[SOLVED] How to protect my data?

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Insane Potatoz

Insane Potatoz

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Sep 22, 2019
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Hey everyone. I noticed people talking about stuff like clean data recovery images or something like that, and how it's recommended to do that often. So I was just wondering; what are some ways I can keep the data on my PC safe, and how?
Thanks!
 
Solution
USAFRet
Insane Potatoz said:
Okay, okay. I kinda suck at understanding stuff like this, but here's what I got:
You have a system that's just a bunch of hard drives.
All data goes to this system.
Every wednesday, you back this up to a USB?

I'm sorry man, I'm really having a hard time understanding this. I don't know what's going on.
Click to expand...
The NAS is more than "a system that's just a bunch of hard drives".
It is a small server. And the drive config has been upgraded since that post.
Currently up to 50TB.

Bur basically, each system and drive in the house gets backed up to a folder/subfolder in that NAS space.
Nightly or weekly, depending on need for that system.
And then, once a week, that whole thing is also copied to USB connected drive space that is only...
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USAFRet said:
Backups are your friend.

Read through here:

What is your backup situation at home?

What is your backup situation at home? And if you don't do that, why not? Every single day, I read multiple threads here of "How do I get my stuff back?" or "That drive had 5 years of photos of my kids!!" Be it a dead drive, dropped phone, virus, accidental deletion, formatting the wrong...
forums.tomshardware.com forums.tomshardware.com
Click to expand...
I've actually never messed with backups before. I just built my PC maybe a month ago. All I do it copy all my files to an external drive, right?
 
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Insane Potatoz said:
I've actually never messed with backups before. I just built my PC maybe a month ago. All I do it copy all my files to an external drive, right?
Click to expand...

It depends what you want to protect.
If you just copy/paste stuff to some other drive, you WILL miss something.
'oops, I forgot that folder'.
See it all the time.
A full drive image can't skip something.

And if you want to protect the actual OS drive, a simple copy/paste won't do that.

Did you read through that link?




"just built my PC maybe a month ago"
I thought you were in the business of selling low cost systems?
 
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USAFRet said:
It depends what you want to protect.
If you just copy/paste stuff to some other drive, you WILL miss something.
'oops, I forgot that folder'.
See it all the time.
A full drive image can't skip something.

And if you want to protect the actual OS drive, a simple copy/paste won't do that.

Did you read through that link?




"just built my PC maybe a month ago"
I thought you were in the business of selling low cost systems?
Click to expand...
I did read through that link. Honestly, I didn't really get it. I've heard literally nothing about NAS. I haave no clue what it is.
How do you make a full drive image and back up the OS drive?
I have a few things other than my OS on my SSD. Is that bad?

USAFRet said:
"just built my PC maybe a month ago"
I thought you were in the business of selling low cost systems?
Click to expand...
I am in the business of flipping PCs. I've been in that for a long time, I've just never had my own desktop, just a lot of spare parts. I have been using a laptop for a long time, but just recently decided to build my own desktop. Does that make sense?
I didn't have anything important on my laptop, so that's why I haven't asked this question before.
 
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Insane Potatoz said:
I did read through that link. Honestly, I didn't really get it. I've heard literally nothing about NAS. I haave no clue what it is.
How do you make a full drive image and back up the OS drive?
I have a few things other than my OS on my SSD. Is that bad?
Click to expand...
Read that link again.
My NAS could easily be boiled down to a couple of USB connected drives.

NAS = Network Attached Storage. In my case, a QNAP TS-453a.
https://www.qnap.com/en-us/product/ts-453a
Basically, a little PC that does a lot of server stuff.

Full drive image -> Marcium Reflect. Automatic on a schedule.
The free version is fine for most people.
 
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USAFRet said:
Read that link again.
My NAS could easily be boiled down to a couple of USB connected drives.

NAS = Network Attached Storage. In my case, a QNAP TS-453a.
https://www.qnap.com/en-us/product/ts-453a
Basically, a little PC that does a lot of server stuff.

Full drive image -> Marcium Reflect. Automatic on a schedule.
The free version is fine for most people.
Click to expand...
Okay, okay. I kinda suck at understanding stuff like this, but here's what I got:
You have a system that's just a bunch of hard drives.
All data goes to this system.
Every wednesday, you back this up to a USB?

I'm sorry man, I'm really having a hard time understanding this. I don't know what's going on.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Insane Potatoz said:
Okay, okay. I kinda suck at understanding stuff like this, but here's what I got:
You have a system that's just a bunch of hard drives.
All data goes to this system.
Every wednesday, you back this up to a USB?

I'm sorry man, I'm really having a hard time understanding this. I don't know what's going on.
Click to expand...
The NAS is more than "a system that's just a bunch of hard drives".
It is a small server. And the drive config has been upgraded since that post.
Currently up to 50TB.

Bur basically, each system and drive in the house gets backed up to a folder/subfolder in that NAS space.
Nightly or weekly, depending on need for that system.
And then, once a week, that whole thing is also copied to USB connected drive space that is only connected during that copy. Then that USB drive space is disconnected and offline, until next time.

Multi level backups.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
Insane Potatoz said:
I've actually never messed with backups before. I just built my PC maybe a month ago. All I do it copy all my files to an external drive, right?
Click to expand...
Basically, however, I would suggest using a program to automate the process and make a recoverable image of your entire drive.

Many programs can do this.

Id use macrium reflect.

Heck, you could plug an external drive into the back of your router and backup to that drive over the internet automatically, though speed may be a pain
 
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USAFRet said:
The NAS is more than "a system that's just a bunch of hard drives".
It is a small server. And the drive config has been upgraded since that post.
Currently up to 50TB.

Bur basically, each system and drive in the house gets backed up to a folder/subfolder in that NAS space.
Nightly or weekly, depending on need for that system.
And then, once a week, that whole thing is also copied to USB connected drive space that is only connected during that copy. Then that USB drive space is disconnected and offline, until next time.

Multi level backups.
Click to expand...
oooooh. I see. I just don't have the money for a NAS, and only have a small amount of storage. Probably 3TB worth of possible storage. So should I just get a 3TB external hard drive, and back up often using Macrium Reflect?
 
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You don't have to buy a nas. You can build your own or turn a cheap PC into one. Or just plug the usb external hdd into your router.

My nas was my old laptop running freenas off a usb with an external hdd plugged into it. It had some issues tho.

I just build a PC to replace it.

Dual x5620 xeons 8c/16t total under $5
$18 dual ebay tower coolers
20gb ecc ddr3 reg $20
$25 dell poweredge r410 dual 1366 board
$8 500gb hdd to load the os.
Reused a 2tb hdd for the files.
Power supply will be aqqured later. Currently using burner evga 600w.

Probably total will be less than $100, but even a $50 sff optiplex can work.


But yea, just plugging it in for backup is a good idea otherwise.
 
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Insane Potatoz said:
Okay sweet. I have 2 drives though. A 500gb SSD and a 2TB HDD. Will it work the same or will I have to back up the drives individually?
Click to expand...
You can do Images of those to a single folder/subfolder tree on your external.
In my realm, each system gets a folder. Under that, each relevant drive gets its own subfolder.
This is the folders for the drives in my main system, all 7 of them:
WqKxz9s.png

If you notice, each drive is on its own schedule. 1 AM, 1:30 AM, 2 AM, etc...

Inside that is the relevant Images, either Full or Incremental. This is the C drive. Other drives look similar.
NKCKvis.png
 
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