Craig. I feel that the principles of good backup advice you have given is sound. I like the smaller "chunk" philosophy with smaller drives. The challenge in personal computers (as you pointed out) is how the technology keeps evolving and changing. So I feel that it is not a "one time" backup, secure it and forget it scenario. The backups media should be regularly powered up and checked to refresh the data (especially in external SSDs) and be prepared to migrate those files to the new technology once available.... I recently scanned my parent's 35mm color slides from the 1960's and saved them to DVDs, and then again to an external HDD. I also like to make duplicates to send to family members, so if my copy gets destroyed, my family members will also have a copy. I too, stay away from the "wild west" of cloud services, but find that redundancy on any media is better than a single copy of any specific media.
Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts. I agree that you need to do maintenance on the backups to ensure they are still good and work fine. I also agree it's always changing. My main point was really about trusting the cloud providers and having multiple copies but of course depending on your setup you may have larger drives or want to go with a bit more stable (longer term) spinning drives. Thanks again.
The problem with SSD is that it have to be powered on from time to time or the firmware would get corrupted and it has to be kept in a room temperature to prevent the memory charge from fading. I think the safest is still Cloud Storage, all you have to do is always check the policy from time to time. But it is expensive and lets be real, your privacy is not guaranteed so you have to compress them and put a password on it
Yes, there is not great way right now. Spinning drives aren't bad either. I just don't really trust any company to protect my data if they go bankrupt etc. even with written policies. Look at how all the tech companies are acting over the last year. Not great. So I guess I'm just saying it's best to have the data in your possession but everybody is different and thanks for sharing your thoughts.
@@craigneidel I think that's a different thing though. A backup is just a clone of your PC. If the provider goes out of business you just upload your stuff to a different one, no problem. Issue is if you want to archive stuff, in which case yes, local archive is better; and then you can still copy the archive to a cloud backup.
1. sure, having multiple drives means you won't lose everything at once, but it also means you'll lose data more frequently. the whole point of backups is it doesn't matter if you lose one copy anyway, because you have more than one copy of everything, so I don't really see the point of this. also having multiple drives and keeping track of them is just a hassle and unnecessarily complicates things. 2. this is not cheap. the cost per gb is much higher than a single large hdd, and you don't need ssd speeds for backups. also hdds are more reliable for cold storage 3. the dongle you used has versions for large hdds that need power as well, but if you have multiple hdds you might as well get a NAS or docking station 4. you should have more than one backup anyway, use the 3-2-1 method. For myself I have one original copy, automatic incremental backups for the most important stuff, one complete backup on a separate drive that I sync to weekly, and another locally-encrypted backup that gets synced to mega cloud. this is all scheduled and automated, all I have to do is connect the 10tb external drive once a week.
Yes, and thanks for your input. There are a ton of different ways to do this whether you use a NAS or a simple method like I used. I worked at a datacenter for 24 years and clients tend to use SANs and NAS devices with very complicated DR setups. When you bring in complexity like raid 1, 5, 10, bunch of disks, SAN Software etc, I just noticed it brings in complexities that can cause issues that are not related to media failure. The only major things I saw over my 24 years were from complicated setups that confuse the techs or users. Of course larger corporations need this for vast amounts of data stores and compliance but for smaller or home users I think keeping things simple is very important or they won't do it or will have some event that loses the data. Just from my real-world experience. Most home users end up losing more data with raid setups then just backing up to multiple disks directly.
Smaller hard drives are much more expensive per TB. For 300 usd you can get a 16tb HDD. In your scenario for 300 usd you get less than 2tb. 8 times more expensive. Get the biggest HDD you can afford, or at least 2 - 3 times bigger than your data. That way you have spare space for the future. There are HDD enclosures with no screws, only latches and sliding covers(toolles).
I've been giving a lot of thought to this recently. My backup solution for years now has been BluRay disks and burner. 25GB a pop I mainly back up my family's photos. I also have a PC in a closet stuffed with several 4TB hard drives- this actually has the BR burner in it so I can back up what's copied to it to BR disk, using a remote PC connection. But I guess the problem is, I have a lot of stuff in two places- my work area, and the closet where the server is. If either went down, I'd only have the BR backups which is just photos. Thinking along the same lines of your idea, I want to try a raspberry pi, running a NAS OS, with several of these small drives attached, and hide it somewhere like in the bedrooms. Then backup everything to these small drives, but still over the network. I know I'll never be good at moving a backup drive around, I just want it network attached and out of sight no matter what.
Just be aware that any drives perpetually connected to the network are vulnerable to viruses, ransomware, and things like electrical surges. Maintaining a set of backups offline addresses these dangers.
If yo have many tb of data, an old PC with shared folders and a backup software with daily schedule, maybe on a separate isolated network, is better. No need for a NAS os. In case of a hardware failure with main PC you are covered in that situation also. I stay away from raid because it takes days to recover 10tb of data for example. Meanwhile the hard drives with the parity information are working continuously. NAS and RAID is preferred when you need access 24\7 to the data.
Hey Craig, happy Sunday! I don’t know if you’ll see this, but I’m not walking the dog this morning and came across your video from a I’m wondering if you have an updated one best backup concepts for 2023/24? I think it’s an interesting concept to keep them on small drives. What would you think about using a three point 0 Thumb Dr. being that they’ve got much faster and can hold more data or now that it’s late 2023 do you have something completely different in mind, thanks a lot
Thanks, yes that was an older video. I just always stick to having multiple copies with my files separated so I know what is what. I also don't like cloud storage since most companies change plans, have fees, or go out of business and if you are not watching you could lose stuff for sure. I'll let you know if I do a refresh in the coming months as it could be a nice topic. I don't really use Thumb drives for that since the 2.5" or even M.2 drives are so cheap now. Having a main copy of everything on a huge HDD is also a good idea.
Great video that helped me work out a more comprehensive approach for my own needs! The problem with the subject of backups is that the strategy one chooses is highly dependent on the needs and restrictions for each person. A general home user likely has much different backup criteria than a photographer. For the typical home user, I like your idea very much as a starting point, but I would tweak it slightly. I agree that one doesn’t want to risk losing a huge chunk of data due to a single drive failure. Likewise, backing up small amounts of data is problematic in terms of finding particular files as the number of drives grows over time. I would suggest a three pronged approach: 1) I would maintain 2 or 3 large capacity drives for performing full backups and possibly some regular type of incremental/differential backups, to be performed as often as needs may demand. I’d also consider occasionally producing a full disk clone, which would allow for quick recovery of main computer drive failure. 2) I would use your strategy of smaller SSDs or HDDs for quick backups of user files, which I perform throughout or at the end of the day depending on how much data is being changed. I would use multiple drives in rotation for this task. Between this and item 1, you have complete coverage of the full rather unchanging system, along with coverage of more rapidly changing data. As full backups are performed, the data stored on the smaller drives gets incorporated into the larger system backups, hopefully eliminating the need to increase the number or size of the smaller SSDs. 3) I would maintain a separate set of backups for archival purposes of data that doesn’t change, such as family photos and important documents. For that, I’d use something like archival media, such as M-Disc optical media. The benefit of this type of approach is that it addresses many needs, such as archival, complete and speedy system restoration to a working state, and easy and quick backup of current frequently changing data. Also, because the media is constantly being rotated and rewritten, one should not suffer the consequence of bit rot from data being left stagnant for long periods on magnetic or solid state media. The rotation also helps with wear leveling of multiple SSDs. I think the implementation is palatable in terms of only needing to perform small backups more frequently for frequent file changes, and only occasionally for full system backups. Having many disks (both small and large capacity) reduces exposure to catastrophic loss, by providing good redundancy. Also, the system can be easily modified for more redundancy by simply making additional copies of either the small backups and/or larger full system backups. Currently, I’ve been doing full disk clones, system images, and differential backups, but this does not cover the daily changes to files unless I perform a differential backup after each set of changes each day (my freeware software does not allow for incremental backups). Adding the multiple smaller disks into the mix will help cover me between my larger backup tasks. I just ordered a set of 256gb disks for $16 a disk.
