endless external HD shuffle – RAID 1, 5, or RAID unecessary?

[seezee]

I tried an external cloud based service once, the estimated time for an initial backup was like a month of continuous data dump, so I said no. Eventually I will have a fire proof safe stored on my property away from house to protect all of my images.

Aye, it can take a deal of time for the initial backup. But after that it's incremental. You've nothing to lose by starting a cloud backup, and literally everything to lose if you don't.

[Jac@stafford.net]

Why do people imagine that 'the cloud' is more secure than ordinary local solutions? I suspect it is about abandoning personal responsibility.

[jp]

Why do people imagine that 'the cloud' is more secure than ordinary local solutions? I suspect it is about abandoning personal responsibility.

Realistically, cloud services are more reliable than the average tinkerer or amateur's or overloaded+underskilled businessperson declared to be in charge of IT DIY untested systems. It's a matter of being humble.. If you notice someone can do a task better and the price is right, it's wise to take advantage of it. Email is a good example.. I used to run mail servers for my ISP. Email is the original cloud service. I had to constantly maintain servers, anti-spam software, firewalls, blacklist subscriptions, software updates, even using opensource software. People running MS exchange had it even tougher. When I got out of that business, and into the next one, I let google handle that. They do email service better than I did. Now there are cloud options for about everything. Not all cloud options are good or are right for certain customers... For backup, carbonite is an ideal backup solutions for certain situations. It is not suitable for replacing the 6tb drive I used in my garage to backup photos. A couple years down the road, it might be. Honest evaluation of pros and cons and risks with each option is important. Most people doing computer things are wholly and willfully ignorant about risks.

[Jac@stafford.net]

Realistically, cloud services are more reliable than the average tinkerer or amateur's

We shall see. The cloud is reliable until it is not, then it's catastrophic.

[jp]

More reliable.. Not perfect. Try as we might, we can't outsource responsibility, just tasks.

[seezee]

Why do people imagine that 'the cloud' is more secure than ordinary local solutions? I suspect it is about abandoning personal responsibility.

The cloud is only one part of any decent backup plan. Its main virtue is that it is offsite. Copying files to physical drives and keeping them locally offsite is good too, but what happens when a tornado destroys your town (as has happened 10 miles north of me twice in the last decade; I know someone who lost their house both times)? Your house and your safe deposit box both gone and you're up sh*t creek without a hard drive.

[seezee]

Realistically, cloud services are more reliable than the average tinkerer or amateur's or overloaded+underskilled businessperson declared to be in charge of IT DIY untested systems. It's a matter of being humble.. If you notice someone can do a task better and the price is right, it's wise to take advantage of it. Email is a good example.. I used to run mail servers for my ISP. Email is the original cloud service. I had to constantly maintain servers, anti-spam software, firewalls, blacklist subscriptions, software updates, even using opensource software. People running MS exchange had it even tougher. When I got out of that business, and into the next one, I let google handle that. They do email service better than I did. Now there are cloud options for about everything. Not all cloud options are good or are right for certain customers... For backup, carbonite is an ideal backup solutions for certain situations. It is not suitable for replacing the 6tb drive I used in my garage to backup photos. A couple years down the road, it might be. Honest evaluation of pros and cons and risks with each option is important. Most people doing computer things are wholly and willfully ignorant about risks.

Exactly!

[angusparker]

My backup protocol is as follows:
Raid 1 on SSDs locally connected to computer
Cloud backup on Backblaze using Arq
Cloud backup on OneDrive using Arq
2 Blu-Ray M Disc archive on a yearly basis, stored in two locations

Cloud backups are not infalible as the company can screw up or go out of business but they are cheap and they offer protection against being an idiot! But good to have two cloud backups with different companies IMHO.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

[Steven Ruttenberg]

One reason I do not like the cloud is you are giving up your privacy to the host and opening yourself up to invasion of that privacy. Plus, there is always a bread crumb trail that leads back to you. Granted I would only put photos on there, but then again, I don't trust anyone with my personal privacy and freedoms. The cloud is no more safe than opening your face mask on your helmet in deep space. However, if you don't mind giving up some personal privacy knowing anyone one with half a brain can hack the system or the systems owners can take your info and do as they please, then I guess it is a good as part of a back up plane. I am not a conspiracy nut, but practical as I have had hacks on me before, and I even had face book label me with a political affiliation even though I do not post political anything on facebook.

Anyway, I plan for 3 failures like we did at NASA. We had the main system, and 3 redundant systems. Sounds like over kill, but in deep space you can't get a technician to make a house call. Right now, I am shy of the 3 redundancies. I have the main and 1 redundant drive. I need to set up the two additional drives in the near future, one in a fireproof safe that is connected to my in home network and then one somewhere on the property in an in ground sealed vault that is also connected to my system.

Maybe someday, I will trust the cloud and people will become trustworthy, but I ain't holding my breath. I might for giggles try carbonite again. I have a 1 gig connection to the outside world so it shouldn't take that long. I am also not throttled by my isp, but carbonite does throttle you unless you sign up and pay, the trial they give you sucks.

[angusparker]

One reason I do not like the cloud is you are giving up your privacy to the host and opening yourself up to invasion of that privacy. Plus, there is always a bread crumb trail that leads back to you. Granted I would only put photos on there, but then again, I don't trust anyone with my personal privacy and freedoms. The cloud is no more safe than opening your face mask on your helmet in deep space. However, if you don't mind giving up some personal privacy knowing anyone one with half a brain can hack the system or the systems owners can take your info and do as they please, then I guess it is a good as part of a back up plane. I am not a conspiracy nut, but practical as I have had hacks on me before, and I even had face book label me with a political affiliation even though I do not post political anything on facebook.

Anyway, I plan for 3 failures like we did at NASA. We had the main system, and 3 redundant systems. Sounds like over kill, but in deep space you can't get a technician to make a house call. Right now, I am shy of the 3 redundancies. I have the main and 1 redundant drive. I need to set up the two additional drives in the near future, one in a fireproof safe that is connected to my in home network and then one somewhere on the property in an in ground sealed vault that is also connected to my system.

Maybe someday, I will trust the cloud and people will become trustworthy, but I ain't holding my breath. I might for giggles try carbonite again. I have a 1 gig connection to the outside world so it shouldn't take that long. I am also not throttled by my isp, but carbonite does throttle you unless you sign up and pay, the trial they give you sucks.

If you use ArqBackUp on the client side the cloud service only sees encrypted rubbish and you are the only person with the key. No one except maybe the NSA with a very big computer and a lot of time (like months) is going to read you files. Personally I would love them wasting their time decrypting my large format photos ... :-)