[geeks] Cheap/reliable backup?

[Mouse]

> I think the 'best' solution for most use cases would've a mix of
> local disk redundancy and a cloud backup service, be it a public
> provider (like carbonite.com) or a private/roll-your-own solution
> (like an Amazon S3-based storage system).

If you're considering that, don't forget that it includes giving a copy
of your data to someone else - in many cases, to someone in another
country with comparatively weak data privacy and protection laws.

For some purposes that doesn't matter and/or doesn't apply, and, if it
doesn't for yours, there's nothing wrong with that - but I'd recommend
at least giving the issue a few moments' thought.  Encryption can
sometimes help, but, like everything else, it's no panacea.

> If you want a 'put a backup on an off-line shelf' solution, I kinda
> like the idea of writing 20-25 Gig on a writeable Blu-Ray disc... (I
> have no idea how long such discs are readable/archive life).

Depending on how much you have to back up, maybe.  Checking briefly
makes me think they cost roughly $1/gig; in large sizes, ordinary disk
drives are about a tenth of that, so if you'll want more than 100G or
so and don't particularly need the physical ruggedness of burnt bluray,
disks may be a better answer.

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