[Ham-Computers] Backing up things

[Hsu, Aaron (NBC Universal)]

Brian,

There are a lot of companies out there that offer "on-line internet backups".  The key is the cost - some are cheap (free), others cost an arm and a leg.  Also realize that backups will be limited by the speed of your internet connection - if you have dial-up, forget it.

It all depends on what kind of data you want to backup - if it's sensitive data (like financial info), I would not use on-line backup methods as there's no way to guarantee the security of the backup (or the data transfer).  As mentioned earlier, CD/DVD recordable is a better alternative and TAPE is still the archive method of choice for large businesses.  Put what you need to on CD/DVD and keep it in an safe deposit box.  Good backup methodology dictates that you have more than one backup location, so keep a second set of backups elsewhere.

Make sure to encrypt "sensitive" data - a good *free* encryption tool is TrueCrypt (http://www.truecrypt.org).  Encrypted data doesn't compress well, so if you want to save space, then compress (ZIP) the data first before encrypting.  Compressed files (like ZIP) also add a layer of CRC redundancy to ensure the data is in-tact.

A major caveat of "on-line" backup companies is what will happen to the data if the company goes belly-up?  This happened a few years ago when some of the first photo-sharing websites went under and the servers sold at auction.  Users were furious as they didn't keep local copies of photos - they thought the on-line site would be around forever.  They were also worried about what would happen to all those thousands of photos now in the hands of "who knows".  Imagine if this were your financial data - would you want your personal info in the hands of an unknown person?  Especially if the company goes under, the new owners of the data are not bound to any privacy guarantees set by the previous owner.  Scary thought, huh?

So, convenient, yes.  Risky, definitely.  Choice is yours to make.  Hard drives are cheap these days - 1TB for $100.  Buy a couple and back up your system.  Keep one in a safe deposit box.  Rotate it with the other every week or month.  I think you get the general idea.

73,

  - Aaron, NN6O


-----Original Message-----
Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2009 4:28 PM
Subject: [Ham-Computers] Backing up things

I was listening to of all people today Rush Limbaugh and I heard him 
advertising a site called www.carbonite.com and online backup system for 
you're computer.

Sounds pretty neat, I looked at the website and giving it some thought but 
wondering if any of you on here have done business with the site or any 
others for that matter.

Pro's?
Con's?

73,
Brian 

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