Question Best HDD for storage in safety deposit box

[KentState]

I want to start a process where I rotate out a HDD backup at my safety deposit box. Currently, I do a real-time sync to Google Drive from our NAS, plus daily backups of the important documents. It's unrealistic to backup the movie backups so that is up to RAID 6.

So for the process of a monthly backup, what type of drive would be sufficient? I'm looking at 3-4 6-8TB drives and keeping the two newest version in the deposit box and then having two at home. I have HDD cases to transport and store them in and a SATA 3.1 dock for quick swapping. WD Blue, Seagate IronWolf, WD Red or any other models?

 

[Insert_Nickname]

I'd say a HGST drive. They're pretty reliable all-round.

Since you're storing in a safety box already, consider an optical (bluray/DVD) backup for your most important files for additional peace of mind. Discs (especially DVDs) are cheap and cheerful, so you can burn a few copies. So that if some of them fail, you are still good.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I use 2.5" drives for both local workstation backup and the important files on my server. I have one Seagate Barracuda 2.5" which is 4TB -- the others are 2TB. I'd say consider it for a safe-deposit box, because they're smaller and lighter.

 

[Harry_Wild]

I want to start a process where I rotate out a HDD backup at my safety deposit box. Currently, I do a real-time sync to Google Drive from our NAS, plus daily backups of the important documents. It's unrealistic to backup the movie backups so that is up to RAID 6.

So for the process of a monthly backup, what type of drive would be sufficient? I'm looking at 3-4 6-8TB drives and keeping the two newest version in the deposit box and then having two at home. I have HDD cases to transport and store them in and a SATA 3.1 dock for quick swapping. WD Blue, Seagate IronWolf, WD Red or any other models?

Just use a paid backup service and leave it on their server! No need to do that at all! It is secure and will last for a couple of years at least! There are many business backup services and it just from a dollar a month to 10 depending on the amount of storage!

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Just use a paid backup service and leave it on their server!

Fundamentally, there are two kinds of computers. Yours, and others. You are in charge of your own computers, but if you leave stuff on others computers, you're no longer in control of your data.

Then there are the privacy implications.

No need to do that at all! It is secure and will last for a couple of years at least!

And if the company suddenly folds...? You've lost your data.

There are many business backup services and it just from a dollar a month to 10 depending on the amount of storage!

Same issue as above. You get exactly what you pay for. No more, no less.

 

[Harry_Wild]

Fundamentally, there are two kinds of computers. Yours, and others. You are in charge of your own computers, but if you leave stuff on others computers, you're no longer in control of your data.

Then there are the privacy implications.



And if the company suddenly folds...? You've lost your data.



Same issue as above. You get exactly what you pay for. No more, no less.

Go with the mega corporation like Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Google! They will last for another 50 year even if civilization does not! Tons of cash reserves, most cutting edge hardware as well as software, best engineers that money can buy, plus they use their own backup services too! That have as much if not more to loose then you in their own backup services and operations.

 

[corkyg]

A lot depends on what you are backing up and why. I have digital imagery of all items in my abode. That is to back up possible insurance claims in the event of a fire or robbery. Also good for heirs should I croak. I like to keep it simple and not involve on line access and related proofs required. Opticals work fine. So do HDDs, thumbdrives, and SSDs.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

A lot depends on what you are backing up and why. I have digital imagery of all items in my abode. That is to back up possible insurance claims in the event of a fire or robbery. Also good for heirs should I croak. I like to keep it simple and not involve on line access and related proofs required. Opticals work fine. So do HDDs, thumbdrives, and SSDs.

Same here. Everything worthwhile get photoed with invoice, if possible. It's a lot easier to keep track of digital photos, then a drawer full of assorted invoices. Which is also a lot easier to destroy. (We've recently had some flood issues here)

Personally, I'd stay away from thumbdrives. An awful lot of poor quality NAND and cheap controllers go into those, so long term reliability is suspect.

Go with the mega corporation like Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Google! They will last for another 50 year even if civilization does not! Tons of cash reserves, most cutting edge hardware as well as software, best engineers that money can buy, plus they use their own backup services too! That have as much if not more to loose then you in their own backup services and operations.

See first paragraph.

 

[mikeymikec]

I want to start a process where I rotate out a HDD backup at my safety deposit box.

I'd assume a bank's service on this front would be a fairly safe bet, but if it's not a bank I'd ask about humidity / temperature variation of where the box will be stored.

