back up your datum is important , and using Time Machine is a great agency to do it . But do you ask to go even further ? Should you , say , go so far as to clone a ride and keep the drive in a a fireproof safe in their dwelling house run out to the floor ? A reader asks :

Even if somebody steal my iMac and Time Capsule , it is very unconvincing the safe will get steal . And most potential the dependable will survive a sign flak . I also have an encrypted sparse bundle with mission decisive financial data stash away there . cave in the above , would you still recommend a cloud backup religious service ?

Yes , yes , yes , and also , yes . It ’s best to have three copies of your data in clearly different class : subsist on your information processing system , an easily accessible backup or clone , and an offsite or cloud incessantly update backup . toilsome driving force are cheap and limitless swarm - based accompaniment services are sleazy . Encryption is free . Offsite storage , in a safe - deposit box or other location , should n’t be expensive , either , or could be free .

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You canread this recent articlethat ’s project to facilitate CrashPlan for base user find a young backup man serve , as the second half of the article line a ecumenical set of backup strategies and our testimonial for military service and software .

As far as the fireproof safe : it is n’t really what you might suppose it is . Fireproof safes are fireproof with a clustering of condition , not against all fire . When you purchase a safe , you ’re buying a promise that the national temperature wo n’t rise above a certain number of degrees for a minimum period of metre with a fire of a given temperature . Fireproof safe also have to bewaterproof , so that the fervor ’s cure wo n’t destroy a safe ’s capacity .

For magnetic media , like hard drives , you need a prophylactic that limits the upcountry temperature to 125 ° F or 150 ° F even as a blast rages without . The UL certifies safety at 125 ° F ( magnetic media ) , 150 ° F ( movie ) , and 350 ° F ( report ) . candela , DVDs , and flash memory should survive at temperatures above 150 ° F , but not as hot as 350 ° F , and there ’s no specific standard for that . You should also wait for an ETL certification on a good you purchase . The UL certifies condom for 30 minutes to 4 hours at 2,000 ° F . An average house fireburns at 1,100 ° F , so a cooler fire means protection go longer .

The Wirecutter did a real - world ardour run with safes , and discover an inexpensive role model with a UL rating for 350 ° F internal temperature for 30 minutes . It tested a flash drive and DVD , and they survive and were readable after 30 minutes at 1,300 ° F , after which the fire was put out with water system .

That all vocalise slap-up , but here ’s the problem . What if the attack burns ungoverned for longer than your secure is rat ? What if the fire burn much hot than modal because of whatever get it ? What if your safe bomb ? What if the waterproof seals fail slimly , and the drive is flooded ? ( Some safes have insurance policies against failure within normal glasses , but the data would still be lose . )

You should also consider how burglar - immune your safe is . A determined someone might be able to interrupt into a safe , and steal the backup drive along with your computer and Time Capsule , even if they were face for other valuable .

The moral : back up to the cloud or at least rotate a clone or Time Machine labour on a regular basis to a inviolable offsite positioning . If you ’re distressed about your datum leaking out to other parties online or if slip from wherever you ’re caching it , you may ( and should ) cypher external drives and habituate your own encoding key with several cloud - hosted backup service .

honestly , I ’m more worried about your Time Capsule being steal than everything else : Time Capsule can not be encrypted , produce it a plum tree swag to a savvy thief .

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