Thanks for the feedback. Thanks for the info also as it helps others with their backup plans. My approach is for people that might be afraid of complicated backup processes. I have learned from 25 years in a datacenter that when things get complicated people don't do them. So my approach isn't the best but is very easy and in the end as long as you have 2 copies of data in 2 different locations that is key. From there you can vary depending on needs but that is just the bare min. Thanks again.
@@craigneidel Thanks for the response! I absolutely agree with your statement regarding people not doing things when they get complicated, and backups probably rate as one of the things people tend to avoid most, because it’s both complex and time consuming. While I see that your approach seems less complicated at first blush, I do think that over time that notion begins to fall apart as the amount of data increases, and perhaps the number of devices needing backup also increase. At some point, backup disk capacity is exceeded, SSDs become less reliable as volume on the devices increase because you’re writing to fewer and fewer areas of the nand, and data that remains static starts to decay at the bit level. You also run into the issue of keeping track of multiple versions of files and maintaining old versions that no longer have any value. At some point users are faced with needing to add more capacity, manage more drives, move data around to refresh the bits, file version culling, etc. That’s why I outlined a hybrid scheme that I think addresses most of those issues. The one point I think your approach addresses really well is performing simple backups of small relatively dynamic data to help ensure newly updated data is not easily lost due to failure to backup. This is something I previously struggled to address, so I was always in danger of losing my most recent updates until system backup time rolled around. However, keeping a small drive or two handy to perform such backups should be easy for most people. But to address the other issues, I think, unless your data volume is minuscule, one needs to look as more substantial backups performed somewhat infrequently. I know it’s a pain and an added complexity, but I think it’s more manageable, more comprehensive, and more robust than trying to handle large volumes of data on many smaller disks. Like I said, your approach definitely addresses the issue of ensuring dynamic data is better protected and is more likely to be adopted by the general public, but it is not without risk and complication. I will definitely incorporate your approach regularly to address the fact I have been negligent in performing backups with enough frequency. Thanks again for your video….great idea that I will happily employ!
Thanks, in the end just make sure you are backing up and do what works best. That is my motto. I still think about 80% of people don't backup so getting them to do something is key.
Excellent, you read my mind with your technique .. I also like the small drives as they can easily and quickly be re-copied during the course of a year to make extra backups.
Thanks for watching and I like this method as it keep it simple. I know there are other ways to do it and the main thing is just do what works best and will actually get people to do it.
I liked the idea and bought on amazon a SanDisk ssd 120 GB and a USB 3.0 to SATA III cable from SKL for altogether 35,00 €. The ones mentioned in your video were not available in Germany. Everything went very smoothly and the Blackmagic Disk results were 310 writes and 420 reads. That is way faster than my external Toshiba or Seagate drives. Thank you!! The next step will be to connect it with my Thunderbolt 3 slot. Lets's see if there will be any performance gains. By the way, in my opinion you do not speak too fast, because even as a non-native speaker I can easily understand you! All the best from Germany! Stay safe! P.S. The best thing is, it works with my iPad too!
Great video! Backup power is so important, especially when you're out camping or spending quality time with family. Have you considered checking out the Segway Portable PowerStation Cube Series? It's a versatile powerhouse with a massive capacity and fast recharging. Plus, it's built tough and waterproof. Definitely a reliable option for outdoor enthusiasts like us!
I just find that having a 4TB drive, a backup of that 4TB drive in a safe, and almost everything in Pcloud/google drive, is perfect. Too many drives would literally DRIVE me insane. As long as you have important files offsite somewhere (cloud or elsewhere), so what if a drive fails? buy a new one, and then bam, you have all your data back. Keep in mind though, I always MANUALLY back up things at the time of making changes for the most part. So there's never any discrepencies.
Yes, if that works good for you the key is just backing up. I like to spread my data between a few different devices and always have 2 copies. With the expense of SSDs and HDDs it's just easy to do now and I don't trust cloud providers because everything changes there. But, using one to store a copy isn't a bad idea as long as it's not your only option. Thanks for sharing and I hope you can sub and offer more comments.
I think going this route in tandem with cloud storage is the best way to truly secure your data, so if something horrible like your house burning down happens, destroying your drives, you'll still be able to get your data back on the cloud. It's like a backup of a backup.
Yes, cloud storage isn't bad but just be prepared to lose that data one day if something happens where you can't get to it or the company stops the service. So having both is a good idea and thanks for sharing.
@@craigneidelVery true, although if you still have your physical drives, losing all you cloud data wouldn't be an issue since you can just re-upload it (unless you're the most unlucky person on earth and lose your physical backups at the same time, lol). Also, I appreciate your advice about using smaller drives, I think your reasoning makes a lot of sense and is something I'm going to consider implementing, although for my case, I'm gonna go with spinning disks with a little more storage space.
@@LunaticTheCat thanks for the post and good luck with everything. I think in the end having two copies of your data in 2 different locations is the best place to start. Appreciate the post and talk to you later.
You can get spinning drives of much larger capacity since they are cheap. It just takes longer to copy and also make sure you have more than one copy. Spinning drives are good since you can store them without use for long periods of time. It's more about the process of backing up instead of trusting a company who might go belly up with your files.
I purchased both of the items you listed above. when I plug into the usb port of computer it dings, but does not show up in My PC with the other External hard drives, if I go to safely remove hardware it shows external drive 3.0, what am I doing wrong that it is not showing up to use
Hello Randy, my guess is you need to format the drive for the PC but this video is over 2 years old so I'm not exactly sure. There will be a ton of online resources on RUclips for formatting a new hard drive on Windows. I'm mostly a Mac channel and as you can imagine I can't trouble shoot individual issues of viewers due to how many videos I have (plus I use mostly Macs). With that said it sounds like you need to format the drive so you can use it which is the case with any new hard drive. Once you plug it in then you need to format the drive on a PC. I would do a search on both Google and RUclips with your version of windows and it should have exact instructions for doing that. Just don't format your main drive as that would erase it. Once you format the new drive then it should show up as an external SSD. Of course there is a chance that you got a back cable or SSD but that is usually not the case so I think it could be due to formatting the drive to work on a PC.
@@randyrusin5859 they should work fine on PCs so if cable isnt broken look up format external SSD on Google and follow steps. I think that has to be the issue.
On my entire PC I have about 4TB of data. I would much prefer to buy one harddrive for all my data. Is this still a solid option? You said that a HDD can't handle many terabytes of data even if it's well within it's capacity, why is that?
No, the HDD can work fine just make sure you have 2 copies besides the copy on your normal computer if it's important stuff. HDD are fine but just take longer for large backups but they are fine.
I need help, I want to buy a 2014 Mac mini but it’s slow, how should I make it faster without spending loads of money, I need an answer ASAP as it’s needed for work use, thanks
Optical is better I admit but I just wanted to show people what I do and what works for me. I usually power these up at least once every 2 months and keep them all active. Keeping a master copy on a 5 TB spinning drive would be best to add one more level of protection.
I have recently falled my western digital hdd and it's not anymore being recognized and not sure if there is physical damage already, I already backed up the pictures (not important dat) in gdrive before so no worries, my important documents are stored in the cloud. Any advise?
Thanks for watching. I'm not sure what you are asking but if you have a failing drive and backups I would just replace drive and reload content back. Thanks again for watching the channel.
