Nas

[Dryce]

You should have offsite backups

Of course.

and the simplest most fool proof means of doing that is to use a cloud service in one shape or another.

Ummmm. No. You just park one or more of your ubiquitous and cheap USB 3.0 portable drive(s) somewhere else.

The cloud storage stuff isn't new. It's just been rechristened. It's a solution to some problems but not all. And introduces some potential pitfalls of its own.

 

[Sp!ke]

I have been using connected online backup for 14 years..... so yes, its nothing new.

 

[Doodle]

The difference is that in recent years it's become more accessible (and affordable). 14 years ago the average guy in the street would have never even dreamt of using such services.

 

[gaz_l]

Another point to note is that cryptolocker encrypts files on any mapped drive. So if you've mapped your NAS drive as E or whatever, it will encrypt its entire contents as well including your backup files. Better to set it up as a network place as these (currently) aren't targeted by Cryptolocker.

That's worth knowing, thanks.

Cheers,

Gaz

 

[bolide]

The one defining thing about all the NAS drives I've been exposed to is how poor they are. Poor software, slow network speeds, bad support, dreadful speeds when accessing files remotely

Buying a cheap NAS is a bad idea. Buying cheap USB 3 Hard Drives is fine - keep backups and throw the drives away when the warranty expires or when they fail. But buy a cheap NAS, put all your files on it and hope it stays reliable… it's not what I would do

A 3 TB USB 3 drive with a 3-year warranty is less than £100, or £33 / year

Nick Froome

 

[markjay]

The reason NAS have Linux OS and file sharing capabilities is because NAS has an Ethernet port and can be shared over a network.

A USB drive is no different to a memory stick, i.e. it works on the PC you plug it into, and as such it is a much more simple device and has only firmware but no OS with GUI.

 

[Julesprivate]

I have a 2TB USB desktop connected to my media server, shared across the network, that's a cheap solution if you already have a spare PC to use as a server. I tried a few Bufallo NAS solutions but their OS/Firmware always let me down.

The WD NAS with cloud backup is a great solution. I backup my NAS to Dropbox (I have a 2TB business account with them) but still use a 1TB portable hard drive to play movies on the TV, it's part of the batch file I use to backup the media server anyway so as soon as I remove it from the TV and plug it into the media server it updates all the files.

That way I have 3 local copies plus the cloud storage...haven't lost any data in years

 

[Dryce]

The one defining thing about all the NAS drives I've been exposed to is how poor they are. Poor software, slow network speeds, bad support, dreadful speeds when accessing files remotely

The consumer/cheap end of the market isn't that great IMO.

 

[markjay]

The consumer/cheap end of the market isn't that great IMO.

Do you have a NetApp at home?

 

[Dryce]

Do you have a NetApp at home?

I'm now a bit past getting excited by these things.

Maybe 10 years ago ....