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Coppola Loses All His Data
Colin Smith writes in with an object lesson in backup methodology — once you have backed everything up, take it somewhere else. "Film director Francis Ford Coppola has appealed for the return of his computer backup device following a robbery at his house in Argentina on Wednesday. He told Argentine broadcaster Todo Noticias he had lost 15 years' worth of data, including writing and photographs of his family."
Don't worry, mate, It will be backed up very solid quite soon :)
You will never lose it again. It will be as safe as it could be.
(Unless you'll decide to purchase it and keep it private, of course)
He ain't got Jack?
Why is this news? Someone somewhere didn't back up their data and the hdd was stolen. Happens a lot people, next thing you know we're going to be hearing about how Paris Hilton bought an iPhone and an iGasm.
"Some books contain the machinery required to create and sustain universes."-Tycho
The backup device was taken and in its place was a severed horse's head....
I didn't RTFA, but it's not a "backup". If you lose the backup, you have the original. If you lose the original, you have the backup.
If he's lost the backup, he should still have his original data set.
Another person who learn the hard way that making backups is not enough, but that you have to store the backups in more than one physical location. I wonder if the thieves will even hear his request, let alone consider to listen to it. Nowadays you can get a 2.5 inch 80 Gbyte harddisk for less than 100 USD. You can easily store this at a location that won't be found by thieves looking for computers. Thieves almost never search children bedrooms or kitchens for these kind of items.
This is why having *multiple* backups is a good thing.
Unless he was yet to copy it to a new device? He may have trashed his old HD, and bought a new one with the intent to restore the backup contents onto it. Then again, he's an old codger. His 'backup device' may be an old pickup truck, because he only drives in reverse at his age. The data was in the glove compartment.
Three things are certain:
Death, taxes, and lost data.
Guess which has occurred.
Anyone have any theft prevention ideas? If someone lives in a high crime area, is there anything that can be done to prevent the easy theft of just picking up and taking a desktop computer?
Oops. Someone missed the 3rd step in the Tao of Backup : separation
That list again in full:
Backup all your data
Backup frequently
Take some backups off-site
Keep some old backups
Test your backups
Secure your backups
Perform integrity checking
And note that it's not necessary to purchase anything to achieve backup enlightenment.
My next sig will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush
If you post all your data to slashdot then it will be safely archived.
If you somehow do not get modded offtopic and you'll also be google cached for extra security.
Safe deposit boxes are a really good deal. Mine costs something like $20 per year, and every time I'm going to the bank anyway I just bring an optical disk with all my vital stuff and swap it with the one that's there. Now the trick is not losing the key to the deposit box in the fire/flood/etc. that presumably destroyed all my other backups at home.
For the love of god. When we recommend off-site backups we mean off-site. Thieves are just one issue. Then there are fires, tornadoes, earthquakes and the whole gambit of other natural and man-made disasters. Unfortunately you don't get to choose which one.
Quack, quack.
I didn't either, but what if BOTH the original and backup are stolen?
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2005/08/10
That said, it's really sad when someone loses data, even if it's their own fault for not making backups.
Encrypt and store all software (OS and encryption program) with it so you can recover it as well :) Hell even keep a computer that can run this OS 15 years later too :)
http://www.rense.com/general79/wdx1.htm
The data is a zillion times more valuable than the PC. Figure out the most painless way to backup the data and hide the backup disk somewhere.
And... look! We're back on topic!
I've been thinking of getting one of those hard disks with the network connector on the back. If you combine this with one of those "network across power lines" adapters you could put the hard disk anywhere in the house (attic, basement...) and still access it from your main PC.
For a "high crime area" this seems ideal.
PS: Yes, the chances of him getting his data back is zero. It's a pity he had to learn the hard way....
I go around telling all my friends to back up their data, how important this is, how they could lose 100% their baby/wedding photos in a millisecond, etc. but I know none of them ever do.
No sig today...