I have 40+ years experience in IT. SSD's are not safe for permanent backup. A Samsung SSD has failed on me. Safest are high rpm RAID boxes with a 2nd backup (offsite) on a single SSD disk. It's highly likely that SSD or HDD is bound to fail after a decade. If you can afford, best bet is to subscribe to a Cloud with a big company like Amazon, Google or Microsoft. Left behind IT assets after death is becoming a major issue now. Share the Cloud with a large number of family members to avoid expiry of accounts. Format changes is also a big issue. I paid a company to have all the VCR tapes converted to DVD's. Now, that format is obsolete too. You mentioned about Google going out of business, I'm worried about Microsoft. they need to quickly come out with a Mobile phone that can be connected to a keyboard and LCD screen (to replace PC's), or else they will be history. Everything is moving to mobile phones. Some time in the future, mobile phones are going to change to wearable devices with everything in the cloud, rumor was that Apple was not going to announce iPhone 14, instead they will announce a wearable mobile solution.
I have also worked for a datacenter for over 26 years and deal directly with servers. I know that SSDs are not as good as HDD for storage (or tapes for that matter) but the plan is to have multiple copies of your own data and not single copies. I have seen way too many times people who are not technical using raid at home and erasing both copies of the data in a second because of a mistake. Complexity is the #1 reason I see things fail in a datacenter so keeping things simple is key. If you use SSDs I recommend connecting to them every 6 months (powering them on) and if HDD check each year. Also have a plan with your family so they know the data is there. The issue with cloud companies is if you die and nobody knows the data is there they remove it fairly quickly once a payment is not made. It could be 2 months if you don't pay for it and then it's all gone. So I just don't recommend having any third party control all your data and I work at a datacenter. Yes, for businesses and other hosting it's perfect but for the home user keep it simple and keep multiple copies. Check copies etc. every 6 months and if one failed move second copy to another drive. Also, if you are a home user without any knowledge of how raid works don't try to use it or you might pull the wrong drive or rebuild a new drive wrong and erase everything ( if you do that also have backup). The point of the video is with SSD or HDD so cheap now (and fast) you can store multiple copies for all your important data and pictures for maybe $200 (average user) and be in a better situation then you are now. So in the end it's about controlling your own data, multiple copies, semi-annual checks, planning with family. Thanks for sharing and I don't thing you are wrong either. This is just what I have found works for me personally. Everybody is going to be different.
@@craigneidel Thanks for the detailed answer. Your points are very valid. I have half a dozen 2 TB HDD’s and a bunch of smaller HDD & SSD’s. Some are backups of backups. Over time, files have triplicated in same disks, some are renamed in one and not in the other. I bought an 8 TB WD HDD to consolidate all files and remove duplication. Unfortunately it’s controller is very slow, you get what you pay for. Not to mention boxes of DVD’s. Now that I am 68, I realize that my children are not going to spend hours to sort out my digital assets, its only near and dear to me, except the family photos and videos. 8 years ago, I had distributed external HDD’s to my children of their childhood & graduation videos. Have they watched them? Only the first time. BOTTOM LINE: I have setup a paper binder with detailed instructions, email and other passwords in order to continue with the automated bill payments, in case I pass away and until the settlement of my Will. Life is lightning fast these days.
This is re-assuring. I do the same with multiple drives swapped around and stored in a safe. I use time machine as well and I have been looking at cloud as another tier, but I can't believe just how bad the client software is these days.
@@craigneidel I've been looking at BackBlaze backup for example. The software seems to want to backup what it thinks should be backed up rather than what I want to backup. If you just want to backup a single folder for example which includes programs files (I'm a developer) then you have to a lot of messing around removing it's pre-defined exclusions (it won't backup programs by default). All I want is a program which asks me which folders I want to backup and allow me to add file types to exclude (if I want to). Their B2 Storage is OK but if you have lots of small files it runs up the transaction costs.
Is there a way or a software that just copies the folder and files in the original source structure so when i connect the "destination" hard disk to another pc i can read those folder and files normally, without me needing the backup software to read or restore those files? I can not find one. I tried many and they all, after the backup, create ONE SINGLE FILE that can only be read from the software that created it. And if i connect that external HD to another pc, I can not read those copied files coz the backup software is not installed in that second pc.
I'm sure there is software out there that does this but I have not researched it lately as I'm using the standard time machine backups. Of course something like backing up to Google drive would allow you to access the files from any computer etc. but that is cloud backup. If I have time I can review but I'm sure there has to be something like this out there to accomplish this goal.
Nice video, but I disagree that it is better to store everything on 120 GB SSDs instead of the 6 TB disk, that would mean 50 SSDs. It will be very time consuming to check the health of those disks and sync them once a month/week with that one cable. You mention that it is better that one small drive fails than one big drive failing, however the reality is that all 50 small drives will fail (even if SSDs can last longer). And so will the big one. Also 19 times 50 is 950 usd, quite expensive compared to a higher capacity HDD (140 usd?).
Hello. Yes, I guess it depends on how much space you need to back up. I think the average is only 1 TB based on averages but when you are up around 6 TB there might be better options like larger spinning drives. I aways want three copies in two locations if possible but of course it depends on what you are backing up I guess. Thanks for watching and the comment as it helps people watching. This is also just my method and it works for me but may now work for all and I fully understand that. I just don't trust larger companies and their long term plans etc. and it's hard to know what a loved one had (services) if they pass away and then you lose all photos etc. after some time passes. I guess the best thing to do is have a plan with the people who need to know in the family and then do what works best for you. Thanks again.
@@craigneidel Yea, I agree on not selecting the cloud for this type of backup and also prefer backup outside the network. I just meant that I think it is more convenient to sometimes replace one of the 140 usd 6TB backup drives than 50 SSDs that although cheap will add up for large data. Thanks for your reply! By the way, do you have a system for checking file integrity on your backups over time? For when a backup or the original drive in your PC will gradually get some corrupted files before failing completely.
@@andreg5783I get what you are saying, and agree with some of your points; however, I do think there is some merit to using a few of these drives for frequent backups of small data sets, but also performing regular full and differential/incremental backups to larger drives. You may want to check out my comment in the main area and see if perhaps the hybrid approach I suggest has any merit in addressing your needs. Regards!👍🏻🙂
Nothing is safe. I used to write to CDs, 20 years later most are unreadable. If you drop a hard drive all your data will be gone. If you get a bad virus it can delete your data without you even knowing it. After 20 years I have quite a few corrupt files on my various hard drives. Theft, fire, yea, nothing is safe. I use two big hard drives and use software to mirror them. Still, a bad virus, theft and fire would wipe me out. Best to get three big 20 TB drives, mirror them all with software so they are exactly the same, and store one at your moms house to back up monthly. That covers everything except a bad virus. At work we had a virus that randomly deleted files and would lock you out of folders, nothing can stop that one, and we had the latest anti-virus software installed, several versions.
Sir, honestly let me disagree. I use pCloud and I have that service for LIFE. Meaning I don't have to pay any more for their service. I have 2TB of storage at 350Euros. Encryption? No problem, they have the best encryption that even they can't find out the password (experts say it, not just them). Sure It's hella expensive, but it does what I want. I don't like the idea of having multiple drives. Wanna know a cool thing? I can play 8k movies at 30fps (my comp. supports only that much) I can video edit 4k music videos and all from pCloud. What do you say about that? Of course, smart people recommend besides a Cloud service a personal Cloud like a NAS, which I agree with, but having all that is too expensive. In my opinion, I pay more if I want more. There's a lot to talk about pCloud, but I'm sure you can search. You can also try it for free. It's the best cloud out there for multiple reasons, it's not just a backup system.
That's fine and that is what these videos are all about. Just to get some discussion involved. I just don't trust companies with my data because if something happens to me and my family doesn't get the data then it's lost for good over time. I would rather have control of the data and keep family updated etc. Having pictures and other things for a family is so important etc. In any case I see your point and it's a good discussion to have etc. Everybody is different and your ideas are good ones too.
I will NEVER use cloud as a back up I had a well known cloud storage company just shut down no warning lucky I use it just for sharing and not storage .
