Help.... storage question

Day to day everything is just kept in my laptop.

Then after I almost lost everything online backup of choice is Backblaze. I probably should add an EHD backup as well but I know I’ll never remember to update it so Backblaze works well for me as a “set & forget” option really.

 

All my Lily Pad products are on the computer and on two EHDs and also the zipped files get placed on a third EHD.

 

That happened to me once.
I store on EHDs and then have them back up to Backblaze. Since using them - I've had another EHD crash. Backblaze was super convenient and easy to use to get all my lost files back.

 

I'm so sorry! It's so frustrating when our tech dies.

I try to keep 3 or 4 EHDs going at a time. Long story short, I have 2 of those connected to my BackBlaze account, which also backs up my desktop. Having a cloud service is just one step in the 3-2-1 Backup system, but it really adds peace of mind for me.

ETA: looks like we were typing at the same time! There are other cloud-based systems out there, but BB is definitely used by lots of us scrappers. Good luck finding a system that works for you!

 

I used to use EHDs, but my copies became disorganized surprisingly (to me) quickly. I now keep a copy on my computer, in a Dropbox directory, that is mirrored in Dropbox. (I have a paid account.) I don't know how that compares to a backup service, but I don't need my entire hard drive backed up, nor do I need a history of changes, so this works well for me.

 

I keep all of my photos and digi supplies on an EHD. Then I back it up myself using a program called SyncToy. It'll go through and see what files are new and only copy those new files over to my back up drive. Granted I have to remember to do this myself, but it's such a habit that rarely does a Friday go by that I don't do my backup.

I also tend to replace my EHD before it has a chance to go bad. I often buy a new one every 1-2 years and then I just keep the old ones as extra backups. I know that seems silly, but it makes me feel better to replace before I have a crash. And EHDs are relatively inexpensive, so it's worth it to me.

 

I formerly used Backblaze and for many years it worked flawlessly for me. But the last 2 years I had it, it would intermittently disconnect my internet connection. After many visits from my internet provider service tech and several new modems, I eventually found out it was Backblaze causing the problem when my computer died during an unexpected power outage. I did get the backup EHD from Backblaze also downloading some files while waiting to my laptop. I found that my Backblaze backup had not even backed up about 2 weeks of information before the computer died even though it was set up to constantly backup. Also, what was interesting was I never had an internet disconnect when Backblaze was not running while using the laptop. I started it back up when I got the new computer and the disconnects started happening again. The only time I could have it backup was overnight and it would have taken months to do because even with it scheduled to run for 8 hours, it would disconnect and stop the backup after a couple of hours. So I dumped Backblaze.

Like @Karen I now use multiple EHD's. Anytime something new is downloaded or a new layout created, it gets copied to an always connected EHD. Therefore, I always have 2 copies of any file, one on the C drive and another on the EHD. Once a month I copy all new stuff to 2 other EHD's. I have a spreadsheet that I track information about my backups (I'm a spreadsheet nerd). I also have an EHD connected at all times that does a backup using the EHD backup software 3 times a week. The beautiful thing about having all my scrapping stuff on the EHD is I can just connect it to the laptop if I am scrapping away from home and I have everything I need.

Although I just might look into SyncToy...

 

Make sure with iDrive that it's actually backing up what you think it's backing up. (This actually goes for any cloud storage). I used iDrive, and had an issue where it wasn't actually storing anything, so I wasn't able to retrieve what I thought was backed up to it. Luckily, I was only using it for supplies, not photos or anything irreplaceable to me.

Personally, I'm like above. Cloud backup (Backblaze) and on-site backup (multiple EHD's). Currently, (until they start charging) my photos are also backed up to Google Photos. It's not the original quality, but high quality is enough to be able to download if my other options fail.

 

I feel your pain Sue, I started scrapbooking many years ago and had an EHD with about 4 years worth of scrapbooking supplies on. Then one day the hard drive died, and I cried. Years worth of scrapbook kits, photographs, video clips etc all gone.

I paid a local computer shop to try and retrieve the data from the hard drive but I didn't get much back. Luckily most of my photographs were uploaded to Facebook so I could retrieve those.

After that happened I lost my love of scrapbooking, and its only recently since lockdown that I have started scrapbooking again. I am currently using a small EHD as only have small number of kits as starting over. But have told the husband I need to invest in a decent back up this time so don't loose everything. Still research my options here in the UK.

 

@Mrsdudds I'm so sorry! That's a hard thing to go through. And it sucks when they can't get much back.
@MrsPeel If I recall correctly, you have a backup service right? I know you are in the UK.

 

I do,
actually, Sarah, I just replied to your message, of course I remember you!!!!!!
SO HAPPY to see you back and especially here at The Pad!!!!!
I have Backblaze, they are amazing and isn't all that expensive, not sure about now,but I paid under £50 for a computer and unlimited External Hard Drives.
We talk again, but have a look, it is well worth it
https://www.backblaze.com/cloud-backup.html#af3249

@Mrsdudds

 

Apologies I didn;t see this before, I haven't been reading the forums with all the health issues, but, as I said to Sarah, Backblaze is fabulous.

Not just they allow you unlimited EHDs, but all restores I made, everything came back.
I had Crash Plan for a while, I think they changed name to Code 52 or some like that, half of my kits came back empty inside the folder......

It is not expensive and they have an amazing team to help you out

 

I'm another long term user of Backblaze. I think it has been 12 years now!

And last year I finally started keeping a local back up using Apple Time Machine too, on an EHD.

 

I have my scrap material on two EHD ... last week I also had a crash of one of my drives ... the drive was still quite new ... (Aug 2020) and was still under warranty ... but I have my data lost ... I now made a backup at Backblaze and immediately made a second EHD ... It took me a while ... 10 years of copying scrap material takes a long time ...
My photos are on two other drives ...

A question for the backblaze users ... can you make a backup of multiple EHD at the BB ...

 

@marijke I just did a quick Google as I was curious about Backblaze and multiple EHD’s and this is what I found https://help.backblaze.com/hc/en-us...d-drives-what-should-I-know-?mobile_site=true