Back Up Drive

[Alie&Jim's Carrilite]

We have 3 laptops that are being used for personal/business/other work that are getting to a point that if one crashes we'll lose too much data that will be hard to replace.

It needs to be portable-

Be able to daily back up 2 computers daily and 1 weekly

Suggestions?

 

[SWharton]

If you have unlimited internet use one of the clouds. I use Google Drive and whenever I change a file that I have designated on the drive a copy is sent to the cloud. For all my other files I uses a Toshiba 3TB ehd. They come in colors so you could get 3 colors, one for each unit. I uses Nova Backup for those. I do a full backup each month and an incremental each week.

I like the cloud(took me several years to go to it) as then the data is offsite,.,

I am sure there are other solutions.

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

Backup drives in the same trailer as the PC will burn in the fire together.  That is why I lke off-site backup, like Carbonite.

[lenp]

I tried the offsite backups and did not like it due to having to (essentially) start over if/when I upgraded my PC.  Additionally, I do not have the bandwidth to use the cloud when traveling.

 I now use a 2TB SSD to back up both my laptop and DW's.  That 2TB stays in the MH with us.  A second 1.5TB hard drive rides in my toad and gets the same backups as the SSD -double backup??.  Pain in the a$$ to go and get it every time but worth the effort I think.

At our S&B the 1.5TB is located in the barn and connected via CAT5 so I can do backups automatically and on a schedule.

Lenp

[Alie&Jim's Carrilite]

No unlimited internet.  

For right now I'm more concerned about a system crash and losing data.  In a catastrophic type event then we do have our financial data off site.  

[ALLOY]

A NAS storage system is the ideal solution but an external hard drive is easier.

[Chad Heiser]

I use a western digital my cloud drive.  It works well and can even be set up to synchronize files between all your computers.  I have a PC and a laptop and now all my files are on both machines and the drive.  If I change a file on one machine, it automatically gets updated on all the others.  This gives me even more redundancy in case of a failure.  It can also be accessed remotely if it is on a network to allow you access to your files while you are off site if you would like.

[DJW]

I have 2 Seagate 3TB external hard drives.  1 for the DW's Laptop and 1 for mine.  I backup each laptop to it's own EHD once a month and once or twice a year I backup each EHD to each other.  So I have 3 copies if you will of both laptops.  1 internal and 2 external.  Our files are mostly pictures and music.

Dennis

[RV_]

How big are the hard drives capacities in each of the computers you will be backing up? Will you want a desktop plugged in all the time for convenience and extra storage as well as a second backup drive for all three that you take and put in your second vehicle or what? More info and I can tailor what you need.

[DJW]

RV

As long as we are on the subject of backup.  I am still using the system image backup in Windows 10 is still good to go?

Dennis

[RV_]

It should be Dennis. If you have any difficulty when needed, any tech can restore it if necessary. I am running clones of my drives and keeping a separate drive clone for each of our two main systems, and my tablets. Lynn has decided she prefers her phone, a new as of a year ago 5.5" Moto Z play, to her Dell tablet which is our oldest tablet yet is really responsive and runs Windows 10 now. It was a Windows 8 tablet originally. It was also our first tablet with a full size USB 3 port and full 1080p resolution, and the only tablet with a user replaceable battery. Anyway, I have backup systems for my backup systems.

[docj]

I use the Microsoft OneDrive and have "defined" it as the drive that all my basic libraries are stored on (documents, pictures, etc).  Files on the OneDrive display in File Explorer as if they were on my computer.  In addition I have specified that all cloud files are to be available offline which results in copies of all cloud documents also residing on my second HDD, my D: drive which carries nothing but data.  So I get the safety of the cloud with the ability to have all my files available without an internet connection and without the need to actually do any backups.

As for programs and the operating system residing on my C: drive, I back that up to a local HDD every month or so using Windows Create System Image app.

[Yarome]

I must be getting old. Other than multiple devices having dynamic access to a common file, what is the allure of online "drives"? If the world goes screwy (er... moreso... ) and the internet goes down... what then? I very well could be wrong, but no matter what they say, I will never believe security against exploitation/cataloguing can be fully assured with those types of services. After all... never transmitting your files electronically is the best "internet security", is it not?

I use a portable hard drive for "everyday" backups against mechanical failure and redundant off-site "long term" backup drives. I don't always get to update it but a couple of times a year, but worst case.. the important stuff is generally recoverable/re-buildable from outside sources (financials, receipts, statments, etc.)

If it's something "terribly" important then it's no big deal to mail in a thumb drive to a responsible party (attorney, family member, etc.)

For someone that works on the road and requires more regular and secure backups that might not work, but as a leisure RV'er, it works for me.

On Edit: Reading the OP.... it sounds like one of the cloud services actually would work best for daily off-site backups. Sorry.... I only had Docj's post on the brain when I replied and it didn't really relate to the OP. ;-)

[Bill Joyce]

I am not a big fan of trusting the cloud for something critical.  We have already seen what happens when they lose your data, they say they are sorry and give you a few free months of service.  

