USB sticks for backup (Sandisk Extremes).

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rayonline

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# 210486 29-Mar-2017 15:05

What are your thoughts about using usb sticks for backup purposes? Some of them have fast write speeds like 380MB/sec. They are a lot more portable also and maybe shock proof etc.

Thanks

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Vocus

# 1750189 29-Mar-2017 15:15

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Probably fine, the only trouble is that they (USB flash drives in general, can't speak for the Sandisk extremes) tend to die without warning. I would make 2 copies to be on the safe side. But any backup (which you can restore!) is better than no backup ;)

networkn

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# 1750196 29-Mar-2017 15:24

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USB is the least reliable media I can recall since floppy disks. It's better than nothing, and certainly the most popular option, but the number of USB drives I've thrown in the bin is horrifying.

darylblake

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# 1750213 29-Mar-2017 15:38

While a high quality USB stick is probably going to be ok. Its not good for online backups.

I would like to know why, is it a small amount of data, that will be moved offsite? Is this why you want a USB stick?

What about security? Passwords etc.

If people steal LTO Tapes, the likelyhood of them going to the effort of restoring it is a lot lower, if they have a USB drive, they can plug it into any computer manufactured in the last 20 years? Are you using Encryption?

rayonline

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# 1750215 29-Mar-2017 15:41

It is to be offsite, yes. Placed in a safe deposit box, I have a standard portable HD but they are larger. Encryption yes probably using something like TrueCrypt.

ubergeeknz

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Vocus

# 1750216 29-Mar-2017 15:43

You do need to watch out for data rot on Flash media as well. The newer flash tech (MLC/TLC) has not really been tested for archival, some sources indicate a half life of a year or less (although I am sure that is pessimistic)

darylblake

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# 1750218 29-Mar-2017 15:43

rayonline:

It is to be offsite, yes. Placed in a safe deposit box, I have a standard portable HD but they are larger. Encryption yes probably using something like TrueCrypt.

They will probably be fine, if you run a verify checksum or integrity check of some sort after the backup is completed. Treat them with care, and have a good rotation method.

afe66

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# 1750242 29-Mar-2017 16:14

Why not use a USB hard drive instead of a USB stick?

They are only slightly larger than an iphone and Ive got one which is USB 3.0 and 1 Tb.

mdav056

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# 1750244 29-Mar-2017 16:17

The lady of this house has (yes, has) the habit of doing all her ongoing work on a 32 GB flash drive. I've lost count of how many times I have gently said this is stupid behaviour. Recently she lost the lot, leading to great unhappiness and much work. And then she asked me to get her another 32 GB flash drive. Sigh.

gml

networkn

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# 1750247 29-Mar-2017 16:19

afe66:

Why not use a USB hard drive instead of a USB stick?

They are only slightly larger than an iphone and Ive got one which is USB 3.0 and 1 Tb.

A.

Are you talking about a SSD or a spindle HDD? If you are talking about Spindle HDD I'd STRONGLY recommend against it. Portable devices with moving parts is a very bad idea. We have some clients who do it, but only after we have briefed them in full, about the risks.

timmmay

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# 1750252 29-Mar-2017 16:24

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Laptop hard drives are made to withstand shock. Can you explain a bit more why they're not suitable for backups @networkn ? I use 3.5" hard drives myself, in enclosures, but they're pretty big.

I wouldn't back up to USB stick. They're made to be cheap, and fast, not reliable, and they're small. Cloud Backup is probably much more reliable, as they'll have had professionals think about how to do this stuff. I pay for CrashPlan, they have an Australian data center. No idea how fast it backs up, it uses few resources (on my i7 with 16GB RAM) and I have plenty of bandwidth.

networkn

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# 1750256 29-Mar-2017 16:28

timmmay:

Laptop hard drives are made to withstand shock. Can you explain a bit more why they're not suitable for backups @networkn ? I use 3.5" hard drives myself, in enclosures, but they're pretty big.

I wouldn't back up to USB stick. They're made to be cheap, and fast, not reliable, and they're small. Cloud Backup is probably much more reliable, as they'll have had professionals think about how to do this stuff. I pay for CrashPlan, they have an Australian data center. No idea how fast it backs up, it uses few resources (on my i7 with 16GB RAM) and I have plenty of bandwidth.

Sorry, I should have been clearer. My main issue is with mechanical USB drives, followed by USB Sticks (I accept there are some higher quality less likely to fail units, though capacity is an issue).

USB SSD's I would consider probably the best overall right now, but it's somewhat less palatable price-wise.

afe66

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# 1750258 29-Mar-2017 16:30

Not sitting in the bottom of my bag being juggled etc

But if its just going to sit in a safety deposit box in a bank presumably for months, not moving at all, is it as much of an issue ?

If its small enough that you can fix it on a usb stick, why not store it on the cloud ?

Me Ive got a NAS with mirrored drives and usb HD copies in two sites and photos also stored online.

Should be ok?

timmmay

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# 1750263 29-Mar-2017 16:38

networkn:

Sorry, I should have been clearer. My main issue is with mechanical USB drives, followed by USB Sticks (I accept there are some higher quality less likely to fail units, though capacity is an issue).

USB SSD's I would consider probably the best overall right now, but it's somewhat less palatable price-wise.

I'm not quite clear what you mean here. I assumed you meant 2.5" laptop drives aren't any good. To me they seem like they'd be fine, just smaller versions of the 3.5" drives I use, made to be more robust.

Have you or anyone else seen any studies on 2.5" SSD longevity, especially for TLC NAND? I wonder it's as good as a hard drive. Hard drive data lasts many years. I suspect proper 2.5" SSD drives will be a lot better than USB memory sticks.

lucky015

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# 1750267 29-Mar-2017 16:42

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It's safe to assume that ALL mechanical drives are at risk during any movement of the drive even while powered off, While failure is not typically high on these devices I'd suggest they are most likely to fail during any physical movement of the device which could be an issue for this type of usage as you can't tell it has failed until you attempt to retrieve the data.

Perpetually undecided.

rayonline

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# 1750268 29-Mar-2017 16:43

afe66:

Not sitting in the bottom of my bag being juggled etc

But if its just going to sit in a safety deposit box in a bank presumably for months, not moving at all, is it as much of an issue ?

If its small enough that you can fix it on a usb stick, why not store it on the cloud ?

Me Ive got a NAS with mirrored drives and usb HD copies in two sites and photos also stored online.

Should be ok?

Uploading 350GB would take a while. There is also the risk of being hacked etc.

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