This is for Mac.

I want to network a backup HDD and have joined my old Airport Extreme to my current network to do so.

Option 1
If I buy an external drive, is it OK to just leave it plugged in? I would buy something similar to this.

Option 2
I have a WD Scorpio Black 2.5" drive that I got back on warranty. Is there an external enclosure I can buy that has an auto on/off feature?


What do you think is the better option?
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I have a Mac and use Time machine to back the system up automatically. I have 2 external HDDs and I don't power off them off.
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I don't mean to be argumentitive but online backup is better. Mozy or Carbonite will cost you $50/year and offer unlimited data backup, encrypted, to their datacenter. You can retrieve files online from anywhere should you need to. That way, even if your house burns down, you have your data.
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backing up over wireless and usb? wow - i hope your incrementals are small :-)
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Online backup is an always backing up process. Whenever you're online it's backing up. Once it has a good copy it only backs up change data. I'm sure it de-dupe's as well.
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I have two $50 350gb hard drives. I just swap them out weekly, and drop off the most recently backed up at the safe deposit box, and take the one that was there home to update the following week. I've thought about an online backup at some point, as it seems like it might be simpler.
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When I backup temporarily, I use pencil. It's organic also. When I wish a more permanent copy, I switch to ink.
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There is nothing wrong with leaving an external hard drive powered on. Automatic sync requires it.
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Good to know. This is what I thought, but I have only ever had one in a drawer I pulled out once a month to backup.

Thought about it, but is it truly unlimited? I have 200GB alone in music files.

Yes....they first backup will take forever, but the incrementals will be very small. I'd set it up to backup overnight anyway.



Thanks guys!


I had a very close call a couple months ago where I lost both the main drive and the backup while I was doing a backup. I was able to recover 95% of it from different sources, but now I am paranoid. Since memory is getting so cheap, I plan to have the backup run weekly. Then a 2nd & 3rd backup drive once a month.
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What do you think of time machine? Every have any hiccups? I use Carbon Copy right now, but since time machine is built in....
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No problems at all with Time Machine.
To be honest though, I have never had to do a full restore.
It is really easy to go back in time and recover individual files.
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FWIW, I really don't like the idea of online back up. Something about someone having all of my files can't be a good thing.

:-)
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I use Time Machine, also, with a 500 GB Buffalo HD. I plug it in once a month to backup. I don't use the computer a lot and probably don't have don't have much to add each month. Never have had to call on it's function to restore, but the reviews are good and I have all the confidence in it. BTW, I unplug my computer during storms, even though it's on a surge protector. The HD gets unplugged each time between monthly backups.
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Apparently Mozy dropped the unlimited offer but Carbonite hasn't.

http://www.carbonite.com/en/home/online-backup-pricing

$59/year
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Wrong image/icon, it's this one :-)


BTW, if they really want your data they can get it.


The reason I like online backup is it's offsite and it's all the time. I have to protect data for my company. Facts are if a business loses a physical site they go bankrupt or out of business within a year over half the time. So, it's important to have your data at a nother site in case of fire, flood, storm, metor, whatever. Same of your data. If it's important enough to backup to another hard drive, why not put it on a hard drive in a 24/7 manned datacenter on enterprise class hardware which is highly redundant, & is backed up itself. You think Carbonite or Mozy (EMC owned) is going to xcopy your data onto a SATA drive they bought at BB for $50? Not a chance. It's going to be put into a storage array that probably cost more than your house, which will be mirrored to another storage array costing the same, often on opposite ends of the country. For $60/year it's hard to argue with service like that.
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