Re: off-site backup

[dtutty@porchlight.ca]

On Sat, Oct 14, 2006 at 09:51:30AM +0200, Thomas Steffen wrote:
> On 10/14/06, dtutty@porchlight.ca <dtutty@porchlight.ca> wrote:
> >I can use small CD-R but they only hold 175 MB.  Full-size CDs don't fit
> >in the bank's box.
> 
> How about this:
> 
>  * use DVD+R for backup
>  * encrypt the backup
>  * store in two separate places (and different media types)

DVDs don't fit in the bank's box either.  I would also have to verify
that a DVD that I burn could be read by any generic computer.  Also,
since I'd need a couple of DVDs I'll unlikely to want to spend a couple
of dollars a day.  There's also the long-term longevety of the media
e.g. scratches and fading.

> 
> That should probably be safer than the bank box, and you get a lot more 
> space.
> 

My best choice for primary off-site backup is the bank's box, along with
our other important documents.  Secondary off-site backup (only updated
when something majorly important is added) is with family in another
part of the country, via snail-mail.  This secondary kind of stuff, the
absolutley essential stuff, fits on a floppy, so will fit on a USB and
CD.  I currently send floppy and CD; when the new computer is up (I'll
have USB for the first time), I'll send USB stick.

Any comment on shelf-life data-reliability of a USB stick?

> Concerning the software: I can imagine how to do in several steps
> (tar, encrypt, burn), but I have no idea whether you can do it in one
> convenient step. In my experience it is important that creating the
> backup is reasonably convenient, because tedious backups tend not to
> get done very often :-)
>
What I have been doing is having a script make the backup tar.bz2 and
plain-text files, then manually copying to either ZIP or CD-R.  Zips are
fast and easy, CD-Rs less so.  I don't encrypt the backup but rely on
physical security.  

Thanks,

Doug.