Backing up your data

[the_snude]

What software or workflow are you all using to backup your images and business records? Currently, I have them all on an external hard drive that does a backup every night at 10:30. There is no RAID, there is no off-site storage. Probably little more than a 'copy all' command running every night.

Good thing my livelihood doesn't depend on any of this.....

What all have you found that works for you?

[kenw]

an external web-based backup is going to be the most reliable.

A second magnetic drive beside the existing computer is not much of a backup at all (fire, theft, flood). The only failure you are protected against is HDD failure.

somewhere in between is non-co-located redundant storage, either optical (CD, DVD) or magnetic (external HDD) or even solid state (flash).

for me it is optical storage, 2 sets of discs: 1 at home, 1 at work. I also have an external HDD that is used for quick and easy access.

In a nutshell, everything is in at least 3 places, in 2 physically separated locations.

[Big T]

I am a Real Estate Broker, I back up on line at www.carbonite.com 49.00 per year, all records, all data, all pictures.

[utdbear]

I use 160 GB laptop HDDs, 2 of them, both in their own CoolMax enclosures. When I'm done backing up, I place it in a ziploc bag and put it in my gun safe. I take the other one, do the same, and put it in my father's gun safe. For quick backups, I use a 500GB external drive.