@@craigneidel Me as well. I literally had uploaded some video for a news story and that same morning the cloud company just vanished. I can't remember the name but now I use Google drive
"Off-site" storage is not always necessary. If you have a firebox and you put it in a "safe" place in the house it may be an acceptable risk. Another consideration is whether your survivors will be able to retrieve the data. Be sure and label LINUX files as "linux ext 4...must be viewed on linux machine" or NTFS must be viewed on windows machine" so that "normies" can recover the files.
@@craigneidel Thank you for the strategy you shared with us on your channel. I have a SATA drives I like the idea of using these drives as an alternative to the cloud.
I don't think that is the safest way to backup your data. I mean, in case of fire you will lose all your data. And it is not very easy, actually an inconvenience to do all this by hand. I mean, could you imagine the hassle that is to backup again if you made changes in your files or added new files? you will have to go find wherever you put the correct drive (or drives) and then rake them by hand, connect, copy, then put them back in their place. There are backup solution that allow you to backup automatically to a couple of drives at once, while spreading the date across them so even if some of them are gone you can still recover ALL of the date (ever heard about RAID?). You can also backup to a drive in a different location in order to prevent something like fire to make tou lose all your data. Did I mention that it's happening automatically? On Linus tech tips they have a video about Synology who provides exactly this solution
Just feel like I'd never be able to keep track of all the drives; and who knows what the thief would take? Feel like having 2 big identical drives in diff locations would be safer and easier to manage
Yes, that is fine also. I just like to break them up in case something happens not all my eggs are in one basket. Most people would maybe have 4 or 6 but I do get your point.
SSD will lost all of your data if it not power connected in year or two, SSD cells are degrading without power cable attached. My advice to store same data on two different types of drive like SSD+HDD
Thanks for the tip and yes this is a good one. Having it on both SSD and HDD is a pretty good idea to be safe. I tend to keep using the SSDs and plugging them in so never had an issue but I like it when people add to the video and help others. Thanks.
@@craigneidel Same I use another ssd and just put it in every time I clean my PC. Unless u never gonna open your case or laptop for a decade ssd arent the way to go lol.
Hi. I want to backup data from my official laptop on which I have no administrator rights and cannot change any configuration or install any software. Everything is being monitored. Is there any safe solution you can advise? Thanks.
Sorry, it's hard to know what type of restrictions they have on the system and I would ask them what is the safest method for backups. With so many different variables I really can't offer any good advice. Thanks for watching.
Yes, they can be but the tech has gotten quite a bit better from even 5 years ago. So the SSDs have a better shelf life. I usually back up to SSDs in small chucks and then everything I have to a single 8 or 10 TB drive as a just in case drive.
Why not use Sandisk or Samsung SD cards, 256GB is cost effective, and so portable, if you have a couple of them , with all your Data. Sandisk has encryptioon built in, but for other SD card, you can use the free Verasoft software to safeguard your data.
Yes, but some usb sticks are not nearly as fast as external SSDs and normally a usb stick might be 30 MB/s vs about 500 MB/s on a real external SSD. So if you have a ton of data that could matter.
@@craigneidel usb 3.0 or 3.1 sticks would be the same speeds as what he's doing in this video with his sata to usb adapter. Same exact speeds. The SATA, in his tutorial, would be throttled down to the USB adapter speed. So ya might as well just use some USB sticks.
@@sootynukkels8366 when I copy data to an external USB drive with 5 Gbps cable I'll get 300 to 500 Mbs. The USB flash drive are very rarely capable 9f that. I'm sitting in front of my computer now. It is about 10 times faster to copy to ssd .. 1 gb file. Than on a USB flash drive. I'm testing in real time. Anyhow I understand all device people use could be different.
Yes, spinning drives are better but I have done some research on this and getting the right SSDs can last for very long periods of time. You just need to use them about every 5 years or so but I understand your note and spinning hard drives (mechanical) are a good option for sure.
Yes, that is correct but with the newer models that is less likely. The overall best thing to do is take this approach for diversity and maybe backup everything to a very large spinning drive (mechanical) drive also. That is the failsafe way.
@@jerrysamuels1113 The second reason not to use SSD for back up data (at lest not for long period of time) is because SSD have limited life. The life of SSD depends on how much TB you write on the SSD and the capacity of the SSD himself (bigger SSDs have more life, sort of speak). But the first reason not to back up on SSD is because they are unpredictable. I have so many failed SSDs and they are relatively new (not in the end of there live). And when the SSD broke extraction of the information in most of the cases is harder than extracting the information from failed HDD.
Anyone who leaves a back up drive plugged in deserves to lose everything . Back up your data and unplug and store someplace safe .Like a fire proof safe. I have all my stuff on one drive and have 3 back up of all the same stuff. As a Photographer I don't want to lose my life's work.
I'm sorry. This is a terrible solution. Very bad. Best solution is to buy a personal cloud storage with RAID. Keep the hard drive somewhere safe and access it from anywhere in the world. No monthly fees. RAID has few HDDs there, so, data is not stored in one place. Fail Safe. On the other hand, your little SSDs, many of them may go bad and you will never recover ur data.
I back up to multiple SSDs all data - 2 to 3 copies so never worry. I work in a datacenter and have seen raid catastrophes many times, so for the average person keeping it simple can be the difference between data and no data. People love raid etc. but when the device has an issue it can corrupt data sometimes and or the person doesn't know how to manage it. Keeping things simple for the average user is the best thing. I don't trust my data with any company either as we have all seen what can happen to companies overnight. I like to manage my own files and only trust me.
break into your house? how bad is your neighborhood? and thiefs not going to steal a hard drive or a backup drive. they want cash, money, jewelry, designer clothes, etc..something they can sell or pawn. hmmm.
When I was in college I left for Thanksgiving and had this exact thing happen. Computer and all storage stolen. It doesn't matter where you live it happens in the nicest of cities. So nothing is impossible.
Just trying to get a lot into a short video. Nothing more than that and I don't trust people based on silly things but I trust them on how they act in life.
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Craig. I feel that the principles of good backup advice you have given is sound. I like the smaller "chunk" philosophy with smaller drives. The challenge in personal computers (as you pointed out) is how the technology keeps evolving and changing. So I feel that it is not a "one time" backup, secure it and forget it scenario. The backups media should be regularly powered up and checked to refresh the data (especially in external SSDs) and be prepared to migrate those files to the new technology once available.... I recently scanned my parent's 35mm color slides from the 1960's and saved them to DVDs, and then again to an external HDD. I also like to make duplicates to send to family members, so if my copy gets destroyed, my family members will also have a copy. I too, stay away from the "wild west" of cloud services, but find that redundancy on any media is better than a single copy of any specific media.
Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts. I agree that you need to do maintenance on the backups to ensure they are still good and work fine. I also agree it's always changing. My main point was really about trusting the cloud providers and having multiple copies but of course depending on your setup you may have larger drives or want to go with a bit more stable (longer term) spinning drives. Thanks again.
The problem with SSD is that it have to be powered on from time to time or the firmware would get corrupted and it has to be kept in a room temperature to prevent the memory charge from fading.
I think the safest is still Cloud Storage, all you have to do is always check the policy from time to time.
But it is expensive and lets be real, your privacy is not guaranteed so you have to compress them and put a password on it
Yes, there is not great way right now. Spinning drives aren't bad either. I just don't really trust any company to protect my data if they go bankrupt etc. even with written policies. Look at how all the tech companies are acting over the last year. Not great. So I guess I'm just saying it's best to have the data in your possession but everybody is different and thanks for sharing your thoughts.
@@craigneidel I think that's a different thing though. A backup is just a clone of your PC. If the provider goes out of business you just upload your stuff to a different one, no problem. Issue is if you want to archive stuff, in which case yes, local archive is better; and then you can still copy the archive to a cloud backup.
