Most efficient way to backup your files

Question

DVDs are no longer sufficient. Files are becoming larger and larger. What alternatives would you recommend?

--update-- how reliable are hard drives vs optical discs?

Inquiring about the reliability of hard drives versus optical discs is not so simple since hard drives are used for routine backups, while optical discs are one-shot backups. Your concern seems to be that if you back up your data to a hard drive once and store it, whether it would degrade faster than an optical disc. My guess is that an optical disc would deteriorate faster. Bryan's suggestion below is your best starting point, and the most efficient way to back up your files is a regular schedule using an external hard drive. Other concerns, such as offsite backup, are only secondary to this.

bryan · Answer 1 · 2010-05-09 02:12:31Z

External hard drive. I use 2.5 inch drives. They come in sizes of at least 750GB now for $150 or so. They often include backup software.

Of course you can get the standard 3.5 inch external drives, they come in almost any size (if you put together an array of them)

William · Answer 2 · 2010-05-09 02:17:45Z

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Well I'm a fan of dropbox (dropbox.com) They only offer 50 and 100 GB plans though so maybe not enough.

answered May 9 '10 at 2:17

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