What is the best way to make a backup of "my life"

[KING OF THE DIRTY DANS]

I have been wanting a backup of all of my stored files, as well as my games (NES, GEN, WINDOWS, DOS, ETC)

What would be the best way to go about this?

• Server?
• NAS/DAS?
• External drives?
• Cloud? 

[KuJoe]

The best way for me might not be the best way for you. Please give us more information like the size of your data, what your budget is, how important the data is to you, how bad would it be if somebody else got a hold of your data, etc...

[KING OF THE DIRTY DANS]

Just now, KuJoe said:

The best way for me might not be the best way for you. Please give us more information like the size of your data, what your budget is, how important the data is to you, how bad would it be if somebody else got a hold of your data, etc...

Size of data (around 1-2 tb) will get larger over the years

Budget (100-300 USD)

How important (Pictures from HS, College, and family {Very}, Game backups, {for preservation so important} Work, {necessity}

How bad {not bad, but I still dont like it}

 

[KuJoe]

Just now, KING OF THE DIRTY DANS said:

Size of data (around 1-2 tb) will get larger over the years

Budget (100-300 USD)

How important (Pictures from HS, College, and family {Very}, Game backups, {for preservation so important} Work, {necessity}

How bad {not bad, but I still dont like it}

$100-$300 per month or year? 1-2TB will take a month or 2 to backup to most cloud backup providers (even if you have a good connection, most limit the upload speed). Local backups will be cheaper and faster but with less redundancy and if your home burns down all of the data and backups are gone. For a $200-$300 one-time cost you can have a Synology NAS that will take care of all of your local backups and will handle your uploads to off-site backups, you can also install it at a relative's house and you have off-site backups for a single 1-time cost. Another option since the most important data are old pictures and game backups you can throw them on an external hard drive for under $100 and bring that to a relative's house since that data won't change and it'll save you some money by lowering the amount of data you need to backup regularly. For the data that will change like work and new game backups you can upload those to a cloud provider like Google One, Amazon Drive, Dropbox, or Backblaze which will run you about $10 per month for 1-2TB of data.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Sometimes the simplest methods are easiet and least expensive. I suggest using two external HDD (or internal drives and a dock) large enough to hold all your data plus allow for future expansion. One should be kept onsite for quick access to update the backup and the other one should be kept offsite so, if the unthinkable should happen, such as a fire, etc., you will still have most of your data. The onsite and offsite backups should be swapped out as frequently as practical to keep both as updated as possible. For a backup drive to be a true backup, it must be kept powered down, disconnected from the computer, and stored away from the computer.

 

The ideal place to keep an offsite backup would be in a safe deposit box at a financial institution. If that is not an option, then a trusted friend's or relative's home would be an option, though not without some risks.

 

The best way to backup the System files (OS and programs) is with an imaging program, such as Macrium Reflect Free (the last known stable version). The System files should be segregated from the data files, either by being on their own drive (i.e. a boot drive) or on their own partition.

 

While imaging is necessary to back up System files, it's too inefficient and time and space consuming for data files. Instead, data should be backed up using a folder/file syncing program, such as FreeFileSync. A folder/file syncing program, when set to mirror mode (not the same as RAID 1!), compares the data on a source drive (the one you are backing up) with the destination drive (the backup drive). Any new or changed files on the source drive will then be copied to the destination drive and any files on the destination drive that are no longer on the source drive will be deleted. Good folder/file syncing programs, including FreeFileSync, have an option (which I recommend using) called Versioning that will send files that are deleted to a user designated verioning folder or drive (this will protect you from accidental deletions, etc.).

 

Since only new, changed, and deleted files since the last update are involved, updates can be very quick.

 

I use a variation of the above myself (involving more backup drives for extra redundancy should a backup drive die or something go pear shaped during an update) and have yet to lose any data.

 

I do not recommend using a NAS or RAID for backups. 

[KuJoe]

8 hours ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

I do not recommend using a NAS or RAID for backups.

Can you elaborate on why you don't recommend a NAS as a backup? For the price and the features I can't think of any reason not to have one.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

3 minutes ago, KuJoe said:

Can you elaborate on why you don't recommend a NAS as a backup? For the price and the features I can't think of any reason not to have one.

To be able to use a NAS for a backup, you would need to keep it powered down and disconnected from the network at all times (except while updating a backup). You would also need two NASes to be able to have an onsite and an offsite backup. A NAS will cost many times more than an external backup drive.