Cubbit's system is secure in terms of privacy and theoretically "eternal"
@@craigneidel why not using portable hdd instead of ssd ?
@@hanionline563 hdd works fine too. I power mine every six months but either work good
1. sure, having multiple drives means you won't lose everything at once, but it also means you'll lose data more frequently. the whole point of backups is it doesn't matter if you lose one copy anyway, because you have more than one copy of everything, so I don't really see the point of this. also having multiple drives and keeping track of them is just a hassle and unnecessarily complicates things.
2. this is not cheap. the cost per gb is much higher than a single large hdd, and you don't need ssd speeds for backups. also hdds are more reliable for cold storage
3. the dongle you used has versions for large hdds that need power as well, but if you have multiple hdds you might as well get a NAS or docking station
4. you should have more than one backup anyway, use the 3-2-1 method. For myself I have one original copy, automatic incremental backups for the most important stuff, one complete backup on a separate drive that I sync to weekly, and another locally-encrypted backup that gets synced to mega cloud. this is all scheduled and automated, all I have to do is connect the 10tb external drive once a week.
Yes, and thanks for your input. There are a ton of different ways to do this whether you use a NAS or a simple method like I used. I worked at a datacenter for 24 years and clients tend to use SANs and NAS devices with very complicated DR setups. When you bring in complexity like raid 1, 5, 10, bunch of disks, SAN Software etc, I just noticed it brings in complexities that can cause issues that are not related to media failure. The only major things I saw over my 24 years were from complicated setups that confuse the techs or users. Of course larger corporations need this for vast amounts of data stores and compliance but for smaller or home users I think keeping things simple is very important or they won't do it or will have some event that loses the data. Just from my real-world experience. Most home users end up losing more data with raid setups then just backing up to multiple disks directly.
Smaller hard drives are much more expensive per TB. For 300 usd you can get a 16tb HDD. In your scenario for 300 usd you get less than 2tb. 8 times more expensive. Get the biggest HDD you can afford, or at least 2 - 3 times bigger than your data. That way you have spare space for the future. There are HDD enclosures with no screws, only latches and sliding covers(toolles).
Large HDD is only useful if you want to add to it exclusively and don't want to back up too much. Writing 1 TB of data onto a HDD can take hours.
He used a ssd not a hdd so obv it’s gonna be more expensive
The idea is you lose a lot with 16tb than juste buying multiple ssd and have copy of your files on each of those ssd.
I've been giving a lot of thought to this recently. My backup solution for years now has been BluRay disks and burner. 25GB a pop I mainly back up my family's photos. I also have a PC in a closet stuffed with several 4TB hard drives- this actually has the BR burner in it so I can back up what's copied to it to BR disk, using a remote PC connection. But I guess the problem is, I have a lot of stuff in two places- my work area, and the closet where the server is. If either went down, I'd only have the BR backups which is just photos. Thinking along the same lines of your idea, I want to try a raspberry pi, running a NAS OS, with several of these small drives attached, and hide it somewhere like in the bedrooms. Then backup everything to these small drives, but still over the network. I know I'll never be good at moving a backup drive around, I just want it network attached and out of sight no matter what.
Just be aware that any drives perpetually connected to the network are vulnerable to viruses, ransomware, and things like electrical surges. Maintaining a set of backups offline addresses these dangers.
If yo have many tb of data, an old PC with shared folders and a backup software with daily schedule, maybe on a separate isolated network, is better. No need for a NAS os. In case of a hardware failure with main PC you are covered in that situation also. I stay away from raid because it takes days to recover 10tb of data for example. Meanwhile the hard drives with the parity information are working continuously. NAS and RAID is preferred when you need access 24\7 to the data.
Hey Craig, happy Sunday! I don’t know if you’ll see this, but I’m not walking the dog this morning and came across your video from a I’m wondering if you have an updated one best backup concepts for 2023/24? I think it’s an interesting concept to keep them on small drives. What would you think about using a three point 0 Thumb Dr. being that they’ve got much faster and can hold more data or now that it’s late 2023 do you have something completely different in mind, thanks a lot
Thanks, yes that was an older video. I just always stick to having multiple copies with my files separated so I know what is what. I also don't like cloud storage since most companies change plans, have fees, or go out of business and if you are not watching you could lose stuff for sure. I'll let you know if I do a refresh in the coming months as it could be a nice topic. I don't really use Thumb drives for that since the 2.5" or even M.2 drives are so cheap now. Having a main copy of everything on a huge HDD is also a good idea.
Great video that helped me work out a more comprehensive approach for my own needs!
The problem with the subject of backups is that the strategy one chooses is highly dependent on the needs and restrictions for each person. A general home user likely has much different backup criteria than a photographer.
For the typical home user, I like your idea very much as a starting point, but I would tweak it slightly. I agree that one doesn’t want to risk losing a huge chunk of data due to a single drive failure. Likewise, backing up small amounts of data is problematic in terms of finding particular files as the number of drives grows over time.
I would suggest a three pronged approach: 1) I would maintain 2 or 3 large capacity drives for performing full backups and possibly some regular type of incremental/differential backups, to be performed as often as needs may demand. I’d also consider occasionally producing a full disk clone, which would allow for quick recovery of main computer drive failure. 2) I would use your strategy of smaller SSDs or HDDs for quick backups of user files, which I perform throughout or at the end of the day depending on how much data is being changed. I would use multiple drives in rotation for this task. Between this and item 1, you have complete coverage of the full rather unchanging system, along with coverage of more rapidly changing data. As full backups are performed, the data stored on the smaller drives gets incorporated into the larger system backups, hopefully eliminating the need to increase the number or size of the smaller SSDs. 3) I would maintain a separate set of backups for archival purposes of data that doesn’t change, such as family photos and important documents. For that, I’d use something like archival media, such as M-Disc optical media.
The benefit of this type of approach is that it addresses many needs, such as archival, complete and speedy system restoration to a working state, and easy and quick backup of current frequently changing data. Also, because the media is constantly being rotated and rewritten, one should not suffer the consequence of bit rot from data being left stagnant for long periods on magnetic or solid state media. The rotation also helps with wear leveling of multiple SSDs. I think the implementation is palatable in terms of only needing to perform small backups more frequently for frequent file changes, and only occasionally for full system backups. Having many disks (both small and large capacity) reduces exposure to catastrophic loss, by providing good redundancy. Also, the system can be easily modified for more redundancy by simply making additional copies of either the small backups and/or larger full system backups.
Currently, I’ve been doing full disk clones, system images, and differential backups, but this does not cover the daily changes to files unless I perform a differential backup after each set of changes each day (my freeware software does not allow for incremental backups). Adding the multiple smaller disks into the mix will help cover me between my larger backup tasks. I just ordered a set of 256gb disks for $16 a disk.
Thanks for the feedback. Thanks for the info also as it helps others with their backup plans. My approach is for people that might be afraid of complicated backup processes. I have learned from 25 years in a datacenter that when things get complicated people don't do them. So my approach isn't the best but is very easy and in the end as long as you have 2 copies of data in 2 different locations that is key. From there you can vary depending on needs but that is just the bare min. Thanks again.
@@craigneidel Thanks for the response!
I absolutely agree with your statement regarding people not doing things when they get complicated, and backups probably rate as one of the things people tend to avoid most, because it’s both complex and time consuming.
While I see that your approach seems less complicated at first blush, I do think that over time that notion begins to fall apart as the amount of data increases, and perhaps the number of devices needing backup also increase. At some point, backup disk capacity is exceeded, SSDs become less reliable as volume on the devices increase because you’re writing to fewer and fewer areas of the nand, and data that remains static starts to decay at the bit level. You also run into the issue of keeping track of multiple versions of files and maintaining old versions that no longer have any value. At some point users are faced with needing to add more capacity, manage more drives, move data around to refresh the bits, file version culling, etc. That’s why I outlined a hybrid scheme that I think addresses most of those issues.
