A good friend and I were having a conversation about our backup plans for our computers, and both of us had the same problem: No offsite backup. If there was some kind of fire, theft or vandalism in our home or office, we'd lose everything, with no chance of recovery. Even though neither of us wants to go the cloud route with our backups, it turns out there is an in-home option that really keeps things ... safe.
For my main computer, I have a USB drive that's constantly plugged in for hourly backups (named Hypnotoad), and once a week I plug in another drive that creates a bootable copy of the entire drive (that one is named Nibbler). Since I don't have a very convenient location to keep Nibbler, I decided that a safe was the best way to go. But not just any safe works, you need one that is rated for data protection, and you want one that will help you out if a fire or flood comes through as well.
Sentry has a Find Your Safe option on their website, which helped me make my choice. I wanted something small that could hold my passport and other docs, but it was mainly for Nibbler, that way I was covered.
What I ended up going with was a bit pricey, but it's the Sentry OA5835, which sells for around $450. The main reason was that with a growing family, I may need to expand my storage at some point, so upping the size wasn't a bad idea. Also, it bolts to the floor, which is ultimately the best kind of protection since no one can just up and take my safe.
Ultimately, you can never be too safe with your data. And even if you backup your computers religiously, you do need another form of redundancy that keeps your data intact in case of acts of nature or theft. It's just the smart thing to do.
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I'd suggest you name the safe Bender but would be afraid that items might start disappearing.
Hmmm. I can see using a safe if you didn't have a reliable or fast internet connection but what is the hesitation around cloud back up?
For one, it is automatic, no matter where you are - I have a laptop that travels with me so knowing it's being backed up when I'm on the road is key - it's scalable, AND it also backs up my external drive at the same time.
And two, you can access your files from anywhere.
Safes are great but even the best home safe may not make it through a really intense fire and you need a place to permanently house them where you can also bolt them down, not and easy task to some people.
For the cost of your safe, I am able to utilize a cloud back up service for 8 years.
@INGDesign: I've had horrible luck with cloud services. I had Carbonite for just under a year, and in the last four months it started chewing through my memory and eventually through my harddrive (turning it into virtual memory). I'm fairly computer savvy, but I couldn't manage to get it to run properly and ended up having to do a clean OS install to get rid of all the problems I had. Two friends had the same exact issue, and when I called Carbonite to discuss with them (and maybe cancel my service) the rep was rude and kept saying "Well, no one else has this issue, must just be you and your friends." I ended up asking to cancel the service, and he said the only way to do that was to cancel it myself...which I couldn't do because the site wouldn't let me log in. He continued to be rude to me about that, and I ended walking away with a completely foul taste in my mouth and $55 wasted. Safes seem like a safer (ha) bet.
Have you checked out CrashPlan?
Oh, I thought this post was going to say that once you and your good friend realised you both had the same problem, you decided to be each other's offsite storage... Unless you're also neighbours, the chances off both your homes being wrecked simultaneously seem small. But I'm very un-techy so maybe I've misunderstood the whole idea and that was $450 well spent.
A safe is a horrible idea - how sure are you that the heat won't destroy the disk, etc.
I think EVERYONE can do am offsite back-up, and Really has the right idea. Anyone who works in an office has to have a drawer they can store a drive in.
Store key documents as scans in your email account - not the most secure, but you can get to your insurance policy, mortgage documents, whatever from anywhere.
We have a safe at my house for important documents, but we've noticed that humidity is an issue. Other people we've spoken to have had the same problems, so please be sure you check the safe periodically. If papers begin to feel a little bit limp, don't put your electronics in it. Even though the companies may say their products are fine for electronics and data management, check for yourself. We ended up having to put containers of silica in the safe and we change them regularly and it helps to keep things dry and usable.
crashplan is what i used. wanted carbonite but they don't back up external HD's. so i went with crashplan instead.