 

If left powered up and connected to the network, all you will get is redundancy, which will only protect you from drive failure. Drive failure is not the only way to lose data. Viruses and other malware, power surges that blow through any surge protection you may have, fire, theft, flood, user error (such as accidental deletion), PSU failure, etc. can all cause data loss that redundancy will not protect you from.

 

For data to be resonably safe, it must exist in three separate places. The most basic (and economical) way to achieve this is to have your data on the computer, on an onsite backup drive, and on an offsite backup drive. For a backup drive (or NAS) to be a true backup, it MUST be kept disconnected from the computer, powered down, and stored away from the computer except while updating a backup (if not, it is only redundancy, not a backup!). While one backup is much better than one, it is even better to have both an onsite and an offsite backup to get the maximum protection from all the dangers I listed above.

[Velcade]

11 hours ago, KING OF THE DIRTY DANS said:

I have been wanting a backup of all of my stored files, as well as my games (NES, GEN, WINDOWS, DOS, ETC)

What would be the best way to go about this?

• Server?
• NAS/DAS?
• External drives?
• Cloud? 

 

11 hours ago, KING OF THE DIRTY DANS said:

Size of data (around 1-2 tb) will get larger over the years

Budget (100-300 USD)

How important (Pictures from HS, College, and family {Very}, Game backups, {for preservation so important} Work, {necessity}

How bad {not bad, but I still dont like it}

 

 

External Harddrive for now. Until the importance of your files and your budget grow

[Velcade]

45 minutes ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

To be able to use a NAS for a backup, you would need to keep it powered down and disconnected from the network at all times

Yeah that's just not true.  If you build a NAS keep it running 24/7.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

6 hours ago, Velcade said:

Yeah that's just not true.  If you build a NAS keep it running 24/7.

Sigh, you aren't paying attention and still don't get it. If you run a NAS 24/7, all you get is redundancy: protection from drive failure. It will still vulnerable to data loss from viruses and other malware, power surges, PSU failures, user error, etc. And even if you do shut it down and keep it disconnected from the computer except while updating the backup, you will still need an equal volume (a large enough drive or another NAS) kept offsite to protect against fire, flood, theft, etc.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

17 hours ago, KuJoe said:

...For the data that will change like work and new game backups you can upload those to a cloud provider like Google One, Amazon Drive, Dropbox, or Backblaze which will run you about $10 per month for 1-2TB of data.

Of those, Backblaze is the only one I would ever trust. And especially stay away from cloud storage, especially the free ones.

[Velcade]

1 minute ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

protect against fire, flood, theft, etc.

This has nothing to do with my comment. A NAS is meant for networked storage.  If you're turning it off and hiding it that's not a NAS.  

 

3 minutes ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

It will still vulnerable to data loss from viruses and other malware, power surges, PSU failures, user error, etc.

So is everything when it's turned on...

[Lady Fitzgerald]

1 minute ago, Velcade said:

This has nothing to do with my comment. A NAS is meant for networked storage.  If you're turning it off and hiding it that's not a NAS.  

 

So is everything when it's turned on...

 You really need to work on your reading comprehension. In the very first post and in the thread title, the OP is looking for a backup solution. I've already explained why a backup drive (and that includes a NAS) has to be kept powered down and disconnected from a computer in order to be a true backup. If the NAS runs 24/7 and is kept connected to the computer, it is essentially a part of the computer and cannot be considered to be a backup.

[KuJoe]

7 minutes ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

Of those, Backblaze is the only one I would ever trust. And especially stay away from cloud storage, especially the free ones.

Cloud storage is excellent if used correctly. Just don't trust them with human readable data and you're good.

 

7 hours ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

To be able to use a NAS for a backup, you would need to keep it powered down and disconnected from the network at all times (except while updating a backup). You would also need two NASes to be able to have an onsite and an offsite backup. A NAS will cost many times more than an external backup drive.

 

If left powered up and connected to the network, all you will get is redundancy, which will only protect you from drive failure. Drive failure is not the only way to lose data.

Not true at all. Something can be online and also a backup. It depends on how you configure it and utilize it. If used correctly realtime backups are a godsend and amazing to have.

 

An offline backup is good to have, but not useful if you have data that changes frequently and very hard to automate. I'm currently using a VM and a laptop that I power on once in a while for my offline backups, but an external hard drive would be a good idea also.

[Velcade]

1 minute ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

 You really need to work on your reading comprehension. In the very first post and in the thread title, the OP is looking for a backup solution. I've already explained why a backup drive (and that includes a NAS) has to be kept powered down and disconnected from a computer in order to be a true backup. If the NAS runs 24/7 and is kept connected to the computer, it is essentially a part of the computer and cannot be considered to be a backup.

