed up to a cloud service - Backblaze B2. That costs about $10/mo for the 2TB I store, which is the same price as 2TB Dropbox accounts. (When I set up my storage, cloud storage was much more expensive.) Backup generally gives better access to version history, but some of the cloud-sync services provide that too.

I like Backblaze as a company and wouldn’t hesitate to use their Personal Backup service. It appears to be $9/mo for unlimited storage. I’m not sure if it has the same sync-across-computers as Dropbox, but largely free accounts mentioned above handle my needs in that regard.

Having plenty of backed-up storage lets you do things like save install files that may not be available in the future. I’ve saved a few disasters with old storage. Mostly, though, it just sits around like everything else.

 

[Boswell]

external usb hard drives are pretty inexpensive now days. I have multiple ones and rotate them offsite so there is always one that is at a remote location in case of a fire.

 

[Aaron_W]

I use an external hard drive, for mobility as well as backup. Easy to take with me to use on my laptop when I'm travelling. I have identical drives, one kept as a backup, and one I can move from computer to computer. By keeping both updated I have redundancy.

Lots of options, they are small, pretty durable, and a 1TB drive is under $100.

 

[Advil]

Also iDrive... One difference between them and others is you can use the storage space for any number of devices PCs or phones not just one.

Also they have encryption options including where you hold your part of the key yourself and are responsible for it if you care. This theoretically (theoretically) means they can't see your backed up data only you.

 

[woodchucker]

I don't like online backups. I don't want anyone having my data.

I use a USB hard drive. I also have a few thumb drives. I keep one thumb in the bank safe deposit box. And swap them out occasionally.

You know you can just attach a screen using HDMI or whatever. VGA to your laptop and continue using. It doesn't even have to be a screen that you replace

 

[Winegrower]

I have a Terabyte hard drive, network attached, so any of the networked computers can transfer files to it. But, it depends on me to actually do it.

 

[tq60]

If pre windows 10, you can mirror the dive with an external interface to make backup drives.

Many external better drives come with backup software.

Make backups of your registry as it can go sideways.

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