I'm just a poor working stiff but I have easily 500+ CD and DVD backups going back 8+ years and some of those have data going going back to old 5 1/4" back ups. These days I also have multiple hard drive back up so there's a lot of redundancy. I'm planning to start a process of regularly archiving hard drives in a bank safety deposit box. With his kind of money hire some one to come in at least once a month to do back ups if you can't be bothered. Better yet set up a home network with the server in a safe. A home level server can be quite small and it'd be easy enough to make it tough for your average thief to get your data. It could also give you some fire protection as well. Also since he has a California home why on earth didn't he have a computer there with duplicate files? Did he have his life on a notebook computer? Blow a couple of hundred and hire a consultant and they'll make recommendations if you really are this clueless about computers. The guy's an editor and knows cameras so it's not like he's completely none tech.
The thief also took the master copies of "Godfather III" and that appalling schmaltzfest section of "New York Stories". Movie lovers are presently in negotiation for those not to be returned.
Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
In Holland there was a nice program where people could get their house robbed by a formerly professional thief (convicted, sentenced, done his time). It looked fairly realistically done (he didn't loiter, he rushed through the house). Children's bedrooms and kitchens are prime targets, precisely because of your reasoning.
If you want to store something securely, do an off-site backup.
I read it elsewhere: it was armed robbery, and it sounds like they took the originals too.
One should always have at least the bare minimum of three copies of their data whenever possible with at least one of the copies *always* located off-site ...
... in essance leaving *no* valid backup at all.
... this shuld be obvious to folks in IT ... yet often this basic precaution is neglected, especially by laypeople, due to ignorance, economy, laziness, etc.
1. The HD in the computer
2. Backup device #1 that's intended for the next backup stored locally or off-site
3. Backup device #2 that's intended for the backup *after the next one* stored off-site
If one only has two copies, which is common, the problem is if the backup fails for whatever reason, then one can suddenly end up with messed up data on their HD *and* on the backup device too
The key to avoiding that problem is doing backups in rotation where at least one copy (ideally even more than one) is always off-site during the actual backup operation
Ron
All over Hollywood, all the players are now rapidly adding IT guru to their Rolodex. IT geeks will be hotter than personal trainers, personal chefs, and handbag doggies.Backing up and securing your data will be the next trendy thing. Gucci diamond encrusted USB keychain drives will become the newest fashion statement.
Otherwise known as the easy-to-remember "BBTKTSP" list...
Not very professional.
I can't believe this was tagged with haha. Why is it funny when non-techsavvy people lose all their valuable data? It's not funny. It's terrible. As techies, we should be educating & empowering people, not isolating them.
...which was a transistor wrapped up in a newspaper, along with a note that said, "Maxtor sleeps with the fishes".
When losing the sole copy of data, everyone always laughs and says you should have backed up. People, shut up please. That is a fair criticism to an IT or development professional, but not to an average computer user. While average users do know that data loss can occur and will often backup important files to a CD or DVD, there is no standard and easy way for users to backup ALL their important data, do it at regular intervals, test it, an distribute it geographically. Much of this process must be automated. Also, either the quality of media needs to go up, or specifically designed backup-grade hard drives and media need to be developed and released, because the current crop of equipment is pretty unreliable.
Are people expected to keep a second car around if their main one fails? Are people expected to perform regular scheduled maintenance on their cars themselves? No, because it is too complex and troublesome for the average users.
I've reviewed several backup applications and services, and none of them would pass the "mom" easy of use test. I believe there is a potential market for a robust comprehensive backup system...
LS
There is a fine line between being a cultivated citizen and being someone else's crop. - A. J. Patrick Liszkie
He'll receive an offer from The Godfather he can't refuse.
In reality I expect some moron who doesn't know jack will end up selling it to get high.
I don't think theft prevention is the issue for 99.99% of the population.
I think it's more about losing a lifetime of your email/photos/writings/etc., none of which has any value to a thief who's just looking for something to hock.
