Hard drive or cloud Backup: Which one is best?

[Buckster]

If hackers can hack the Home Depot and the US government they certainly can hack The Cloud and browse around all they want.
Not that I have anything that couldn't be posted on a billboard in Times Square but I just don't like it that MY STUFF could be available.

In that case, you should definitely unplug your computer from the internet because, believe it or not, they can hack right into your computer too and browse around all they want, making YOUR STUFF available.

 

[dannylightning]

personally I have my photos on my computer and I have three external hard drives, i use two of those to back up all my music and photos, that way I have multiple copies of my photos and music.. I can take one of those hard drives and keep it in my locker at work if I want or you could put it in your desk at work if you have a office. I do not do that but I am just saying I could if i were really worried about it, that way if your house burnt down or some one broke in a stold your stuff you have another copy of your photos some other place.

the 3rd external drive just has my music on it and its plugged into my wireless router and than it will stream my music to my home stereo. I could store my photos on that one too If I wanted but I don't.

 

[Tailgunner]

If hackers can hack the Home Depot and the US government they certainly can hack The Cloud and browse around all they want.
Not that I have anything that couldn't be posted on a billboard in Times Square but I just don't like it that MY STUFF could be available.

In that case, you should definitely unplug your computer from the internet because, believe it or not, they can hack right into your computer too and browse around all they want, making YOUR STUFF available.

Yup, I always disconnect my iMac from the internet before leaving each day. I do the same on my Macbook before bedtime.

 

[Buckster]

If hackers can hack the Home Depot and the US government they certainly can hack The Cloud and browse around all they want.
Not that I have anything that couldn't be posted on a billboard in Times Square but I just don't like it that MY STUFF could be available.

In that case, you should definitely unplug your computer from the internet because, believe it or not, they can hack right into your computer too and browse around all they want, making YOUR STUFF available.

Yup, I always disconnect my iMac from the internet before leaving each day. I do the same on my Macbook before bedtime.

The automated hacking probes and bots that are used to find and get into your machine take less than a second, so if you're ever connected at all, like you obviously are right now, you're at risk. You should disconnect completely and never connect your computer ever again, just to be safe.

If you want to get online, you should go to the library or an internet cafe or something like that, and use a computer that doesn't have all YOUR STUFF on it. That way, when they browse around all they want, they won't be browsing around all they want, making YOUR STUFF available.

 

[Didereaux]

Who in their right mind believes that an IT company that owns a cloud storage unit will be guaranteed to exist in 24hrs? Now add in that little hot issue of net neutrality and there exists the possibility of you having to pay higher traffic fees to various carriers etc. Buy a dam 1-2 T drive (they are cheap), add on something like a BlacX external drive unit, or equivalent, (You simply insert a drive as needed any size SATA. and copy using your USB ports. If you have two of these setups you can simultaneously create two backups. All for less than a one time fee off $300, and no politics, or hackers or doomsday solar storms to worry about.

Think about it, there is a reason that the clouds are having trouble getting the big companies on board, for that matter even the medium size are recognizing the pitfall potential. Especially after the several individual cloud interruptions the last few months.

 

[Light Guru]

He buggiest problem with cloud back up is the time it takes to do the first back up. This is because of the slow upload speeds from Internet providers.

I have a friend that it took him 6 months for the first backup b

Me and my dad got a couple of 20tb bad drives one for his place and one for mine. We are going to locally copy files to each drive and then sync them over the Internet. That way the first backup won't take months.

 

[dennybeall]

Fortunately for those that are aware of it, there is MacAfee and Kaspersky and a few others that provide software that protects computers from hackers. Will they be 100% effective all the time, NO, but the odds are in our favor.
We do have to watch out for those Black Helicopters flying over the house hacking our WiFi but.......................................

 

[Buckster]

Fortunately for those that are aware of it, there is MacAfee and Kaspersky and a few others that provide software that protects computers from hackers. Will they be 100% effective all the time, NO, but the odds are in our favor.

Right. Those that are running the cloud servers would never think to have awesome protection like that, let alone even more active protection in the form of teams of anti-virus and hacking experts working to keep an eye on things to try to keep the files that are locked up with encrypted algorithms safe for their clients.

That's why they suck so bad - they're wide open for attack, practically begging for it, unlike the awesome protection on our home machines.

 

[Tailgunner]

If hackers can hack the Home Depot and the US government they certainly can hack The Cloud and browse around all they want.
Not that I have anything that couldn't be posted on a billboard in Times Square but I just don't like it that MY STUFF could be available.

In that case, you should definitely unplug your computer from the internet because, believe it or not, they can hack right into your computer too and browse around all they want, making YOUR STUFF available.

Yup, I always disconnect my iMac from the internet before leaving each day. I do the same on my Macbook before bedtime.

