Optimizing Data Storage Across Multiple Devices

[albinoiu23223]

I have 3 laptops, 4 phones, 1 external hard drive, and 200GB of Google Drive. I'm struggling to find the best way to store and back up all my data effectively.

My current strategy involves keeping data on three locations:

• Online (Google Drive)

• One Laptop

• One External Hard Drive

• And in a perfect vision also on a phone (with large memory slot) (still not in practice)

I'm concerned about potential data loss due to theft or device failure. I'm also looking for ways to optimize storage space and improve overall efficiency.

I'm interested in learning more about cloud services, advanced backup strategies, and best practices for managing data across multiple devices. What is your advice in this direction? How do you store yourself all the data? Please disregard my own practice, if I am asking for advice, I am open to totally change my perspectives in this realm.

I would greatly appreciate advice from tech-savvy individuals on how to best organize and protect my data while ensuring all my devices and applications run smoothly.

 

#DataBackup #CloudStorage #DataSecurity #Cybersecurity #DataManagement

#TechTips #DigitalHoarding #DataProtection #TechAdvice #DataOrganization

[albinoiu23223]

9 hours ago, LloydLynx said:

I have two portable hard drives for backing up to. I alternate them in my locker at work so at least one is off site and one comes home to refresh the backup. I never let my computer and two backup drives be in the same location at once. You can create multiple folders on a backup drive designated for different devices. I like to use rsync in a script to run backups easily, but that may not work seemlessly on all devices.

Thank you very much, quite insightful!  Elaborate please more on the topics if possible

[albinoiu23223]

Just now, albinoiu23223 said:

Thank you very much, quite insightful!  Elaborate please more on the topics if possible

 

9 hours ago, LloydLynx said:

I have two portable hard drives for backing up to. I alternate them in my locker at work so at least one is off site and one comes home to refresh the backup. I never let my computer and two backup drives be in the same location at once. You can create multiple folders on a backup drive designated for different devices. I like to use rsync in a script to run backups easily, but that may not work seemlessly on all devices.

Like I find it challenging  to sync among them all at the same time if you know what i mean. How do you deal with this challenge (i liked something like new maps for various devices; if there's something else to add let me know)

[albinoiu23223]

16 hours ago, LloydLynx said:

Minimize the number of devices you use and centralize around one.

 

I used to main a gaming rig and a laptop, which was a pain so keep stuff organized. By getting a docking station for the laptop and switching to it full time, I'd only be giving up BeamNG since the laptop can do everything else I want. The gaming rig sits in the corner now hardly being used.

 

My laptop (2 TB) is where everything important goes so that stuff makes its way onto the backup drives. I have a netbook I use for portable music which is just data copied from my main laptop. My phone is used only for call and text so no data concerns there. I copy my Minecraft server nightly world backups to my main laptop every few days or so. If some data is important, it's getting put on the main laptop and organized.

What do you mean by maps?

My backups consist of two portable hard drives. When I go to work, I bring one to put in my locker. And when I leave, I take the other one out to bring home. Before going to bed, I plug in the portable hard drive and run my backup script. This cycle repeats, alternating between hard drives, to ensure both backup drives are fairly up to date. This keeps at least one backup off site at all times.

 

Rsync may be a little above some people. It's a fantastic CLI too on Linux that can be integrated into scripts. It syncronizes source and destination directories. I believe there are also easy GUI frontends for it.

"

Before going to bed, I plug in the portable hard drive and run my backup script. This cycle repeats, alternating between hard drives, to ensure both backup drives are fairly up to date. This keeps at least one backup off site at all times.

 

Rsync may be a little above some people. It's a fantastic CLI too on Linux that can be integrated into scripts. It syncronizes source and destination directories. I believe there are also easy GUI frontends for it." 

Hi. can you help me like what is a backup script more exactly? How do you do it? Can you help me more implement of what you are writing here please.

[albinoiu23223]

16 hours ago, LloydLynx said:

Minimize the number of devices you use and centralize around one.

 

I used to main a gaming rig and a laptop, which was a pain so keep stuff organized. By getting a docking station for the laptop and switching to it full time, I'd only be giving up BeamNG since the laptop can do everything else I want. The gaming rig sits in the corner now hardly being used.

 

My laptop (2 TB) is where everything important goes so that stuff makes its way onto the backup drives. I have a netbook I use for portable music which is just data copied from my main laptop. My phone is used only for call and text so no data concerns there. I copy my Minecraft server nightly world backups to my main laptop every few days or so. If some data is important, it's getting put on the main laptop and organized.

