data backup questions

[footballdude2k3]

alright, i am a comp sci major and i have been doing some coding, currently i have 2 pc laptops, i am getting an apple later this summer to do some objective c work. at some point i will be building a home theater pc and possibly a gaming rig down the line.

my question is on backing up files, i want to back up the code, school documents, and also pictures, both personal and professional, do some photog on the side. the three different things i am thinking about doing are building a home server, getting a couple external drives, or some internal drives with a toaster. what do you think the best options would be and why?

 

[Vipernitrox]

I personally have a 2 tiered setup. All my stuff (video's, photo's, work & school related stuff) i save on my machine on a separate internal hard disk. I treat this as an archive. Stuff i'm currently working in is in my dropbox and gets synced to all computers i work on. When i complete a project or i'm done with something i move it to my archive at my home. From the archive i periodically make a backup to my home server. And i'm preparing to also setup an offsite backup at a friend of mine for the most important stuff.

Now for your question. You have to ask yourself a couple of things:
- How much data are we talking about?
- And how much growth are you expecting?
- Do you just want storage or are you also interested in other functions?

The home server has a couple of advantages. It can do alot of other things. It's very flexible. But also some work to setup and keep it running. It will probably also be the most power hungry option.

The external drives are the cheapest option. But i don't like it. To much trouble of hooking them up and making a backup. Something network attached is much easier and more accessible.

Internal drives with a toaster? What are you talking about? A NAS? That would be a nice option. Easy so setup and manage. But a little less flexible in comparison to the home server. Probably also uses less power.