PS: What difference does renting/not make to my suggestion of hiding a network disk somewhere inaccessible and accessing via the mains wiring?
No sig today...
Don't store it in the same home/building/area. What if a disaster strike like a fire? Take the backup somewhere else far away. Internet would be good if you can secure the datas. A bank, that you visit, should be safe too.
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
Memory sticks have gotten to be large enough that I can keep a backup of my most important and changeable data in my pocket. They aren't large enough for audio and image files, but they hold a fantastic amount of compressed text. Burglars won't get it because it isn't at home, and it isn't very likely to be damaged in a natural disaster either.
The last time I checked Dreamhost's prices, it was $20/month for 1 TB of disk space. At this point, I believe you are primarily limited by the upload speed of your Internet connection as far as how much data you're able to actually backup off-site to your webhosting account. I left an external USB hard drive (with my backups) at work over the weekend, uploading to the webhosting account. Cheap and easy backup solution.
Off-site is an important part of any backup plan.
Unless some fanatical group is hunting down your data backups, you should be able to lose a house (fire), lose a building (9/11), lose an entire city (Hurricane Katrina) and your data should be fine. There's practically no excuse for it in 2007, with storage as cheap as it is, and with that new-fangled Interweb technology everyone's talking about.
This case changes the Coppola scenario somewhat in that instead of a thief the data is lost to a careless computer store employee who discards a customer's old drive instead of copying it to the PC the customer just bought. Customer had no backup. Debate at Network World has found little (although some) support/sympathy for the customer; most say it's his fault and absolve the store of responsibility. Harsh? http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/19742
TFA says "computers" were stolen, as well as the "backup device", unspecified.
It's not a backup if it's the only copy of your data.
The lesson is, make a backup!
A safe would be a good investment, most are fire proof which is important too.
For a USB back-up unit, get one with a K-slot on it and bolt it to your desk or wall. It will prevent theft in a robbery, a cable lock (the kind with the hoop that bonds permanently is the way to go, stronger than a K-slot). Using a lock on your home system is especially important if you use a laptop, all laptops have a K-slot.
I love my old Powermac, it has a loop for a cable lock and when the loop is in use it prevents the case from being opened too. Some PC cases have that as well, rarely as fancy, but sufficient.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
Back up or fuck up.
"The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
With all these film makers going digital it can't be too costly to invest in some external drives, no can it? There's 500gig drives to be had for a wee $100 so what's the caper here? Backup onto a smart little box, several times over, have some off site as well and the problem is solved. These are high tech industries so am I mistaken when I may expect a director of this stature to have some people in his inner circle taht'd be able to advise him on this?
Slashdot story quality is often low; apparently Slasdot editors don't even Google the stories. This is the real story; it was an armed robbery: Coppola Says Robbery Cost Years of Data (AP). This poorly edited story has even more detail: Thieves Steal Francis Ford Coppola's Everything.
I suspect that there is more to the story than we know. I suspect that he is more worried about release of information than loss of information. The AP article says he had a backup copy of a screenplay on which he is working.
The moral of the story is: Have proprietary data? Use TrueCrypt. Supports Windows and Linux. As all encryption software must be, it is open source, very mature, and supports both Windows and Linux. Supports encrypted devices and encrypted folders, including hidden folders.
To encrypt a file, use the free open source Gnu Privacy Guard.
I see he learned a VALUABLE lesson in the art of backup. NEVER store your backup at the same location that your drive(s) are located, unless it is in a fire/bomb proof safe.
The universe tends toward maximum irony. Don't push it. ...Do a backup onto [a third] drive...take that to your office and lock it in a desk. Every few months, bring it home, do a backup, and immediately take it away again. This is your "my house burned down" backup.