 

[Rifter]

Just encrypt it and put it on a online backup server, go with a big player like dropbox/google/amazon and you will be fine, no one is going to spend the years it would take to decrypt your data.

The whole hard drive in a safety deposit box is a little outdated IMO.

Just dont have the cloud backup as your only backup, always backup in 3's.

 

[mikeymikec]

Just encrypt it and put it on a online backup server, go with a big player like dropbox/google/amazon and you will be fine, no one is going to spend the years it would take to decrypt your data.

I wonder whether it really would be years given the computing resources at the disposal of the likes of Apple/Amazon/MS/Google, which is why an option like this makes me nervous (not to mention the possibility of a government backdoor in whatever encryption method/software). Having said that, changing the password should be an effective defence (which probably involves replacing one large encrypted binary blob with another) against that scenario (ignoring the backdoor possibility).

 

[beginner99]

Just use a paid backup service and leave it on their server! No need to do that at all! It is secure and will last for a couple of years at least! There are many business backup services and it just from a dollar a month to 10 depending on the amount of storage!

Doign that in encrypted form is an option for documents and other small amount of data. But if you have GBs to TBs of data and your average internet connection maybe even with a data cap you quickly see why a manual solution is needed. Personally I just keep a backup drive at work (locked up). Highly unlikley my place and work place burn down at the same time.

 

[hoorah]

Any external is probably fine, but I would verify that whatever external you pick (if you pick one) doesn't have an integrated USB controller (so you can pull the drive and attach it via sata). I've been seeing reports that some portable drives cannot be pulled and plugged directly into a machine due to soldered USB interface boards. You could just as easily go internal, but then, 8TB internal drives are more costly on a per TB basis.

I have a free safety deposit box with my account and I've been planning on doing the same thing....for about 8 years now. One of these days I'll get to it.

 

[KentState]

Doign that in encrypted form is an option for documents and other small amount of data. But if you have GBs to TBs of data and your average internet connection maybe even with a data cap you quickly see why a manual solution is needed. Personally I just keep a backup drive at work (locked up). Highly unlikley my place and work place burn down at the same time.

That's my situation. While I currently backup smaller stuff from my NAS to Google Drive, even our Gigabit connection is capped at 1TB/month which leaves very little remaining for backups. We can go to unlimited for $50/month extra, but after you factor in a larger Google Drive plan, I can buy a lot of hard drives.

Anyways, since my house is my primary office, the safety deposit box seemed a solid option since it's paid for already.

Any external is probably fine, but I would verify that whatever external you pick (if you pick one) doesn't have an integrated USB controller (so you can pull the drive and attach it via sata). I've been seeing reports that some portable drives cannot be pulled and plugged directly into a machine due to soldered USB interface boards. You could just as easily go internal, but then, 8TB internal drives are more costly on a per TB basis.

I have a free safety deposit box with my account and I've been planning on doing the same thing....for about 8 years now. One of these days I'll get to it.

I was going to leverage my HDD dock and just put the bare HDD in a storage case.

Dock
https://smile.amazon.com/10Gbps-Sta...d=1548881711&sr=8-3&keywords=hdd+usb+3.1+dock

Cases
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B018VKBYWI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

My biggest consideration was around something like a WD Blue vs Seagate IronWolf/WD Red or similar NAS drive for storage. Wasn't sure if there was an inherent difference in the drives that would make one type better for cold storage.

 

[killster1]

Just encrypt it and put it on a online backup server, go with a big player like dropbox/google/amazon and you will be fine, no one is going to spend the years it would take to decrypt your data.

The whole hard drive in a safety deposit box is a little outdated IMO.

Just dont have the cloud backup as your only backup, always backup in 3's.

ok i agree more than 1 place backed up is good, but encrypting 20tb and uploading to a cloud is not realistic for me, i have 1mbps upload i believe. on top of that my ISP limits 1tb of traffic a month. So yea offsite hard drive is a great idea. id even store two as they can fail just sitting there.

 

[QuercusLobata]

Since I also have a HDD stored in a safety deposit box as one leg of my backup strategy, I am wondering about their longevity when not being used. All I've seen on the internet is lifespan graphs when the drives are being used. Is there an unused time to failure curve, and what can be done to extend the lifespan? I'm thinking about stickion, bearing lubricant breakdown, .... I realize it would be something very time consuming to test (assuming that temperature and humidity are not used as aging accelerants).