The automated hacking probes and bots that are used to find and get into your machine take less than a second, so if you're ever connected at all, like you obviously are right now, you're at risk. You should disconnect completely and never connect your computer ever again, just to be safe.

If you want to get online, you should go to the library or an internet cafe or something like that, and use a computer that doesn't have all YOUR STUFF on it. That way, when they browse around all they want, they won't be browsing around all they want, making YOUR STUFF available.

Nothing is fool proof, you could invent the next best antivirus program today and someone bypass it the very next day. Storing my work locally gives me more control and complete access to it....even during power outages both local or cloud. Anyways, my HDs are never plugged in until I'm working and I run virus/malware/spyware sweeps before and after. My work computers are for work only, no chat rooms or cafes etc internet goofing off...less risk of viruses. I unplug my computers from the net at the end of each day and I keep a loaded .45 in my desk. Gaining files from me isn't impossible but it's not easy either.

 

[Derrel]

Who in their right mind believes that an IT company that owns a cloud storage unit will be guaranteed to exist in 24hrs?

Digital Railroad was a cloud-based photo storage company that broke apart, took on water, and sunk with all hands on deck in less than one day!!

WHile the fine folks at Digital Railroad put up a notice telling customers they had 24 hours to retrieve their images...they were DEAD in, wait for it...10 hours!!

Photo site Digital Railroad derailed completely - CNET

What Happened to Digital Railroad? | PhotoShelter Blog

 

[Tailgunner]

Who in their right mind believes that an IT company that owns a cloud storage unit will be guaranteed to exist in 24hrs?

Digital Railroad was a cloud-based photo storage company that broke apart, took on water, and sunk with all hands on deck in less than one day!!

WHile the fine folks at Digital Railroad put up a notice telling customers they had 24 hours to retrieve their images...they were DEAD in, wait for it...10 hours!!

Photo site Digital Railroad derailed completely - CNET

What Happened to Digital Railroad? | PhotoShelter Blog

Oh wow!

Thats insane!

 

[Buckster]

Nothing is fool proof...

That's really the whole point, nicely summed up in a nutshell, and why I advocate for using every possible resource available for the most backup protection possible. That way, no matter what hits the fan, or where, or why, or how, it's possible to get back what's important.

For me that means multiple redundant local hard drives as a first line of defense to the tune of 20 terabytes at this time, which are currently 58% used, followed by a cloud service holding 1.9 terabytes of my most important files, and growing daily as I make new ones, and now all my photo files are also being uploaded to Amazon Prime since I'm already a member and they've just opened up unlimited cloud storage for photos to members.

For my way of thinking, it's simply about having my most important files backed up in as many places as possible, so that I'm covered no matter which one unexpectedly goes awry. I don't depend on any one of them, or even any two of them. If (actually, each time) a hard drive dies, I can recover. If my whole system is stolen or burns up in a fire, I can recover. If the cloud service I use suddenly goes belly up in another global financial meltdown, I can recover. If Amazon goes out of business and their cloud goes bust, I can recover.

Having a lot of recovery options is important to me; Important enough to try everything I can to be as redundant with my files in as many places and ways as possible. I don't TRUST any of them. I DO trust that they won't ALL die at once, which means I can recover if I need to.

To everyone else: YMMV, and good luck to all.

 

[Buckster]

Who in their right mind believes that an IT company that owns a cloud storage unit will be guaranteed to exist in 24hrs?

Digital Railroad was a cloud-based photo storage company that broke apart, took on water, and sunk with all hands on deck in less than one day!!

WHile the fine folks at Digital Railroad put up a notice telling customers they had 24 hours to retrieve their images...they were DEAD in, wait for it...10 hours!!

Photo site Digital Railroad derailed completely - CNET

What Happened to Digital Railroad? | PhotoShelter Blog

Oh wow!

Thats insane!

October of 2008. Global financial meltdown. A LOT of companies and whole financial institutions that had been around and established and considered rock-solid for a century or more went belly up at that time.

 

[Tailgunner]

Who in their right mind believes that an IT company that owns a cloud storage unit will be guaranteed to exist in 24hrs?

Digital Railroad was a cloud-based photo storage company that broke apart, took on water, and sunk with all hands on deck in less than one day!!

WHile the fine folks at Digital Railroad put up a notice telling customers they had 24 hours to retrieve their images...they were DEAD in, wait for it...10 hours!!

Photo site Digital Railroad derailed completely - CNET

What Happened to Digital Railroad? | PhotoShelter Blog

Oh wow!

Thats insane!

October of 2008. Global financial meltdown. A LOT of companies and whole financial institutions that had been around and established and considered rock-solid for a century or more went belly up at that time.

Well, they should have asked me.

 

[Travel2Nowhere]

Back Up the photo's with google drive. A really low price, but it did take forever take forever to get the initial volume of pictures on there. Now it just operates in the background, with no problems.