- jwz on backups, 29 Sep 07.
http://jwz.livejournal.com/801607.html
I guess you could call that "my shit got stolen" backup, too. Maximum irony, indeed.
but this is something that has happend and will happen. Fires have destroyed posessions for centuries. Sad, but he will survive. Let us be honest. They where personal and probably emotional items he lost. Boo-f-ing-hoo.
This is not a loss for humanity. This is a personal loss. That's it.
Yes, we all could do the backup-and-save-it-on-another-planet routine, but it just isn't worth the trouble in 99.99999% of the time. You win some, you loose some. Get over it and get on with your life.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
What he probably done was to load up everything on a single drive and carry it around with him.
That's stupid for so many reasons, but a lot of people do it.
They set their removable drives with all their pics, video etc and carry it around with them, like a photo album, using it whenever and however they want.
Odds on, although it's a 'backup device' it's more probably a way of moving his data from point A to point B rather than a true backup.
But he's still an idiot. So is his daughter and son (who's so embarrassed that he changed his name... I'll give him that!)
Imagine getting your HD and carrying it around with you. Geez! Don't drop it!!!
That's just plain stupid. In fact I don't believe that he 'lost' all his stuff. There must be copies around the place, on other drives and stuff. He's just miffed that someone stole his drive and he'll have to load it all up again.
Even for a non-tech, he deserves to go through this as he just wasn't thinking straight!
Jerk.
I know one guy who set his My Document folder to his removable drive. He carries that with him overseas etc etc. He's got no idea how dangerous that is and if he doesn't drop it, leave it, get it stolen or whatever, it'll crash anyway.
Jerk.
Mind you, I've warned him.
Don't be apathetic. Procrastinate!
I didn't RTFA... ... but decided to post some (not even logically self-consistent) nonsense anyway
Buzzz, you lose! If you do it again within the next year, you ought to be taken out and shot early in the morning. Very early and very slowly.
There ought to be a "-5 Author braindead" moderation level for posts like yours.
On the bright side, he should encourage the thieves to put everything up on bittorrent. At least he'll finally have redundant, off-site, storage.
boycott slashdot February 10th - 17th check out: altSlashdot.org
Several years ago, I had a break in. The computer was stolen.
Luckily, I have been using a tape backup, and the robber did not take those. So, I was able to go back one month with everything intact.
In those days, everything I had fit in the 2.5GB tape. I then bought a 10GB tape, and it lasted for a few years. Backups were simply a cron job and an email to tell me that the backup is done and to change the tape. I kept one tape offsite as a precaution.
However, life changed. I got a digital camera and started taking a lot of pictures. Then I got another one with more megapixels and started taking more pictures which are larger in size. All of a sudden, tapes were not enough. The largest Travan tape is 20GB native capacity.
Getting tapes for a home setup is a real chore, specially with the rate the capacity of hard disks is growing. Tapes cannot keep up, specially at price points that home users can afford for both drives and media. Finding the media can be a challenge, let alone finding them at reasonable prices.
To this day, my page on Linux tape backup comes up first on Google, despite moving on from tapes.
Because tapes are no longer enough for the size of data that I have, I now use external disk drives in USB enclosures, two of them to be sure, and a cron job to do daily incremental dumps, and weekly full dumps. See setting up a hard disk USB 2.0 enclosure for backup under Linux and Ubuntu Linux backup of a laptop using a USB enclosure and the dump utility (I use a similar approach for the server).
Although drive enclosures can be theoretically kept offsite, they have to be unmounted, unplugged and are bulkier than tape. So it is inconvenient. Using 2.5" drives may make this more convenient, but their price vs. capacity still makes them more costly.
What are others using for a home setup for tape and offsite backup? DLT? DAT? What?
2bits.com, Inc: Drupal, WordPress, and LAMP performance tuning.
I haven't seen any comments about online backup solutions.
They're quite cheap (~ $50-$100 per year with unlimited storage) now and they make for the (almost) perfect off-site backup solution.
I've tried Mozy.com and Amazon S3.
