Which Storage Device?? Network? Internal?

[GMONEY]

Looking to store business files and precious family stuff that I won't have to ever worry about losing. What would you recommend and why? I have a Network Attached Storage device that is running out of room and would like to have it accessible to all home computers. Thanks!

[wake5150]

Upgrade your NAS. NAS is a perfect home solution for what you have described. If it's running out of room, buy a new NAS with more drive space and back up your current one. Now you will have redundancy and piece of mind. Gotta have a back up for a back up

[Corbin Dallas]

Looking to store business files and precious family stuff that I won't have to ever worry about losing. What would you recommend and why? I have a Network Attached Storage device that is running out of room and would like to have it accessible to all home computers. Thanks!

How much (in GB size) and How important is it?

If this is a MUST save, I recommend burning it to DVD depending on size. Base DVD's are 4.7GB, Dual Layer are 8.5GB.

Then put the DVD in a sealed envelope with a small amount of desiccant and place it in a ziplock bag and in the fireproof safe.

If it's NOT that important, a flash drive or online storage is the best way.

[willm952]

there nas plugins that accept any usb attached hard drive and act like a file server with a simple setup. there's up to 2TB usb external drives using power adapters you can plug-in

here's one: http://www.addonics.com/products/nas/nasu2.asp

don't expect raid performance though, but its simple convenient and easy to maintain. the pre-packaged nas/raid boxes are nice but if something goes wrong and you don't have a backup of your backup. data recovery fees are high. from 500 to $25,000+.

also, your backup of your backup should be powered down meaning unplug the usb cable (if that's your connection) and unplug the power adapter for the drive(s) from the ac outlet. this will preserve the spindle motors of your drives. your backup of backup shouldn't need to be on all the time.

online data backup mozy, whatever. I mean do you really trust them?
data breaches happen all the time.

tape backups are a good long-term solution but I think that's not right for what you were looking for.
oh, some of the data you might want to burn to dvd like Corbin suggested. just make sure you use archival dvd media not the regular $20/100 stuff. big difference in quality and keep in a cool dry place like a fire-proof safe in your closet with a gun (your a Calguns member right? j/k), ammo should be kept in another fire-proof safe.

hope this helps out.

[Satex]

Get yourself a NAS with RAID1 or RAID5.

[Turbinator]

Why not a simple inexpensive USB drive that you put your files onto, disconnect, and stash into a fire safe or a safe deposit box? The data should last "forever" - the drive is not running, so it won't wear out. This by far is probably the most economical backup solution compared to all of these NAS suggestions.

Turby

[Bug Splat]

I'd just go with a larger NAS drive or add a second drive to a desktop machine and share it.

You DO want to keep your hard drive on all the time. Its the stopping and starting of the drive that kills them. I've replace hundreds of drive in my life and the ones that last the longest are the ones that are left on. I have drives that have lasted 10+ years. Drives that get shuts off and on all the time don't go more than 4-5 years. My desktop machines only get fully shutdown maybe once a year and rebooted maybe 5 times in that year. The longest living hard drives are never turned off.

[Rekrab]

Get off-site storage. A NAS is great for backup, but in a fire or robbery your data is still kaput. Look into online off-site backup like Carbonite, or find someone friendly that wouldn't mind you setting up a NAS at their home.

[blisster]

I personally use Mozy for off-site on-line backup. so far so good.

[odysseus]

Lets look at it this way for the small office/home.

You have a NAS device (or home server) with RAID to store and quickly access this data in a centralized place with a hot safety being RAID. However this isn't truly an archive for "precious" items as you put it. Even a hard delete (without a shadow copy) could cause you issues if this was your only source. I would recommend supplementing this with two options.

You could use a paid online backup archive service. I don't for my own reasons, but many do. They have good positives and negatives, so it depends on you.

You could archive to DVD at intervals and store off site (in case of fire/theft). This can give you great portability, reliable for many years if stored well, and of course interval copies of the data as you go through time making these backups. Of course, there can be a slight failure rate on these at times, but very very low if done right, on proper media.

My problem with a plug USB drive, then to store off is that these are more easily apt to failure of a single drive, and these do fail more often than not when moved around and jump started often. Also for the small office/home, tape backups are not always a win.

[TWoods450]

offsite storage, some folks backup to a DVD and ship to a friend/family member across the country, of you can use an online service like Carbonite.com or Mozy.com, NAS, SAS, HDD, Flash, CD/DVD are all great but what happens if your house gets broken into and someone steals it, your house burns down ,firesafes usually aren't water proof, and they usually use water to put out a fire unless you have an FM-200/halon system in your home. Those onsite backups will be useless if damaged or stolen. Online w/ colocation services are the best in my opinion.

[shooting4life]

You could use two external hd. if you have a family member that you go to every couple months you can just keep one drive at your family house then when you go over exchange the current hd for the one they have. Cheap way for off site storage.

[Ricky-Ray]

Easiest way to have all computers on the network have access to it is to get a NAS. The problem you'll run into is that if you backup to your NAS, your backup and main computer are in the same location so if something happens to the house you could be SOL.

Best thing for stuff that you can't lose at all is to have redundancy. Lot's of important documents I've scanned into pdf's and they are on my computer, backed up to my NAS, backed up to Carbonite and I've also put them on DVD and stored in my safe deposit box in the bank.

If the worse comes I'm pretty sure I'll be able to access my stuff from one of the three locations.