Flash drives for backups

[Marcos]

I have been seeing many people having bad stories about losing their websites because of not having backups so I am going to start a more regular backup schedule and I was thinking about using flash drives to put my backups on since I have many of them.

Are flash drives safe to use for our backups or should I use something else?

 

[Storm]

I don't know how good of an idea that would be because flash drives fail at higher rates than other types of storage devices. If you made multiple copies on separate flash drives though then that would ensure loss protection.

 

[ulterios]

Flash drives can be used for backups as long as you make sure that you always try to have your backups in another place as well, just in case of a flash drive failure.

I would also recommend not using some cheap no-name brands if you value your backups. Also stay away from SanDisk flash drives. I have had multiple flash drive failures and lost data from using this brand.

Since you say that you have many flash drives then just put a copy of everything on 2 different flash drives and that can help in case of a failure.

Another thing is to keep the 2 copies in different locations just in case they are damaged, lost, stolen or otherwise compromised because they are stored together.

 

[Dean]

You can use flash drives for storing backups but they do have a higher rate of failures so you will have to take that into consideration and probably make sure you have multiple backups (different locations/places) which is always a good idea anyway.

I have my website backups on my web hosting accounts, my computer hard drive and an external hard drive just to be safe. I did used to keep one copy of my site backups on a large flash drive but those are now on an external hard drive.

A flash drive will be fine just have a backup on another location or another flash drive as well.

 

[Maria Marketing]

It might be a good idea for some people but I always seem to misplace my flash drives so it probably wouldn't be the best thing for me to do. If you have a place where you know they always are then it might be good because of the convenience and ease of moving them around and taking them with you.

 

[Smith-K]

I suggest you to use an alternative storage drive along with a flash drive, if incase you lose some data from the flash drive then you can always have a backup. Also, there are many cloud storage providers who provide free backup plans for starters. You can always use multiple cloud storage providers and have your data saved on the cloud.

 

[KeralMTG]

I think you should be careful not to trust your backups on flash drives because some times they just stop working for no reason. I have this happen on more then once and lost my files. You should be careful.

 

[Melker]

I have used flash drives (thumb drives) for backups for years since I have always had many of them around. Just make sure that you double your backups meaning a copy on 2 different devices just in case one goes bad or gets lost. Trust me on that one.

 

[Catherine1]

I have never had a flash drive go bad but I have lost them a few times over the years of using them. I know the cheap ones are not to be trusted from hearing from other people having problems with them.

Just keep 2 copies like some other people said and you should be alright with using them.

 

[Ben]

If you decide to use flash drives to store backups or anything important make sure you don't use those cheap counterfeit flash drives like on ebay or amazon. If you are using some good name brand drives then that is your best bet but you can still lose files with those too so keep an extra copy of everything somewhere else or on another flash drive.

 

[Kania]

I used to use these kind of drives to store some backups of programs and documents that were important and I had some of them go bad and I could not open the files any more. So you must be careful and have a backup on your computer or online in case they go bad.

 

[JohnQ]

I have had the worst luck with flash drives so I don't store anything on them that I value. I have had so many go bad or the files on them becomes unreadable that I don't trust them.

You can do it but keep a backup somewhere else in addition to the flash drive backup just in case of a problem with one.

 

[JennyJ]

Ever since I lost some important documents that I had stored on a flash drive I have not trusted them. I would advise you to be careful if you do store your backups on a flash drive.

 

[Traveler]

Flash drives are more prone to failing so use caution and have more than 1 backup. I can't begin to tell you how many flash drives I have had fail.

A word of advice: Don't use cheap flash drives for backups!

 

[ulterios]

Flash drives are more prone to failing so use caution and have more than 1 backup. I can't begin to tell you how many flash drives I have had fail.

A word of advice: Don't use cheap flash drives for backups!

Don't tell me those $10, 128GB flash drives are eBay are not to be trusted!

I have known so many people that have lost data because of cheap flash drives. If you value your data then you need to use good quality flash drives. Cut corners and go cheap and it's like gambling with your data.

 

[Traveler]

Don't tell me those $10, 128GB flash drives are eBay are not to be trusted!

I have known so many people that have lost data because of cheap flash drives. If you value your data then you need to use good quality flash drives. Cut corners and go cheap and it's like gambling with your data.

I like to gamble but not with my data and files. I can get money back but not those things.

 

[ulterios]

I like to gamble but not with my data and files. I can get money back but not those things.

Same here and I have lost some important things due to flash drive failures so I use extreme caution when using them now.

 

[Traveler]

Same here and I have lost some important things due to flash drive failures so I use extreme caution when using them now.

Anything I put on flash drives I am now also making a copy and storing it on one of my cloud accounts like Google drive. I just want to be safe and not lose anything important.

 

[ulterios]

Anything I put on flash drives I am now also making a copy and storing it on one of my cloud accounts like Google drive. I just want to be safe and not lose anything important.

I always have at least 2 copies of everything myself now due to some data and file losses.

You don't realize just how valuable your backups are until you lose something important!

 

[JoeMilford]

I don't know how good of an idea that would be because flash drives fail at higher rates than other types of storage devices. If you made multiple copies on separate flash drives though then that would ensure loss protection.

ulterios,
I think this is good advice, and you actually reminded me that, before I get on a train for a long trip with my laptop, I better back up a lot of files on my laptop in case it gets broken or stolen in some unfortunate incident in my travels. It's a heartbreaking thing to lose any file or document one has created, and to lose a whole website with no backup would probably drive me mad.