If you want to argue try attacking my points not my person.  A NAS can and does serve as an online backup to the files on your home PC.  An offline backup might make you feel better about your data but it's no more secure.  

 

I agree both onsite and offsite backups are necessary however keeping them turned off and inaccessible is not.

[KuJoe]

2 minutes ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

backup solution

This thread is about the literal definition of the word backup. Having a copy of something that can be used to recover the original data is still a backup regardless of where or how it's stored. The only good backup is a backup that works when you need it to, it doesn't matter if it's perfect, as long as it works then it's considered a backup and something is always better than nothing.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

5 minutes ago, KuJoe said:

Cloud storage is excellent if used correctly. Just don't trust them with human readable data and you're good...

No, cloud storage is NOT the same as a cloud backup. Cloud storage, unless you pay for enterprise quality storage (which costs far more than anyone other than a business will be willing to pay) will not have the security measures that a good cloud backup service will have. Also, you have to send data to most online storage yourself whereas a good cloud backup service will encrypt your data before it gets automatically uploaded to the service's servers.

 

Google anything is simply not to be trusted. Period! They are notorious for harvesting personal data and either using it for themselves or selling it to others. Other affordable cloud storage simply doesn't have the security and reliability of a good cloud backup service. Currently, Backblaze is the only affordable cloud backup service I can recommend. Even then, it has the downside of keeping deleted data (accidentally or deliberately) for only 30 days before permanently sending it to computer Never Never Land.

 

5 minutes ago, KuJoe said:

...Something can be online and also a backup. It depends on how you configure it and utilize it. If used correctly realtime backups are a godsend and amazing to have.

 

An offline backup is good to have, but not useful if you have data that changes frequently and very hard to automate. I'm currently using a VM and a laptop that I power on once in a while for my offline backups, but an external hard drive would be a good idea also.

Another one who just doesn't "get it".  Again no. I don't give the north end of a south bound furry little rodent how you set it up, if a "backup" is up and running and connected to the computer, it is still vulnerable to data loss from accidental deletion, viruses and other malware (not matter what AV and antimalware protection you may have), power surges that blow through any surge protection or even a UPS (it happens more than you may think), user error, etc.

 

If you have critical data that changes frequently, a good cloud backup service is the best protection for new data and is the ONLY automated backup I can ever recommend (and, even then, should be used in addition to a physical offsite backup). However, even those are dependent on your upload speeds and any data caps your ISP may impose plus total data recovery can take hours to weeks or even months, depending on you and the backup services dtata transfer speeds, data caps, and the amount of data backed up. Otherwise, it simply doesn't take but a few minutes to update an onsite backup if it has been setup correctly. While automated backups may seem more convenient, they simply are not as reliable.

 

 

[KuJoe]

We'll have to agree to disagree, I'll continue sleeping well at night knowing my data is safe and you'll do the same even though we achieve the same outcome in different ways, isn't technology awesome?

 

I do recommend you be a little nicer to people though, I know you're just being passionate about the subject but your posts can scare people away from taking any sort of backups which is counter intuitive to all of our goals here.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

23 minutes ago, KuJoe said:

This thread is about the literal definition of the word backup. Having a copy of something that can be used to recover the original data is still a backup regardless of where or how it's stored. The only good backup is a backup that works when you need it to, it doesn't matter if it's perfect, as long as it works then it's considered a backup and something is always better than nothing.

 Youstill don't "get it". There is a difference between redundancy and backups, something you are failing to grasp! I'm beginning to think explain it to  you until my fingers are bleeding and you still won't "get it", either because you can't or you refuse to accept anything other than your preconceived notions.

[KuJoe]

8 minutes ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

 Youstill don't "get it". There is a difference between redundancy and backups, something you are failing to grasp! I'm beginning to think explain it to  you until my fingers are bleeding and you still won't "get it", either because you can't or you refuse to accept anything other than your preconceived notions.

RAID is a redundancy. Off-site backups are not a redundancy. Local backups are not a redundancy. Do I keep redundant backups? Yes. Do I still consider them backups? Yes.

 

Please tell me how I can improve my backup scheme:

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Since you are going to laugh at me about this, forget you

[KuJoe]

Okay, you got me, I'm done. I thought you were being serious.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

3 minutes ago, KuJoe said:

Okay, you got me, I'm done. I thought you were being serious.

I was being serious, laughing boy.