The one point I think your approach addresses really well is performing simple backups of small relatively dynamic data to help ensure newly updated data is not easily lost due to failure to backup. This is something I previously struggled to address, so I was always in danger of losing my most recent updates until system backup time rolled around. However, keeping a small drive or two handy to perform such backups should be easy for most people. But to address the other issues, I think, unless your data volume is minuscule, one needs to look as more substantial backups performed somewhat infrequently. I know it’s a pain and an added complexity, but I think it’s more manageable, more comprehensive, and more robust than trying to handle large volumes of data on many smaller disks. Like I said, your approach definitely addresses the issue of ensuring dynamic data is better protected and is more likely to be adopted by the general public, but it is not without risk and complication. I will definitely incorporate your approach regularly to address the fact I have been negligent in performing backups with enough frequency. Thanks again for your video….great idea that I will happily employ!
Thanks, in the end just make sure you are backing up and do what works best. That is my motto. I still think about 80% of people don't backup so getting them to do something is key.
Excellent, you read my mind with your technique .. I also like the small drives as they can easily and quickly be re-copied during the course of a year to make extra backups.
Thanks for watching and I like this method as it keep it simple. I know there are other ways to do it and the main thing is just do what works best and will actually get people to do it.
I liked the idea and bought on amazon a SanDisk ssd 120 GB and a USB 3.0 to SATA III cable from SKL for altogether 35,00 €. The ones mentioned in your video were not available in Germany. Everything went very smoothly and the Blackmagic Disk results were 310 writes and 420 reads. That is way faster than my external Toshiba or Seagate drives. Thank you!! The next step will be to connect it with my Thunderbolt 3 slot. Lets's see if there will be any performance gains.
By the way, in my opinion you do not speak too fast, because even as a non-native speaker I can easily understand you! All the best from Germany! Stay safe!
P.S. The best thing is, it works with my iPad too!
Great video! Backup power is so important, especially when you're out camping or spending quality time with family. Have you considered checking out the Segway Portable PowerStation Cube Series? It's a versatile powerhouse with a massive capacity and fast recharging. Plus, it's built tough and waterproof. Definitely a reliable option for outdoor enthusiasts like us!
I have not but thanks for watching.
I just find that having a 4TB drive, a backup of that 4TB drive in a safe, and almost everything in Pcloud/google drive, is perfect. Too many drives would literally DRIVE me insane. As long as you have important files offsite somewhere (cloud or elsewhere), so what if a drive fails? buy a new one, and then bam, you have all your data back. Keep in mind though, I always MANUALLY back up things at the time of making changes for the most part. So there's never any discrepencies.
Yes, if that works good for you the key is just backing up. I like to spread my data between a few different devices and always have 2 copies. With the expense of SSDs and HDDs it's just easy to do now and I don't trust cloud providers because everything changes there. But, using one to store a copy isn't a bad idea as long as it's not your only option. Thanks for sharing and I hope you can sub and offer more comments.
The "merry christmas" at the end is so outdated it became relevant again xD
Funny, thanks for watching.
I think going this route in tandem with cloud storage is the best way to truly secure your data, so if something horrible like your house burning down happens, destroying your drives, you'll still be able to get your data back on the cloud. It's like a backup of a backup.
Yes, cloud storage isn't bad but just be prepared to lose that data one day if something happens where you can't get to it or the company stops the service. So having both is a good idea and thanks for sharing.
@@craigneidelVery true, although if you still have your physical drives, losing all you cloud data wouldn't be an issue since you can just re-upload it (unless you're the most unlucky person on earth and lose your physical backups at the same time, lol).
Also, I appreciate your advice about using smaller drives, I think your reasoning makes a lot of sense and is something I'm going to consider implementing, although for my case, I'm gonna go with spinning disks with a little more storage space.
@@LunaticTheCat thanks for the post and good luck with everything. I think in the end having two copies of your data in 2 different locations is the best place to start. Appreciate the post and talk to you later.
So how would you deal with say 2tb of personal photos splitting to 120gb ssd is impractical. Or the 20tb of hone videos...has to be a better way
You can get spinning drives of much larger capacity since they are cheap. It just takes longer to copy and also make sure you have more than one copy. Spinning drives are good since you can store them without use for long periods of time. It's more about the process of backing up instead of trusting a company who might go belly up with your files.
I purchased both of the items you listed above. when I plug into the usb port of computer it dings, but does not show up in My PC with the other External hard drives, if I go to safely remove hardware it shows external drive 3.0, what am I doing wrong that it is not showing up to use
Hello Randy, my guess is you need to format the drive for the PC but this video is over 2 years old so I'm not exactly sure. There will be a ton of online resources on RUclips for formatting a new hard drive on Windows. I'm mostly a Mac channel and as you can imagine I can't trouble shoot individual issues of viewers due to how many videos I have (plus I use mostly Macs). With that said it sounds like you need to format the drive so you can use it which is the case with any new hard drive. Once you plug it in then you need to format the drive on a PC. I would do a search on both Google and RUclips with your version of windows and it should have exact instructions for doing that. Just don't format your main drive as that would erase it. Once you format the new drive then it should show up as an external SSD. Of course there is a chance that you got a back cable or SSD but that is usually not the case so I think it could be due to formatting the drive to work on a PC.
@@craigneidel i will give it a try. problem is I can not see the drive when i plug it in, I bought 3 of them with cables
@@randyrusin5859 they should work fine on PCs so if cable isnt broken look up format external SSD on Google and follow steps. I think that has to be the issue.
On my entire PC I have about 4TB of data. I would much prefer to buy one harddrive for all my data. Is this still a solid option? You said that a HDD can't handle many terabytes of data even if it's well within it's capacity, why is that?
No, the HDD can work fine just make sure you have 2 copies besides the copy on your normal computer if it's important stuff. HDD are fine but just take longer for large backups but they are fine.
@Craig Neidel Alright, thanks for the help!
I need help, I want to buy a 2014 Mac mini but it’s slow, how should I make it faster without spending loads of money, I need an answer ASAP as it’s needed for work use, thanks
Boot off an external SSD. I made a few video on that so look those up. Good luck Yaseen.
ssd is not good for archiving, especially if the are not powered for an extended time, might just as well write optical drives rather
Optical is better I admit but I just wanted to show people what I do and what works for me. I usually power these up at least once every 2 months and keep them all active. Keeping a master copy on a 5 TB spinning drive would be best to add one more level of protection.
I have recently falled my western digital hdd and it's not anymore being recognized and not sure if there is physical damage already, I already backed up the pictures (not important dat) in gdrive before so no worries, my important documents are stored in the cloud.
Any advise?
Thanks for watching. I'm not sure what you are asking but if you have a failing drive and backups I would just replace drive and reload content back. Thanks again for watching the channel.
I have 40+ years experience in IT. SSD's are not safe for permanent backup. A Samsung SSD has failed on me. Safest are high rpm RAID boxes with a 2nd backup (offsite) on a single SSD disk. It's highly likely that SSD or HDD is bound to fail after a decade.
If you can afford, best bet is to subscribe to a Cloud with a big company like Amazon, Google or Microsoft.
Left behind IT assets after death is becoming a major issue now. Share the Cloud with a large number of family members to avoid expiry of accounts.
Format changes is also a big issue. I paid a company to have all the VCR tapes converted to DVD's. Now, that format is obsolete too.
You mentioned about Google going out of business, I'm worried about Microsoft. they need to quickly come out with a Mobile phone that can be connected to a keyboard and LCD screen (to replace PC's), or else they will be history. Everything is moving to mobile phones. Some time in the future, mobile phones are going to change to wearable devices with everything in the cloud, rumor was that Apple was not going to announce iPhone 14, instead they will announce a wearable mobile solution.