While not technically a dedicated backup solution, Amazon is quite cost-effective for me and has amazing bandwidth -- I can upload or download through my 24/1.2 mbit connection at full speed 99% of the time. Yes, it's not very user-friendly at first, but after setting up JungleDisk (or your choice of WebDAV interface) and any backup application the first time, you just let the scheduler work its way through your data.
Mozy is cheap at $60/year/computer with unlimited storage, but I get modest connection speeds to their servers. Yet, their Windows client is extremely simple to set up. The Mac client (still a beta) is also good, although not ready for "production" work, yet. Linux is a no-go, though.
Of course it's always best to also keep a local device for quick backups/restores of large amounts of data, but the peace of mind and convenience afforded by online solutions... It's priceless to me...
Agree with parent. Not funny. Technical people have a responsibility to help prevent this, in a number of ways.
Francis, this admirer sincerely hopes you get your data back.
you had me at #!
Remember, Jesus saves. But God does full off-site backups.
Although slightly more expensive (don't waste your time on the "free unlimited storage" media sites), a digital safe-deposit box in the form of an offsite backup service is a lot easier than driving to the bank.
I have a cron job that fires off an rsync command every night - destination is my rsync.net offsite filesystem where I keep 7 days of snapshots of all of my data.
Easy, cheap.
Oh noes! The Horror... The Horror...
Ya, that works great since we havent invented battery powered reciprocating saws yet. Makes mincemeat of cables and wall studs in seconds.
Offsite storage is the only way to go. As you point out, even a simple fire would have wiped him out. With all the talk of 'movie vaults' in his industry you would think that off site storage would have at least crossed his mind once.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
The DJ known as "BT" (Brian Transeau) went through a similar situation, although it was some unknown burglar as opposed to an armed robbery. He too, did not make a backup (stupid, stupid, stupid). Hello, you're a techno-geek, the first think you think of is "how do I back up my Peter Gabriel collaboration tracks". Duh! http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/bt/articles/story/5919472/bts_studio_robbed
Easiest method I've come up with so far for the average user and it only cost $200. It is not the most reliable but it is apparently vastly superior to what 99% of users are doing which is nothing. Buy two usb hard drives like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822154150 . Keep one at a friends/neighbors house. Once a month on the same day you write your mortgage or rent check do the back immediately afterwards. Then drop the drive off at your friend's/neighbor's. Repeat forever. Honestly if you don't tie it to something important you just won't do it.
If you wanna get rich, you know that payback is a bitch
"I use encrypted RAR archives, their encryption is quite strong and uncracked as far as I know."
The key phrase here is 'as far as I know' since RAR is closed source. If your primary concern is encryption, why not use 7z instead?
I have a friend who has one of those in a closet. Open the closet, however, and the first thing you see is the blinking WiFi webcam mounted on the wall above it. He even hung a little sign from it that says "Smile!"
Any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.
[quote]Use a strong passphrase, and there is probably no way anybody will break the encryption in your lifetime, or even the planet's lifetime.[/quote] 640k encryption ought to be enough for anybody
Fact: Everything I say is fiction.
I setup my parents windows PC with an OpenVPN connection to my house and an FTP server (only listening on the TAP interface). I use Duplicity to do an GPG encrypted incremental backup to the FTP server over the VPN.
Duplicity uses encrypted TAR files for the backup, so your internal filenames...etc are never visible, which is an added benefit if you wanted to do this to a hosting provider..etc. Depending on the amount/size of your files, the first backup can be large. To get around that, I made the first backup to an external hard drive, and brought it with me on a visit (rinse and repeat a couple of times a year for good measure).
I haven't tried to restore a single file over the network, but have tested a full restore (copying the files back to an external). That being the case, I'm not sure I'd recommend this solution for an quasi on-line backup system. However, it does work quite well for just getting your data off-site (securely and incrementally), and since my parents live about 60 miles away, I'm getting a bit of geographical diversity as well.
