Backups
Mar 21, 2009 in Encryption, Google, SiteAdvisor
I’m discussing here the simple choices Fred Nurks faces when the great idea pops into his head that offline storage betters local storage.
And then how security muddies the waters, as always.
- A Terabyte external USB or network-attached disk costs maybe $150
- Unlimited online storage services are $5/month
- 4 years to break even, cost wise, local vs online
- Will the physical local disk even last 4 years?
- Anyway, it can fail anytime so I need a second one. That’s $300.
- If the house burns down, I need offsite. A personal mobile disk – another $150.
- Or just one local plus the mobile. Still, that’s $300, which buys 6 years of online storage.
- I need to manage local backups (SyncBack) and ensure they are encrypted properly in case of theft – especially the mobile disk.
- Offline is looking really good.
I look at Mozy, from whom I got a free 2GB account 16 months ago and forgot about. No, I’m not affiliate-selling Mozy but would, or might.
Trust them with my personal stuff? How can one ever know who owns who runs who on the Internet? [Except maybe Dancho]
Trialing Mozy’s free home backup presents me with a choice of encryption: MozyHome’s 448-bit Blowfish key or my own personal 256-bit AES?
Do I trust their key? I hardly know what a key is. And if I supply my own, it’s mine, right, and no one else can use it to crack my data – right? No idea.
Off to Google to read about AES keys. Straight away I’m in trouble. And if it’s you and you’re not using McAfee’s Site Advisor, then it’s YOU who is in trouble.
It’s only the second result of 11,900 on Google and a mean one! 258 red download?
Btw, Webroot supply 2GB ‘free’ with my Spy Sweeper subscription, and I haven’t been able to use it yet as the local files it uses are locked and can’t be overwritten by their backup process.
Landsakes, it’s their darned program that’s locked their frikkin files.
Googling for webroot+backup+"database or object is read-only" returns only 7 results for the entire web and they all assume I mean “web root.”
Sigh! Maybe one day when I’ve time to waste I’ll sort it.