I have also worked for a datacenter for over 26 years and deal directly with servers. I know that SSDs are not as good as HDD for storage (or tapes for that matter) but the plan is to have multiple copies of your own data and not single copies. I have seen way too many times people who are not technical using raid at home and erasing both copies of the data in a second because of a mistake. Complexity is the #1 reason I see things fail in a datacenter so keeping things simple is key. If you use SSDs I recommend connecting to them every 6 months (powering them on) and if HDD check each year. Also have a plan with your family so they know the data is there. The issue with cloud companies is if you die and nobody knows the data is there they remove it fairly quickly once a payment is not made. It could be 2 months if you don't pay for it and then it's all gone. So I just don't recommend having any third party control all your data and I work at a datacenter. Yes, for businesses and other hosting it's perfect but for the home user keep it simple and keep multiple copies. Check copies etc. every 6 months and if one failed move second copy to another drive. Also, if you are a home user without any knowledge of how raid works don't try to use it or you might pull the wrong drive or rebuild a new drive wrong and erase everything ( if you do that also have backup). The point of the video is with SSD or HDD so cheap now (and fast) you can store multiple copies for all your important data and pictures for maybe $200 (average user) and be in a better situation then you are now. So in the end it's about controlling your own data, multiple copies, semi-annual checks, planning with family.
Thanks for sharing and I don't thing you are wrong either. This is just what I have found works for me personally. Everybody is going to be different.
@@craigneidel Thanks for the detailed answer. Your points are very valid. I have half a dozen 2 TB HDD’s and a bunch of smaller HDD & SSD’s. Some are backups of backups. Over time, files have triplicated in same disks, some are renamed in one and not in the other. I bought an 8 TB WD HDD to consolidate all files and remove duplication. Unfortunately it’s controller is very slow, you get what you pay for. Not to mention boxes of DVD’s.
Now that I am 68, I realize that my children are not going to spend hours to sort out my digital assets, its only near and dear to me, except the family photos and videos.
8 years ago, I had distributed external HDD’s to my children of their childhood & graduation videos. Have they watched them? Only the first time.
BOTTOM LINE: I have setup a paper binder with detailed instructions, email and other passwords in order to continue with the automated bill payments, in case I pass away and until the settlement of my Will.
Life is lightning fast these days.
This is re-assuring. I do the same with multiple drives swapped around and stored in a safe. I use time machine as well and I have been looking at cloud as another tier, but I can't believe just how bad the client software is these days.
Thanks for watching Dave. Yes there is some bad client software out there for sure.
@@craigneidel I've been looking at BackBlaze backup for example. The software seems to want to backup what it thinks should be backed up rather than what I want to backup. If you just want to backup a single folder for example which includes programs files (I'm a developer) then you have to a lot of messing around removing it's pre-defined exclusions (it won't backup programs by default). All I want is a program which asks me which folders I want to backup and allow me to add file types to exclude (if I want to). Their B2 Storage is OK but if you have lots of small files it runs up the transaction costs.
Is there a way or a software that just copies the folder and files in the original source structure so when i connect the "destination" hard disk to another pc i can read those folder and files normally, without me needing the backup software to read or restore those files? I can not find one. I tried many and they all, after the backup, create ONE SINGLE FILE that can only be read from the software that created it. And if i connect that external HD to another pc, I can not read those copied files coz the backup software is not installed in that second pc.
I'm sure there is software out there that does this but I have not researched it lately as I'm using the standard time machine backups. Of course something like backing up to Google drive would allow you to access the files from any computer etc. but that is cloud backup. If I have time I can review but I'm sure there has to be something like this out there to accomplish this goal.
Nice video, but I disagree that it is better to store everything on 120 GB SSDs instead of the 6 TB disk, that would mean 50 SSDs. It will be very time consuming to check the health of those disks and sync them once a month/week with that one cable. You mention that it is better that one small drive fails than one big drive failing, however the reality is that all 50 small drives will fail (even if SSDs can last longer). And so will the big one. Also 19 times 50 is 950 usd, quite expensive compared to a higher capacity HDD (140 usd?).
Hello. Yes, I guess it depends on how much space you need to back up. I think the average is only 1 TB based on averages but when you are up around 6 TB there might be better options like larger spinning drives. I aways want three copies in two locations if possible but of course it depends on what you are backing up I guess. Thanks for watching and the comment as it helps people watching. This is also just my method and it works for me but may now work for all and I fully understand that. I just don't trust larger companies and their long term plans etc. and it's hard to know what a loved one had (services) if they pass away and then you lose all photos etc. after some time passes. I guess the best thing to do is have a plan with the people who need to know in the family and then do what works best for you. Thanks again.
@@craigneidel Yea, I agree on not selecting the cloud for this type of backup and also prefer backup outside the network. I just meant that I think it is more convenient to sometimes replace one of the 140 usd 6TB backup drives than 50 SSDs that although cheap will add up for large data. Thanks for your reply! By the way, do you have a system for checking file integrity on your backups over time? For when a backup or the original drive in your PC will gradually get some corrupted files before failing completely.
@@andreg5783 Checking file integrity: great question. Because many will be surprised by the lack of file integrity.
@@andreg5783I get what you are saying, and agree with some of your points; however, I do think there is some merit to using a few of these drives for frequent backups of small data sets, but also performing regular full and differential/incremental backups to larger drives. You may want to check out my comment in the main area and see if perhaps the hybrid approach I suggest has any merit in addressing your needs. Regards!👍🏻🙂
Very good advise, it works for my office data. Tks
Thanks for watching and good luck with everything.
Nothing is safe. I used to write to CDs, 20 years later most are unreadable. If you drop a hard drive all your data will be gone. If you get a bad virus it can delete your data without you even knowing it. After 20 years I have quite a few corrupt files on my various hard drives. Theft, fire, yea, nothing is safe. I use two big hard drives and use software to mirror them. Still, a bad virus, theft and fire would wipe me out. Best to get three big 20 TB drives, mirror them all with software so they are exactly the same, and store one at your moms house to back up monthly. That covers everything except a bad virus. At work we had a virus that randomly deleted files and would lock you out of folders, nothing can stop that one, and we had the latest anti-virus software installed, several versions.
Thanks for sharing.
Great info. thanks. I'm going to buy this system cuz I have tons of pictures to store amd label. 👍
Thanks for watching my video and good luck.
Sir, honestly let me disagree. I use pCloud and I have that service for LIFE. Meaning I don't have to pay any more for their service. I have 2TB of storage at 350Euros. Encryption? No problem, they have the best encryption that even they can't find out the password (experts say it, not just them). Sure It's hella expensive, but it does what I want. I don't like the idea of having multiple drives. Wanna know a cool thing? I can play 8k movies at 30fps (my comp. supports only that much) I can video edit 4k music videos and all from pCloud. What do you say about that?
Of course, smart people recommend besides a Cloud service a personal Cloud like a NAS, which I agree with, but having all that is too expensive. In my opinion, I pay more if I want more.
There's a lot to talk about pCloud, but I'm sure you can search. You can also try it for free. It's the best cloud out there for multiple reasons, it's not just a backup system.
That's fine and that is what these videos are all about. Just to get some discussion involved. I just don't trust companies with my data because if something happens to me and my family doesn't get the data then it's lost for good over time. I would rather have control of the data and keep family updated etc. Having pictures and other things for a family is so important etc. In any case I see your point and it's a good discussion to have etc. Everybody is different and your ideas are good ones too.
@@craigneidel That's why the back up is recommended to be done one a Cloud service and on a personal Cloud.
I will NEVER use cloud as a back up I had a well known cloud storage company just shut down no warning lucky I use it just for sharing and not storage .
I agree but for some cloud backups are good. I would just always have a hard copy backup.