[SWharton]

I agree with you Bill. I use the cloud as a matter of convenience but do a full backup each week on my ehd. I should  keep an ehd with a backup off-site but don't. I understand the risk and accept it.

It is impossible to protect yourself from everything on a continuing basis. I just do what is acceptable to me. Each person's tolerance of risk is different.

 

[2gypsies]

I just took a computer class and it was mentioned not to put sensitive information on the Cloud.   How safe is the Cloud? It seems anyone can break into anything nowadays.

[RV_]

Anyone can only break into anything connected to the Internet, or that they have physical access. Like stealing one of my backup drives and reading it on another computer. This is why encrypting drives can be a useful tool. Some are not worth encrypting like my 2TB of movies I burned from my DVD disks before Blu-Ray. I also have the disks. I used to sign up for the digital versions but never used that once so stopped that too. Today, streaming makes keeping on site copies obsolete. I never watch anything more than twice anymore.

Backing up to an external drive is easier and cheaper if you use bare drives and a drive dock. (bare drive examples https://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Description=2tb hard drive&Submit=ENE) I have had issues with every brand of USB3.0 dock except my Thermaltake brand BlacX docks: https://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-external-Enclosure-Docking-ST0005U-C/dp/B01GF0OYI2/ref=sr_1_6/140-0702852-9168005?ie=UTF8&qid=1516554722&sr=8-6&keywords=thermaltake+docking

Remember don't buy a USB 2 dock unless your computer lacks high speed USB 3 ports or USB C ports. Clones and backups are about large amounts of data transfers. Buy only Thermaltake docks. If you go cheap you will see.

I make a clone and keep it in a cabinet, and keep a drive in the dock for my data only backups. Frequency, on site or off site is up to you. I use only the free 5GB cloud with Microsoft for my specifications sheets. Like I have one for all my vehicles tire sizes, wiper blade sizes, Air and oil filter numbers, my phones are sync'd to One drive only, and nothing on my one drive is sensitive.

I am not interested in cloud computing so I use my own Office programs, and secure encrypted email clients.

My wife does all the accounting with Quicken Home and business on her system and she backs Quicken up after each session on an SD Card that is removed each time.

We used to use a thumb drive and keep it in her purse but no more.

IN the cloud your reference, great! NO backups, great!

It is as individual as choice of vehicle or RV. Ones size fits all, of that same size.

 

[Alie&Jim's Carrilite]

We don't have enough of a data plan to use cloud based back up.  Plus with a mix of personal and company data I need to keep it separate.  

On my laptop I currently have used 230GB of 440 available

Wife has 200GB and is full.  She needs more memory on her's anyway.  She currently saves her writing on thumb drives.

Work.... Can't get into it.  I'll let the IT guru's at the home office worry about it...

[RV_]

Jim,

Assuming these are laptops I would upgrade both to 500GB SSDs, preferably Samsung Evo 3D or Crucial. Then take your old drives and use them for storage or emergency drives if your main SSD fails for some reason. But you will need a couple of 1TB 2.5" mechanical drives to save on expenses as your backup drives.

500GB 2.5" SSDs:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0784SLQM6?aaxitk=YWeX4mdLBbagZ33AGwV0gQ&pd_rd_i=B0784SLQM6&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=3365067662&pd_rd_wg=LUEE1&pf_rd_r=BERZ0TR3D9ZF5FCV5MWC&pf_rd_s=desktop-sx-top-slot&pf_rd_t=301&pd_rd_w=cDAUb&pf_rd_i=samsung+500gb+ssd&pd_rd_r=e07a643f-7885-4d9a-93f7-c47b2e5654c8&hsa_cr_id=9954094940201

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-2-5-Inch-Internal-MZ-75E500B-AM/dp/B00OBRE5UE/ref=sr_1_1/140-5520187-3735159?ie=UTF8&qid=1516586184&sr=8-1&keywords=samsung+500gb+ssd

2.5" hard drives

https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-BarraCuda-2-5-Inch-Internal-ST1000LM048/dp/B01LYNQXCP/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1516586326&sr=1-4&keywords=500gb+2.5"+hard+drives

https://www.amazon.com/0J22423-Travelstar-7K1000-B-internal-notebook/dp/B00BM7YN12/ref=sr_1_10?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1516586612&sr=1-10&keywords=1+TB+2.5"+hard+drives

 

 

[bobk3d]

I have 8-9 terabytes of data, mostly photos dating back to the 1990's, so backing up to the cloud isn't practical.  I back up my critical documents and accounting folder to Dropbox, but they're not very big. That way I'll always be able to access license, registration, membership info, etc, no matter what happens to my RV.

Otherwise I back up everything to a NAS server at my desk (external hard drives would be just as good). And a tip I picked up here: I make a secondary backup to external drives, and I leave the secondary backup in my towed car (encrypted in case the car gets stolen).