The last Geek thing you did was?

[Jim, Keeper of the Pattern]

One thing about computer files - they should be forever. I have old files from my Atari, mostly tiny text files, but after 20+ years of collecting files, they tend to add up. I've lost files over the years when backups died, too. I remember backing up to early DVD's only to find out that some of the files were unreadable or corrupted.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

I have a lot of text files in my documents (anyone who writes does) and I've lost lots of work that way. I got Carbonite after the last time.

[Jim, Keeper of the Pattern]

I have too much data for online backup. I just sync to the USB drive. If one drive starts to seem like it is having issues, I back up to a 2d one as well.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

I bow to your "geekdom".... or, er "geekness" or maybe, "geekitude"?

[Jim, Keeper of the Pattern]

No bowing! Each to their own. The biggest issue with backup is to find what you will use regularly. I've set up wonderful backup systems for people & had them lose tons of work because they just don't use it.

No system is perfect & it varies for people depending on how they think, work and what they can afford. I have a LOT of data & a poor Internet connection, so my way works for me. I still occasionally lose something, but I could probably lose 90% of what I have & not lose any sleep. Seriously, do I need an old debug script I wrote to make Windows 3.1 work with my 1200 baud modem? I doubt it. Still, you don't just toss something that took a fair amount of research & time. (Yes, I'm a pack rat.)
;-)

[Mir]

I worked at a library where they did a physical tape backup.

[Jim, Keeper of the Pattern]

That's what we used to use. At my last job, I had several tape backups including one that held 8 tapes & would rotate them around at the corporate office. It cost about $8000, as I recall. Each tape was close to $100 each, too. Other offices used other methods. One had hot swap hard drives but the smaller ones usually used Zip drives.

When I redid the network for my current job, I got rid of the tapes & started using 500gb USB drives & now use 1tb drives. They're a lot less expensive. The USB drives cost just a bit more than a tape & aren't as quick to back up, but they're a LOT faster to find & restore a file. They last longer & there isn't any tape drive to worry about.

Online backups seem like the way to go now if you don't have a lot of data. What does Carbonite cost, Mike? I haven't looked in ages.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

I bought the 3 year at a time special with the "Rush" discount...yes "THAT Rush". It was a little over $120 for 3 years. It's great for me because it backs up automatically (I still check after I've done some work on something to be sure it did back-up)anyway, it backs up every night or if I'm off line when I come back on line. I'm on line any time my computer is on now unless I take steps not to be so it's pretty convenient.

[Jim, Keeper of the Pattern]

That's a great way to make sure a backup gets done. Is there a limit on how much data you can back up?

[Mike (the Paladin)]

No. According to what I've read there's no limit to total storage, but the initial download takes up to a couple of days running in the background while your online. I couldn't tell it was going on. I think I read they start out backing up like 2 GB a day or something.

[Jim, Keeper of the Pattern]

Wow! That's fantastic that they allow so much data & throttle the connection so well.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

I think most users are like me, mostly saving documents or maybe music files.

[Byron 'Giggsy']

I think categorizing all the books I've read and want to read on this site falls into the category of GEEK. And I check the site often. Got a smart phone recently, so I'll even use this site on my phone daily

[Jim, Keeper of the Pattern]

Well, we're all probably book geeks or we wouldn't be here.
;-)

I've tried to interest others in this site & so few ever get into it. My DIL is a member here, but rarely drops in. I guess she's just not enough of a book geek. She was quite shocked at my wife's & my knowledge of the 'out there' books she likes to read. I gave her several of Zelazny's that I had around as spares. Maybe that will get her going.