External HD for backup - feedback?

I'm wanting to get an external HD for backing up various items my wife and I have accumulated over the last several years (papers from school, projects worth holding onto, music, videos, etc.).

My questions are:

- Is an external HD a reliable means of doing this? The goal is long term (few years at least), low-chance-of-corruption data storage.

- What traits should I look for in an external HD? At this time we do not really have large, single files, but more like a lot of small ones. I know over time I'll want to backup larger files hence the desire for a high capacity external HD.

- I'd be interested to hear any positive or negative feedback any of you may have on this subject. If you have alternative recommendations those are more than welcome as well.

Thanks,

BR

 

You're on the right track wanting to save "important" stuff somewhere other than the hard drive in the PC. One thing to remember is that hard drives are electronic gadgets whether they are internal or external, and they are subject to all the same pitfalls of any other hard drive, internal or external. However, if you copy a bunch of data to an external, then use it only occasionally for saving data, and take care of it and store it in a safe place, and don't leave it plugged in and powered up when it's not being used, then it should last almost forever. I have some external drives that I've been using for years and they still work perfectly. But if you have data that is VITALLY IMPORTANT and simply CANNOT BE LOST for any reason, and the loss of such data would be hugely problematic, then the stuff should be burned to CD's or DVD's and stored in a room temperature dry place with little to no direct light. Personally, I think data this important should be printed on paper and several copies made and stored off site in several safe locations (this would apply to wills, living wills, last wishes, bank account information, safe combinations, etc).

Now that I've gone completely off topic and have you freaking out about where your life insurance papers are stored ( :-o sorry rolleyes ). Hard drives are a relatively safe method of storing data, as long no pervasive and deep running damage can come from the loss of this data. Losing music and pictures sucks, but it won't stop your grand kids from going to college.... know-what-I-mean?

:-D

 

I asked the same questions some time ago and followed up on the advice given with one of these http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136229

I love it and it is reasonably priced and very reliable. You might also want to consider some true-image software for making your back-ups. I would suggest Acronis which you can download from here, again, for a very reasonable manufacturer's cost. http://majorgeeks.com/download2236.html

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148356
^ I highly recommend that one. My g/f has one for her mac and all her pictures. I mooch off it and use it to back up my music and movies.

 

yep go for it if yor worried about losing any data.

Remember to get the portable ones that you can take around anywehre you go

And how much data are you exactly looking to backup?

we talking 1GB or 100GB?

 

I backup my hard drivers not as often as I should, but you should ge sometime around the size of your current hard drive if you are doing a full backup, or you can go get a larger one its up to you. Of course it should be USB 2.0 or eSATA or Firewire.

Personally I backup my entire computer onto an external takes about 2-3 hours to backup 800GB. and drives that you are using for backup have less of a chance to fail because if you turn the drive off when you are not using it you are not wearing down its life.

For backup software i use Acronis True Image Home 11, you can schedual backup's if you want. Make an exact disk image so the backup drive is bootable, or after you have done a full backup you can only backup changes made since your last backup. You can also have the backups be compressed to take up less space.

Getting an external to back up your computer is a good idea, look for an external hard drive with enough capacity and a decent price, also read the reviews on those drives. Personally I have a Cavalary 400GB eSATA, a Silverstone external case with a 320GB eSATA, iOmega 250GB USB 2.0, a Western Digital 320GB USB 2.0, and a Seagate 1.5TB that us used for backing up data which is sometimes inside or outside my computer.