[thechat] Online Backup

[Mohan Arun L]

>> ioSafe makes fire-proof, water-proof, drop-proof, theft-proof external
>> drives.

>"theft-proof"? I'd buy "theft-resistant" maybe, but regardless...

It *is *theft-proof.
http://iosafe.com/products-solo-features
"Theftproof - bolt down to any surface"

>>On the merits of external storage vs online backup:
>*Versus*?  Seriously?  Is this a troll?

Not ..

>There are situations, such as consulting at government/military/lab/nuke
plant >facilities, where they may not allow people to walk on carrying a
fistful of thumb >drives.
>I'm explicitly forbidden to carry thumb drives onto client site, for Data
Security & Privacy reasons.

If they knew you are able to access files online when you are not supposed
to bring USB drives, then those online sites are going to get blocked by the
perimeter firewall. It may also look sneaky to them if they find out you are
accessing your own online files via smartphove- because you are trying to
beat the purpose of the USB drive ban - by circumventing it. A ban on
bringing in external files into the facility is a ban in spirit, and it
applies as much to online file storage sites as much as it applies to
external drives.

>>Sorry.  It's not a competition.

Sorry what I meant is that its not a competition, its intended as an
alternative or 'in addition to'.
In addition to storing the few very important files that require syncing or
collaboration in online storage, a portable drive can contains all the other
files that dont need syncing or collaboration...

As for me:
- I dont need syncing or collaboration
- I want my internet connection to be as snappy and responsive at all times,
not tied down by bandwidth being used by backup programs that run
background.
- I want to copy my files as fast as possible to a backup.
- I travel and need very fast local access to my files without depending on
the availability of a net connection, which may not be reliable, even if
available (So I go for portable external)

>>Ever attend a conference/meeting/symposium and get asked to step up and
>>make some off the cuff remarks?  Wouldn't it be nice to be able to
reference >>your personal library of prior speeches you have given?  I'm
pretty sure you could >>reach those off any smartphone ... unless, of
course, the only place they existed >>was on that external drive sitting
back at home connected to your LAN.

What if the internet is down (it happens here once so often), or the site is
very slow to load with heavy traffic.
If you had files in person with a portable drive, you can access any past
speech very fast.
Thats the purpose of the portable drive - It fits into your laptop bag and
is no bigger than a twice-folded A4 piece of paper. You will only need to
remember to include it in your laptop bag.

>>This kind of thing (although not my client - my current client doesn't
even have >>anything particularly secret) is the reason why:
>>http://bit.ly/f66F8B <http://bit.ly/f66F8B>

Even S3 has lost data thrice before:
http://www.quora.com/Has-Amazon-S3-ever-lost-data

The chances of either of these happening are small. 95% of users dont need
to store the kind of encrypted confidential data, like the data referred to
in the bitly url above.

My vote is on portable external. For people in the US with Verizon MiFi etc.
where you can actually *count on the reliability of a net connection due to
the nation's superior telecom infrastructure - online storage may be a
better option.

~~~ Mohan Arun