Best way to backup files (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 4 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

28 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I have about 500GB of data (photos, documents, videos etc.) that I have accumulated over the years. Currently, I keep them on my computer and rsync all additions / changes once a month or so to an external hard drive. Do I need to be worried about data loss (sectors going bad, bit rot, bit flip, whatever it is called)?

To clarify,

None of this is commercially important; I just don't want to get into a situation where I look up an old family photo or video twenty years down the line and it has got corrupted.
Both my computer and the external HD are HDDs. They are fairly cheap here (and very cheap if second hand). Buying SSDs or dedicated hardware would be expensive.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago

It's always a good idea to have an off-site backup (e.g. in case of fires, robbery, natural disasters, etc). If you prefer to manage them yourself, an option is to find someone else who also needs an off-site backup and exchange disk space. You do your off-site on their machine, and they do theirs on yours. With external HDDs, you can just have someone else hold on to it for you at a different location. You can come up with fancier schemes to reduce the chances of data loss or to make the process simpler if you care to do so.

this post was submitted on 02 Jun 2024

50 points (100.0% liked)

Asklemmy

42460 readers

1287 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy 🔍

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

Open-ended question
Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

Lemmyverse: community search
sub.rehab: maps old subreddits to fediverse options, marks official as such
[email protected]: a community for finding communities

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_[email protected]~

founded 5 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]