Pilgrim wrote: 1) In case of fire, it is easier to grab the enclosure and run ...
Hi Pilgrim. I've run two external USB drives for about 3 years now.
Each evening around 6pm I take them out of their box, plug them in, run the backup job, then power them off, and put them back in their box.
Their box: Is a 1 cu ft steel fire-resistant steel filing box I bought for about $20 22 years ago.
I figure that:
1) If there is a fire in the apartment, anything short of a Jumbo crashing in, the box will resist heat/fire/smoke damage long enough for the fire crews to get here and
2) I have enough to worry about (cat, passports etc.) without carting a couple of metal cartridges with me.
3) Keeping my backups in a locked box in a different room makes me think as I walk the 20 paces to get them, that if deleting an essential file was a stupid and careless thing to do, perhaps getting access to my backup drives might also be a stupid and careless thing to do, at least until I've had a cuppa tea and a bit of a lie-down.
IMHO backup drives should be mounted
only while a backup is being made.
Or to obtain a recovery file, but even then,
only after a few minutes quiet meditation.
P.S. I confess to worrying about being locked out of the building for several weeks while the Fire Marshall investigates.
When I had a house I kept the box by the window and figured that my one fleeing act (I had no pets) would be to toss the box
through the glass and run.
Besides backups, the box holds passports, certificates, i.e. really my whole material identity.
Even today, it would make sense to herd pets out the door and lug the 10lb (?) box with me.
Perhaps I'd toss the box off the 4th floor balcony and then run.
