Online file backup

[scrub-jay]

I LOVE sugarsync.

[SoonerTexan]

Well go you. I hand my head in disorganized file shame

[GreyhoundsRUs]

Well go you. I hand my head in disorganized file shame

I said that was the plan...not what actually happens

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

I'm obsessive about my pics of DD as well as Kenya. We're trying to figure this out too. I obviously don't have a professional hat in the ring but here's what we're doing right now:
-Computers back up to Carbonite
-External hard drive with pics uploaded at least once/month, stored in the fire safe
-Exploring cloud storage

Carbonite holds all the data on your computer (so it's backup, not storage) so the external hard drive is the actual back-up. Anything we haven't had a chance to put on the hard-drive yet would be very recent and would therefore be on Carbonite in the near terms.

[MrsK]

I've heard good things about Carbonite. (Mental note to check that out).

Ok, educate me. What is the difference between back up and hard drive? I am really really stupid when it comes to these things and DrK is only slightly smarter than I am.

[SuzySunshine]

We got a Time Capsule when we got my new Mac and I LOVE it - it constantly updates what is on it. However I would like to set up some sort of automatic one time/month back-up because the thing I was thinking about the other day was fire. If there was a fire in the house more then likely both the laptop and the Time Capsule would be gone.

[SoonerTexan]

I want a time capsule so bad but I have too much crap on my computer to really get a whole lot out of it.

My name is Marissa and I'm rolling in piles and piles of files

[GreyhoundsRUs]

I just briefly looked at SugarSync -$50/mo for 500 gig...not in the budget. For now, I may jut make sure the important stuff gets on Flickr.

[SuzySunshine]

Jen just make sure you read the Flickr T&C because sometimes they become their property to use as they please and if you were to ever lose them and need the original high res back you may have to pay to get them back or may not be able to get TRUE high res back.

[MissCrabette]

Yeah, I let my membership lapse, and I no longer have access to my own files. I'll upgrade again at some point, but this doesn't sit well with me.

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

Some basic definitions. I'm pretty novice so someone please correct me:

-Storage: Where you can store files whether they are on your computer or not. Think of your computer as your "Active" filing cabinet. Storage is a back-up file cabinet where you can store things that either are or are not in your "Active" cabinet.
-Back-up: These serve to back up ONLY what is on your computer or your "active" cabinet. So, a service like Carbonite is ONLY back-up. If I delete something from my computer, Carbonite deletes it too. Carbonite is basically like a system restore from the last time point you uploaded from your computer. I've also heard it described as the "mirror image" of your computer.

So, our computers back up to Carbonite which is basically a mirror image of what is currently on our computer. We also have a physical backup (external hard drive) that holds older picture files that are not currently on our computers and store those in the fire safe.

So, in case of a fire, pictures from 2006-July 2012 would be restored via the hard-drive in the firesafe and pictures from July 2012-today would be restored via Carbonite. We keep 6 months of active pictures on our computers (backing up to Carbonite) and the rest on the hard-drive.

We are also exploring "Cloud" storage which operates like a fusion of storage/back-up so that all files (past and present) are stored to servers offsite. This would mean that in case of a fire, all the pictures would be restored from the server. Cloud storage is sold thru a variety of companies (Amazon, etc.) but so far has been relatively pricey so we have not invested. Eventually, we'll move in that direction which would make Carbonite and our external hard-drive obsolete.

I'm obsessive about the picture security though so I'll probably keep using the external hard-drive in the firesafe just to be super confident.