Data Backup Options

Over the past couple of days I’ve been looking into options on how to backup my data. I know that it is only a matter of time before my PC dies and who knows what will happen when it does. So, I am looking for a something in between doing nothing and getting a brand new PC.

The reason that I want to backup all of this “stuff” is because a lot of those 1s and 0s mean a lot to me. I’d go nuts if I lost all of my photos or my documents or anything else that I keep on my data drive. So, I need an option to make sure that it will at least have a surviving chance in case something goes wrong.

I have pretty much narrowed it down to the following three options:

  1. Networked Share Drive from Buffalo Technologies (Gigabit LinkStation)
  2. A Firewire/USB 2.0 drive
  3. A drive enclosure for any standard hard drive

Now, what makes this tricky is that I want this to work with my Mac and my PC. If I wanted them to work at the same time, well… I’d need the network drive. Unless I shared off a drive from my PC. Again, another option. But, the problem is that I can’t figure out if I’d actually benefit from the network drive or not. It is the most expensive of the three options, which is something to consider.

What I am curious about is what other people have experienced, or what they would recommend for external backup devices. I am just beginning to look and I want to make sure I cover all of my bases before I make a purchase, if I decide later on to do so. So, any help or advice you have is appreciated.

I *heart* Dreamhost

It seems that every Dreamhost newsletter brings some good news. This month was no different:

That’s right! Every week, your plan limits will grow as follows, at
absolutely no charge:

L1: 20MB disk and 1GB bandwidth each week!
L2: 40MB disk and 1.5GB bandwidth each week!
L3: 60MB disk and 2GB bandwidth each week!
L4: 80MB disk and 2.5GB bandwidth each week!

Now we get Ruby on Rails as well!

If I wasn’t making myself clear, DreamHost now supports Ruby on Rails
right out of the box (so no further need to follow the crazy
instructions for doing it yourself like people were posting at
wiki.dreamhost.com), along with FastCGI (which you pretty much need –
unless you prefer Ruby on Snails).

Aww, thanks Dreamhost!

See News. London.

With those three words displayed on my phone from Jamie, I knew something was bad. I instantly thought of a bombing, something as bad as what happended to the Twin Towers. Luckily, and it’s hard to say luckily considering what happened, it was much smaller. However, I can’t help but think what brought this upon London. Is it their alliance with us in the war on terror, the war in Iraq, winning of the 2012 Olympic bid, or was it something else? Any way you cut it, there doesn’t need to be a reason. This is terrorism and those who sponsor it deserve no remorse. Not from me, my country, or any of those who despise of it.

WordPress 1.5.1.3

A security release for WordPress is out today and it is highly suggested that you upgrade. This is two major security fixes from the WordPress team in recent months. Props goes out to Matt and the rest of the team for staying on top of this. The note from the WordPress site is below.

We would like to announce that WordPress 1.5.1.3 is now released as we continue the availablity of a highly stable and extremely popular branch based on the 1.5 Strayhorn codebase. Development has moved on to some exciting new features for the next major release, but an important security issue was brought to our attention which required an update for our users. The problem is not yet public but you should update your blog as soon as possible to 1.5.1.3. If you are unable to do upgrade in the short-term you may protect yourself by deleting the xmlrpc.php file from your WordPress directory.