Do NOT buy a computer without a Solid State Disk

[Symbonite]

Also I dont have a off site backup...I dont need it...but depends...if you have a business or your a photographer you should be the 3-2-1 backup scheme

3 copies of data

2 different media

1 offsite backup

Iv seen lots of crying mothers that lost the first 5 years of their kids photos relying on that 499 HP Laptop computer that they bought 5 years ago.

[Glacier]

Also I dont have a off site backup...I dont need it...but depends...if you have a business or your a photographer you should be the 3-2-1 backup scheme

3 copies of data

2 different media

1 offsite backup

Iv seen lots of crying mothers that lost the first 5 years of their kids photos relying on that 499 HP Laptop computer that they bought 5 years ago.

In the old days, like when I was a kid, people's houses burned down, and they lost all their pictures, all their grandparent's pictures, and all their porn. Bad stuff. Now, when you die, your computer gets thrown in the recycle bin, and you lose all your pictures anyway.

[Urban Cowboy]

Also I dont have a off site backup...I dont need it...but depends...if you have a business or your a photographer you should be the 3-2-1 backup scheme

3 copies of data

2 different media

1 offsite backup

Iv seen lots of crying mothers that lost the first 5 years of their kids photos relying on that 499 HP Laptop computer that they bought 5 years ago.

Offsite could be cloud based which many people seem to have these days.

Most important though is to have a backup that is disconnected from your network. That's the one I'd say most people overlook.

[Jlabute]

Intel Optane is released Apr 24.

Optane SSDs are available.

https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/fil ... dc-p4800x/

As production ramps up, these will replace flash eventually. Much higher endurance than flash, faster, higher density, less power.

So, don't buy a Flash solid state drive. lol. These puppies will blow flash out of the water. (in a few years)

[Symbonite]

Most important though is to have a backup that is disconnected from your network. That's the one I'd say most people overlook.

100% agree..some of that ransomeware changes all data not only on you hdd but connected drives like usb hdd

[forum]

Just keep your stuff on Google servers. Aint nobody holding Google for ransom. Its like storming the Whitehouse with nerf guns.

[Urban Cowboy]

Just keep your stuff on Google servers. Aint nobody holding Google for ransom. Its like storming the Whitehouse with nerf guns.

I'm just curious, if people have managed to hack into the DOD in the US, then why wouldn't they be able to do same to Google?

[my5cents]

I'm curious......

I agree that a solid state disk is a great way or running programs.

However, how many plan their storage locations ?

Windows automatically sets up all sorts of locations on your C drive "Documents", "Pictures" etc.

Most software have default locations for their own data, some can be very hard to find.

I've always created a "DATA" subdirectory, and inside that have WORD, EXCEL, ACCESS, etc etc. I've set the "default" location for these programs to save the data in the appropriate subdirectory of my DATA subdirectory.

Now with a SSD drive and a regular HDD, I'd expect safest would be to create the DATA directory on the HDD drive, with the actual programs located on the SSD.

Then of course backup, elsewhere.

I've also never liked actual backup programs, I've always just copied the contents of my DATA subdirectory to an external drive. Things like archival photos on to DVDs.

Thoughts ?

[JagXKR]

A very tiny percentage plan ahead. Your storage solution is similar to mine and I agree to keep away from your OS drive the data files, at least for backup. I have had my OS running on a 224 gb SSD since I built the system many years ago.
My backups are on different media including but not limited to Bluray recordable discs. Yep got one of those writers for archiving. Price is under $1 per 25Gb disc on sale (incl tax and shipping) so $20 for 500Gb. It is for a 3rd backup of very important files that I never want to lose. Pictures and videos mostly. Memories that can not be replaced. Other locations are online storage and USB 3.0 2Tb portable drive. Might pick up another one of those if they go on sale again for the "lost leader" price I picked this one up for.
For regular backup of the OS drive I use the MS backup that is part of Win 7. Backs up to the 1Tb "D" drive once a month. I learned many years ago that drives can fail without warning. I lost some real good games and one that I nearly completed. Months of hard playing into the wee hours only to lose everything just before I met with the final monster. Ahhhhh!
SSD drives are awesome for the OS, regular HD for "D" drive, data and backup, cloud storage and finally archiving solutions such as BD-R and portable drives. My solution may be different but one important note is that it is a solution for the inevitable need to get files back from a failure or an attack.
Plan ahead and the bad day won't be quite as bad.

[TylerM4]

I'm curious......

Thoughts ?

I think you are on the right track. My strategy is very similar to yours.

Keep everything organized under a single folder. That way backups are easy. I use NAS for this. I highly recommend NAS for anyone with more than 1 computer in the home.

My data strategy is simple:
- Entire household is taught to store all important data on the NAS.
- Once every couple of weeks, I backup the entire contents of my NAS to an external encrypted USB HDD (Bitlocker is great for this. You'll have to break down and upgrade to Win10 tho) and take the HDD to work with me where it gets locked in my desk.

Total cost for this solution was approximately $375. $300 for the NAS and $75 for the USB HDDs. I have less than 100GB of data that I backup so my HDD (500Gb) holds over 5 previous "snapshots" of the data.

[Woodenhead]

I buy my drives in pairs; one stays external & disconnected/safe, and I use an external docking station (Thermaltake Blacx SATA) to simply plug 'em in & copy it's twin drive over. I still use Karen's Replicator for that, actually. Macrium Reflect (free) for the OS drive, as I use multiple incremental images for that one.

[Urban Cowboy]

I buy my drives in pairs; one stays external & disconnected/safe, and I use an external docking station (Thermaltake Blacx SATA) to simply plug 'em in & copy it's twin drive over. I actually still use Karen's Replicator for that, actually. Macrium Reflect (free) for the OS drive, as I use multiple incremental images for that one.

I still use Karen's Replicator too. Seems to hiccup a bit on Win 10 insofar as settings sticking, but still works far better and faster than anything else I've tried.