NOTE: this entry is in reply to a query pickyprick had about offsite-hosting/refreshing digital media which is several pages back. however, as many of us have large collections of data we want to keep, this applies to anyone interested in backups, and how to do them right. ALL hard disks crash eventually, but if you store your files in an organized fashion and move them to new media every few years, u retain perfect copies. do it BEFORE yr disk crashes!
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i miswrote: instead of "offline" i should have typed "offSITE." the idea of an offsite backup is to have a copy physically located elsewhere, in case of fire/flood/zombie-invasion or whatever.with a fast connection, u can use a service, there are many, just search "offsite storage provider." they allow u to make yr own password, but u ARE storing yr files on someone else's computer. there are many setups from simple backup of nonessential files, to buying into Apple's MobileMe service so u can access yr files remotely on iPhone/iPad/Mac laptop, to more secure sites that offer better encryption (at a higher price).
often in tech, there is no clear #1, but for offsite storage, it WAS hard to beat HavenCo Limited, located in the Principality of Sealand: an unrecognised micronation, a former World War II Maunsell Sea Fort in the North Sea 10 km (six miles) off the coast of Suffolk, England. it's really worth reading the Wikipedia entry here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sealand for information on this fascinating micronation. i'm sorry HavenCo is no longer around, but it seems its sudden unexplained demise indicates how effective it was when operating on Sealand. their promotional literature was great.
if searching for a data-haven:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_haven
"TORs onion space (hidden service), and HavenCo (centralized), and Freenet (decentralized) are three models of modern-day virtual data havens."
image files of a personal nature should not be stored on the servers of an offsite provider.
JtB
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Last edited by JackTheBat at 22-1-2011 23:51 ]