Solved SD Card vs Ext. Hard Drive

[tonyvella]

I have two laptops both of which have a built-in SD slot. I use laptop [a] for everything, everyday, and keep laptop aside in case something goes wrong with laptop [a]. I only back up my own files (files I create myself) text files, spreadsheets, photos, etc. and this I do on an external Seagate hard drive.

Recently someone asked me why, if I have an SD slot in both my laptops, do I bother with an external hard drive and not buy a 64G SD card (dirt-cheap around here) and copy my files to it instead. So this is my question: would it be just as safe using an SD card as using an ext. HD for safekeeping my personal files?

Thanks in advance.

 

[strollin]

In a nutshell, no.

It is safer for your data to be stored completely separate from the place where it is used. While having your backup self-contained within your laptop is extremely handy, what would happen if your laptop was lost, stolen, burned in a fire, etc... Not only would you lose your original data, you would lose your backup at the same time.

It's best to store your backups separate from your computer. If your data is particularly critical, you would want to have multiple backups and store a copy of your backup in a completely remote location. Why? A thief breaking into your home might steal your laptop AND your external drive with your backup. Or, a fire might burn your house down with your laptop and backup inside.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

While an SD card could be stored separate from the laptop, SD cards are more prone to failure than an external HDD or SSD (the same would be true of USB thumb drives). However, you could negate that danger by having more than one SD card, keeping identical backups on each one and storing them in separate places. No matter what backup media you use, you should always have more than one backup, preferably at least one kept onsite and another one kept offsite (and they should be swapped out frequently to keep the offsite backup as up to date as possible).

 

[tonyvella]

Thank you very much for your advice Lady Fitzgerald and Strollin. I think I shall stick to my ext. HD and also consider an off-site copy. I made a small website for my wife's paintings which only takes about 10 pc of the space that came with the webhosting contract. Seems like a secondary copy of my files would be a very good use for some of that empty 90 pc.

Once again, thank you, and regards from freezing Ottawa, Canada.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Since your wife's website is probably unsecured, make sure that you encrypt your data before uploading it.

 

[Megahertz07]

All hardware devices are subject to failures.
But, as we see almost every day someone with a failure on his external HDD device, I would use a SD for backup. It's all electronic, no moving parts.
The major problem to external HDD is that they are very fragile devices.
- Never put the HDD on the vertical. One fall to the horizontal and it's gone forever.
- Once it's running, don't touch it, don't move it.