What do you mean by maps?

My backups consist of two portable hard drives. When I go to work, I bring one to put in my locker. And when I leave, I take the other one out to bring home. Before going to bed, I plug in the portable hard drive and run my backup script. This cycle repeats, alternating between hard drives, to ensure both backup drives are fairly up to date. This keeps at least one backup off site at all times.

 

Rsync may be a little above some people. It's a fantastic CLI too on Linux that can be integrated into scripts. It syncronizes source and destination directories. I believe there are also easy GUI frontends for it.

What is a gaming rig and could you please use pictures to actually inspire/motivate/text me while talking here. It would be very insightful. It is quite new what you are talking to me but i feel it is the sort of things I need to level up myself. 

[Strategist1]

On 1/6/2025 at 11:00 AM, albinoiu23223 said:

3 laptops, 4 phones, 1 external hard drive, and 200GB of Google Drive.

Congratulations, you just described a great use-case for a NAS, and there's plenty of guides on how to build your own using old hardware on the forum (I'm currently in the process myself, but I did choose the method with the steepest learning curve and best* performance, TrueNAS.)

*with respect to performance while also balancing redundancy and very good error protection via the ZFS filesystem. 

 

There's also auto-backup software for the computers such as VEEM Community Edition (free, but hidden on their site and subject to monitoring for commercial use- it was recommended by someone on this forum) and if you don't want to mess with that there's a legacy function built right into the Control Panel. Control Panel> System and Security > Backup and Restore (Windows 7)- it can even be scheduled.

 

As for backing up phones, as least within Android, there's a method of backing up things right to Network Storage. Just go to My Files, select Network Storage, and add Network Storage. I'm not sure if that can be automated within the app, but if not you can always set up a Taskr command (it's an automation app) to detect when you're on your home network and back it up when specific conditions are met e.g. time, or even periodically turn on a VPN to access your network storage remotely and back your phone files on a schedule. That does sound like a lot of one-time setup work, though.

 

Personally, it sounds like you have a small enough data footprint that you can get away without a proper storage solution for a while longer if you want. If you want a janky temporary solution, that you should definitely switch out at "some point"^(TM), consider plugging an external drive into your router for easy, non-redundant network storage. Most modern routers support this, and if yours doesn't technically you could even set it up using a Raspberry Pi. Then it's just a matter of setting up a VPN for remote access. Do remember to backup said network- connected HDD occasionally. Also, while simple, doable, and relatively easy to accomplish I must stress that it's not a great solution due to the lack of redundancy. I may recommend choosing a CMR drive instead of SMR so you can shuck it and chuck it in a NAS when you finally get around to justifying such. 

 

One other benefit of a NAS, for when you inevitably go down that route after accumulating enough data that even the 2Tb Google storage plan doesn't make sense to keep everything, is it can be set to automatically sync with another NAS offsite, namely with a relative or friend in another state with the contents encrypted. They could do the same with you as an incentive for them to host your backup. In this way you can easily fulfill the 3-2-1 rule of backups (3 copies, 2 formats, 1 copy offsite).

 

I have to note that the founder of LTT is invested in a $200 frontend for TrueNAS called HexOS that reportedly makes it remarkably easy to set up a NAS and exchange encrypted backups with your family or friends, but it can be done with quite a bit more complexity entirely for free (not counting hardware or electricity costs).

 

Other, less convenient or recommended, solutions include Direct Attached Storage, which would be comparable to your floating backup drives but higher capacity and less likely to get lost. Running deduplication software may be able to save you some storage if you keep backups of multiple computers that both have copies of media on the same backup drive. There are also cheaper cloud storage options to Google including some that advertise a certain capacity for life after a one-time payment, but someone from my collage tried that and they cancelled it after a scan picked up a single possibly pirated song he had on his computer. Technically you could even get a usb-c flash drive to back up your phones separately from your computer as part of your 3 copies.

 

Repurposing an old computer as a NAS and just tossing some refurbished hard disks in there from a bulk storage parts site or ebay, and setting up redundancy in the event that a refurb drive fails, is probably the way to go. If you want a slightly more expensive off the shelf solution a Synology or Ugreen NAS enclosure makes it really easy to set up. An adequate starter version with only two drive bays can be had for under $300. You would likely want to use brand new or minimally used drives with those, however.

 

I hope that helps!