And when there's a fire that burns for half-hour or so before being put out by the fire department, leaving everything a mess but pretty much the entire structure intact? (A much more likely scenario.) What then?
Here's a clue. Contact your local fire department or fire marshall and ASK THEM YOUR QUESTIONS.
Why not spend twenty minutes and get some real answers, instead of engaging in a useless mental masturbation session with your boss? Explain your circumstances and ask THEM if a fire safe is worthwhile, and then if so then ask for some recommendations.
Any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.
For a second I misread the title as "Google loses all his data" and nearly had a heart attack.
Always there are two, a master and apprentice.
Balderdash!
Once it hits the internet, he'll never have to worry about losing it again. His files will be forever stored in the cloud, easily accessible from anywhere in the world.
;p
What more could he ask for??
Don't forget about Boxing Helena. What a shit hole movie that one was. OH, it's just a dream!
That's probably easier said than done. After all, a thief is going to be ransacking your house LOOKING for all of your little hidey-holes.
Basically, you need to follow the rules that make your house less of a target. Outdoor lighting, indoor lighting, maybe a radio on timers so it looks like someone is home. Get an alarm system and SERVICE, and post the signs. Perhaps even add some video cameras here and there.
Make any thief think the house down the block is a better target. Failing that, use the alarm system and service so that the thieves know that there's a time limit and to ensure that they spend as little time as possible searching your house. And lock down your stuff (TVs, computers, etc.) so that it's harder to take, and more time consuming to do so. (Every locked door, cabinet, locked down device, safe, etc., takes time to deal with.) Heck, even using wire ties on your TV and stereo power cords will slow them down.
And if you're REALLY paranoid, we can talk about fingerprint traps, decoys, and a few other things. Remember, most thieves are not the super-professionals you see on film.
You may not be able to STOP them, but you can work to make things more difficult for them, and to reduce your losses.
Any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.
Just throing out that the Mac has an alterantive as well - encrypted home directory, or even better encrypted disk images that you can mount and unmount quite easily.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Isn't an encrypted file system a burden if you want to encrypt just one device?
My guess is that all of his information will be floating around the internet pretty soon, for the most part providing universal back-up :p
However funny this may seem though, it really isn't. Prior to becoming 'computer savvy' I had a computer which I had been using as primary storage for documents and digital photographs. For some reason Windows crashed one day, and I couldn't fix it.
After this incident, I learned that the need to use backup is mandatory and running a redundant backup routine is key. For instance, use a script to backup daily to an external hard drive, and weekly to an internal server for the household. This way, should the local backup get fried, one could grab the info from the server. If one wanted to do it properly, backing up to an external server routinely is more ideal -- but then upload speed can be prohibitive.
Mr. Coppola should be commended for the use of backup since there are far too many people who don't know just how important it is. I feel for him, and hope he gets his backup returned.
I am open source, and Linux baby!
Boxing Helena was directed by another no-talent daughter, Jennifer Lynch. As far as wikipedia or Google know, the Coppolas had nothing to do with it. It was a godawful movie, though. How can any serious movie end on "just a dream?" Deus ex Machina was already old 2,000 years ago.
Are people expected to perform regular scheduled maintenance on their cars themselves? No, because it is too complex and troublesome for the average users.
Are we expected to have sympathy for those who never change their oil and have engine trouble?
There's nothing complex about "don't put all your eggs into one basket".
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
> The key phrase here is 'as far as I know'
Ha, thanks!
unrar e -p"as far as I know" secretarchive.rar
Extracting from secretarchive.rar
Extracting 15yearsofwork.iso OK
All OK
Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
Back to my old days where normal harddisk capacity was 5GB and CD was around, data backup was just burning 6~7 CD and it wasn't too hard.
Then DVD came out and harddisk capacity had increased to 80GB. That was about 20 DVDs to perform a full backup, still not too bad.