@@craigneidel Me as well. I literally had uploaded some video for a news story and that same morning the cloud company just vanished. I can't remember the name but now I use Google drive
"Off-site" storage is not always necessary. If you have a firebox and you put it in a "safe" place in the house it may be an acceptable risk. Another consideration is whether your survivors will be able to retrieve the data. Be sure and label LINUX files as "linux ext 4...must be viewed on linux machine" or NTFS must be viewed on windows machine" so that "normies" can recover the files.
Nice tips and thanks for watching.
@@craigneidel Thank you for the strategy you shared with us on your channel. I have a SATA drives I like the idea of using these drives as an alternative to the cloud.
A copy or two off-site would seem wise.
I don't think that is the safest way to backup your data. I mean, in case of fire you will lose all your data. And it is not very easy, actually an inconvenience to do all this by hand. I mean, could you imagine the hassle that is to backup again if you made changes in your files or added new files? you will have to go find wherever you put the correct drive (or drives) and then rake them by hand, connect, copy, then put them back in their place.
There are backup solution that allow you to backup automatically to a couple of drives at once, while spreading the date across them so even if some of them are gone you can still recover ALL of the date (ever heard about RAID?). You can also backup to a drive in a different location in order to prevent something like fire to make tou lose all your data. Did I mention that it's happening automatically?
On Linus tech tips they have a video about Synology who provides exactly this solution
Just feel like I'd never be able to keep track of all the drives; and who knows what the thief would take? Feel like having 2 big identical drives in diff locations would be safer and easier to manage
Yes, that is fine also. I just like to break them up in case something happens not all my eggs are in one basket. Most people would maybe have 4 or 6 but I do get your point.
SSD will lost all of your data if it not power connected in year or two, SSD cells are degrading without power cable attached. My advice to store same data on two different types of drive like SSD+HDD
Thanks for the tip and yes this is a good one. Having it on both SSD and HDD is a pretty good idea to be safe. I tend to keep using the SSDs and plugging them in so never had an issue but I like it when people add to the video and help others. Thanks.
@@craigneidel Same I use another ssd and just put it in every time I clean my PC. Unless u never gonna open your case or laptop for a decade ssd arent the way to go lol.
Magnetic Tape for the win from my understanding. Unfortunately, it's slow.
Thanks for sharing.
Great video. Thanks for the advice!
Thanks for watching and the nice message.
Hi. I want to backup data from my official laptop on which I have no administrator rights and cannot change any configuration or install any software. Everything is being monitored. Is there any safe solution you can advise? Thanks.
Sorry, it's hard to know what type of restrictions they have on the system and I would ask them what is the safest method for backups. With so many different variables I really can't offer any good advice. Thanks for watching.
Can i use this with my laptop?
Yes, you can for sure.
@@craigneidel Thank you!
i think HDD portable drives are more reliable then SSD
Yes, they can be but the tech has gotten quite a bit better from even 5 years ago. So the SSDs have a better shelf life. I usually back up to SSDs in small chucks and then everything I have to a single 8 or 10 TB drive as a just in case drive.
Why not use Sandisk or Samsung SD cards, 256GB is cost effective, and so portable, if you have a couple of them , with all your Data. Sandisk has encryptioon built in, but for other SD card, you can use the free Verasoft software to safeguard your data.
Thanks for sharing and watching Zuli.
I would buy two big external drive so i have to backup of same data
Yes, and thanks for sharing.
For same cost you can just use USB 3.0 sticks and not have to deal with the cords....
Yes, but some usb sticks are not nearly as fast as external SSDs and normally a usb stick might be 30 MB/s vs about 500 MB/s on a real external SSD. So if you have a ton of data that could matter.
@@craigneidel usb 3.0 or 3.1 sticks would be the same speeds as what he's doing in this video with his sata to usb adapter. Same exact speeds. The SATA, in his tutorial, would be throttled down to the USB adapter speed. So ya might as well just use some USB sticks.
@@craigneidel still a good vid and thumbs up though.
@@sootynukkels8366 when I copy data to an external USB drive with 5 Gbps cable I'll get 300 to 500 Mbs. The USB flash drive are very rarely capable 9f that. I'm sitting in front of my computer now. It is about 10 times faster to copy to ssd .. 1 gb file. Than on a USB flash drive. I'm testing in real time. Anyhow I understand all device people use could be different.
flash drives are not realiable for long time backup
Yes, spinning drives are better but I have done some research on this and getting the right SSDs can last for very long periods of time. You just need to use them about every 5 years or so but I understand your note and spinning hard drives (mechanical) are a good option for sure.
Thanks. I will prob pick one up.
Thanks for watching.
I use an external drive and the cloud
Thanks for sharing.
Cubbit's system is secure in terms of privacy and theoretically "eternal"
Thanks for watching and sharing.
can you have password on it in case you lose that one
You can password protect directories inside of the drives if needed etc. or encrypt data.
unfortunately SSDs need to be powered up from time to time else you will get corruption
Yes, that is correct but with the newer models that is less likely. The overall best thing to do is take this approach for diversity and maybe backup everything to a very large spinning drive (mechanical) drive also. That is the failsafe way.
Rule number 1 of back up your data - never, never, NEVER use SSD for back up. You are welcome !!!
Is rule number one: backup your data and rule number two: never use ssd? Why never use ssd?
@@jerrysamuels1113 The second reason not to use SSD for back up data (at lest not for long period of time) is because SSD have limited life. The life of SSD depends on how much TB you write on the SSD and the capacity of the SSD himself (bigger SSDs have more life, sort of speak). But the first reason not to back up on SSD is because they are unpredictable. I have so many failed SSDs and they are relatively new (not in the end of there live). And when the SSD broke extraction of the information in most of the cases is harder than extracting the information from failed HDD.
I can see them denying you access to your data because you're unvaccinated.
Yeah, now days you never know what is going to happen in this world. That is true for sure.
I thought you were going to tell us something useful.
Anyone who leaves a back up drive plugged in deserves to lose everything . Back up your data and unplug and store someplace safe .Like a fire proof safe. I have all my stuff on one drive and have 3 back up of all the same stuff. As a Photographer I don't want to lose my life's work.
Thanks for sharing.
@@craigneidel thanks for making the video
I will recomment to use envrypto software to crypt au your data.
Ok, thank you.
I'm sorry. This is a terrible solution. Very bad. Best solution is to buy a personal cloud storage with RAID. Keep the hard drive somewhere safe and access it from anywhere in the world. No monthly fees. RAID has few HDDs there, so, data is not stored in one place. Fail Safe. On the other hand, your little SSDs, many of them may go bad and you will never recover ur data.
I back up to multiple SSDs all data - 2 to 3 copies so never worry. I work in a datacenter and have seen raid catastrophes many times, so for the average person keeping it simple can be the difference between data and no data. People love raid etc. but when the device has an issue it can corrupt data sometimes and or the person doesn't know how to manage it. Keeping things simple for the average user is the best thing. I don't trust my data with any company either as we have all seen what can happen to companies overnight. I like to manage my own files and only trust me.
break into your house? how bad is your neighborhood? and thiefs not going to steal a hard drive or a backup drive. they want cash, money, jewelry, designer clothes, etc..something they can sell or pawn. hmmm.
When I was in college I left for Thanksgiving and had this exact thing happen. Computer and all storage stolen. It doesn't matter where you live it happens in the nicest of cities. So nothing is impossible.
Do YOU trust people who talk as fast as you do?
Just trying to get a lot into a short video. Nothing more than that and I don't trust people based on silly things but I trust them on how they act in life.
... I talk fast ;-; should I even trust myself???
He's not talking fast, you just think too slowly.
ooooo burn, you gonna take that Combat Medic? From someone with "green" in his name. Fight. Fight. Fight. Fight. (kidding ofc.... unless.....)
@@TigerGreene no brain cells lol
ssd is not good for archiving, especially if the are not powered for an extended time, might just as well write optical drives rather
Yes, using a spinning drive (non SSD) for one final copy is the best way to go.