I'm looking for advice on the most secure hard drive options for storing my photos and videos. I really dislike the idea of paying for a cloud storage subscription and prefer to keep things traditional with hard drives. Currently, I have a couple of older drives and a Samsung T7 Shield, but I'm worried about the safety of my data. I backup to two different drives, but I want to make sure I'm doing everything I can to protect my memories. What brands or types of hard drives do you recommend for the safest data storage?
6 Answers
If you're super serious about data safety, I recommend checking out the 3-2-1 plan for data storage. Essentially, you want your original files, a second copy on an external hard drive, and a third copy in the cloud or another safe location. I personally use iDrive for backups and have a NAS set up with RAID—my data is really secure that way!
Using multiple hard drives is a great start and can be part of a solid backup strategy known as the 3-2-1 plan. It’s all about keeping 3 copies of your data on 2 different types of storage media and making sure 1 copy is stored offsite. That way, even if one drive fails, you’ve still got your data secure! All major brands are generally reliable if you follow this approach.
I understand more now! I thought old school meant something different since everyone around me opts for cloud storage. I’ll definitely read up on the 3-2-1 plan—just trying to keep my data safe!
Exactly! And remember, mixing brands is always a smart move just in case one experience issues.
If you set up multiple drives in a RAID array, you're golden! That way, if one disk fails, you won’t lose everything. Using a NAS for this purpose makes everything accessible over your network, which is super convenient.
At the end of the day, no matter what brand of hard drive you use, it's crucial to be ready for hardware failures and human error. There isn't a single brand that's 100% reliable all the time; failures can happen to anyone!
Have you considered writable Blu-ray for archival storage? Unlike hard drives, once written, the data on a Blu-ray disc doesn’t degrade for a very long time if stored properly, making it a potential long-term solution for your important files.
Backblaze has awesome Hard Drive Reliability Reports you can check out. They offer a comprehensive dataset about which brands tend to be the most reliable. Just remember, if you follow the 3-2-1 strategy, you won’t be solely reliant on one brand—which is a smart move!
I'm intrigued by this 3-2-1 plan but don’t want to pay for subscriptions. I’ll stick with my hard drives for now. What exactly is this NAS with RAID you mentioned?