After that, P2P such as bittorrent started to rule and harddisk capacity grown to 320GB, but DVD still haven't evolved. The only solution for me was to buy another harddisk for backup.
One year ago 500GB harddisk came down to an affordable price, I bought one and my storage is double again.
After one year of waiting the price of 500GB harddisk still haven't drop much, and 1TB harddisk is still struggling to enter consumer market. There is no even sign of Blue-ray DVD in my country, not to say the burner. Even if Blue-ray came to an affordable price, 40GB is still too little and too slow to backup 1TB of data.
On the other side, DVD has become so popular and flash drive capacity has grown beyond 2GB. In digital photography I just shoot in raw mode and in each event 2GB of photos are eating space of my harddisk insanely. The harddisk videocam has a capacity of 40GB and allow over 50 hours of video recording, but it will be a big pain on where to store the video clips if you fully use the videocam.
The fact is that removable media has grown larger and larger but the harddisks cannot catch up fast enough to compensate their growth. Yes, price/GB has dropped much, but the total price is just growing too much. We need exponential growth in TB harddisks just as it were in GB harddisk.
Currently I have 1.1TB of desktop harddisk, 500GB of full backup harddisk, 160GB of notebook harddisk, and 60GB of portable harddisk. Synchronizing between main storage and portable storage is a pain as I have to choose limited data carefully. Backup is a pain and takes way too long time. The most expensive hardware on my computer is harddisk which cost half of the total cost!
So is there a cheap and easy way to backup 1TB of data other than using harddisk? No. Please, when will a 2TB harddisk come out and kickstart the exponential growth again?
My company (http://www.zettabytestorage.com/) makes a managed NAS device which would have completely prevented their problems. Better still, our "Professional" line of products includes local disk encryption, meaning that the thieves get nothing but a fancy NAS device on which they need to reformat the drives before they can use it.
There are a nearly innumerable number of other companies providing some sort of offsite backup at varying mixes of ease of use, capacity, and price. Some of them, like ours, are extremely easy to setup, and require no further active participation from the user. They pass the "mom" test, the "CPA who doesn't like computers" test, and almost certainly would also pass the "rich old man with 15 years worth of work who was able to setup an external USB drive" test.
Our home lines starts at 30GB for $34/Month and our Professional at 140GB for $139/Month. It's not free, but it's a whole lot less expensive than losing 15 years worth of work. And includes geographically remote replication, hardware replacement in the event of loss or failure, all shipping charges, and any other applicable costs.
Additionally, there are a huge number of DIY solutions out there for remote data backup. They are not as easy, but they are less expensive.
If you put months or years of work into creating your data, but then don't either take the time to learn how to do it yourself, or pay the pittance required for a professional backup solution, you should probably spend some time thinking about your priorities.
Building a better backup.
Zettabyte Storage
Easy to hide and/or snailmail in addition to a backup mirror.
Downside: I'm up to 17 DVDs in a backup set... I wish the industry would settle on a single standard so we can get cheap high-density DVD burners and media.
But even 17 DVDs is an easy to mail package and largely immune to any hazard other than non-delivery.
Tech Public Policy stuff
Dude. The Godfather. Apocalypse Now.
Give the guy a break for funding his kids crappy movie.
My own solution to this is to share my drive with a friend and he shares a part of his. The backup goes by rsync of selected directories. Sensitive data is automatically encrypted. Currently, we store 30GB for each other. He lives on the other side of town. I also do a system backup locally where I test upgrades and so on. If something fails, I just go back to the old system and let the rsync-based local take back things to normal. If the upgrade (or whatever) is to my liking. I switch to the new disk with grub and have the new system copy over to the old. This has saved my ass so many times.
I have set up my mothers computer (windows 2000) to do a remote (rsync) backup to mine (which is Linux/Ubuntu). That will make her very happy one day.
probably wouldn't have happened if he was running Linux.
What a depressingly stupid machine.