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Question

Which portable hard drive is the most reliable? & Backup Qs?

May 28, 2016 3:42PM PDT

I need a hard drive to store mainly special photos and videos but I don't know which hard drive is the most reliable.

Also I don't understand what "backing up" is and how it works, can someone please simply explain it to me? If I were to lose data off my hard drive or if it were to fail, where does my data go? can I ensure it is safe forever as long as I can "back up" ?

Sorry about the newbie questions, just learning still!

Discussion is locked

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Answer
That's been kicked around a lot.
May 28, 2016 3:50PM PDT

So my answer is not one drive is reliable enough to "store" your last or lone copy of what you can't lose. All are subject to mistakes, those encrypting malwares or trojans or a drop to the pavement.

You must keep 2 or more copies across the devices you choose.

As to where it goes, it may be on the platters that your drive can't read and drivesavers would put those platters into a good drive for 4 figures of cash. Why do folk take the risk when I can buy a second 2TB drive for under 99 bucks?

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Answer
Backup
May 28, 2016 8:33PM PDT

In simple terms it's making a copy of something and storing it on another device.

That way if you lose the original you have a copy.

Portable hdd's seem to have a high failure rate so it might not be a good idea to have your only copy on just one of these.

It would be best to store the copy on at least 2 devices.

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Answer
What is backup
May 30, 2016 4:10AM PDT

Hi @deffyb!

Since I'm company affiliated I won't talk about specific drive, but I will help you with your backup Qs! Happy

In short, backup is creating a copy on another location in order to make sure that if the current storage unit you keep your crucial data fails you will still have the information stored on that other location. For instance, if you simply put your work related docs on an external drive they will be backed up.

The more places you have stored the data the safer it is. There are different strategies and I personally go with 3-2-1 backup. This stands for three copies on two different storage mediums and one offsite. That way your backup system stands for having a copy on your computer (if you need it on your PC of course), a copy on something else in your house (like an external HDD or NAS for instance) and on an offsite application.

Hope this helps and feel free to ask any questions you may have. Happy