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Picking backup strategy: software & encryption options
I need a remote backup solution. I bought a $100 WD My Passport 1TB drive as a cost-efficient alternative to the monthly fees of Carbonite or Mozy. My plan is to keep the HDD attached to the docking station in my office at work. Then either bring the HDD home to backup locally or sync files between the two with a service (if it can bypass our firewall). I have Windows 7 Ultimate x64 at home and Windows XP at work. Questions I have:- Should I just bring the disk home periodically or setup a sync service?
- What backup software should I use? I want to make incremental backups of selected folders (mostly music and pictures)
- How can I protect the data in case the cleaning lady steals my HDD?
Thoughts on these questions:- Computers are better on keeping on schedule than humans. Also real-time updating. I know Live Mesh does P2P sync, I think DropBox too.
- Windows 7 backup is easy to use and is good at helping me backup app data, but it doesn’t seem to do a good job with managing disk space and incremental backups. The HDD included WD SmartWare backup software, not sure if anyone has used that.
- For protection I can either encrypt the hard drive or password protect the files. Windows 7 has BitLocker to Go but this might be overkill. Also, it becomes read-only on XP machines. The WD SmartWare program uses a password protected VCD for security. But I think most backup software password protects the file including Windows 7. How secure are these?
What do you think is the best strategy here and should I consider other alternatives? | 
Win 7 backup strategy 
