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ChemIT sharing their recommendations and best-practices for backups and group file storage. May be of particular value to research groups.

ChemIT-recommended services

 

Costs

Resource links

Notes and considerations

SFS
Central file server services

Per group:
$9/mo for 150GB
$30/mo for 500GB
$60/mo for 1TB (onwards)

http://www.it.cornell.edu/services/sharedfile/fees.cfm

Service backs up all files there via EZ-Backup at no additional cost.
Versioning (access to prior versions and deleted files) is available, and obviously takes up some  of the allocated space (~20%).
Set up private folders for each member. By default, can't see each others files.
Has capacity for shared folders and documents, if sharing is desired.
CIFS are Windows and Mac-friendly. (NFS option also available.)
Accessible from off-campus via VPN.
NetID-based so usernames and password are easy to remember.
If you need more than 1-2 TB of storage, other solutions may be more cost-effective. Contact ChemIT for more details.

EZ-Backup
Central backup services

Per computer:
$5.50/mo
(First 18 GB, compressed)

http://www.it.cornell.edu/services/ezbackup/fees/

Default setting is to backup full computer, including the OS, which makes for a larger backup and thus potentially more expensive.
But the most cost-effective method will requiring carefully and accurately focusing backup on just user's unique docs, not full OS.
There is an archive service available.
A cost-effective solution for even larger amounts of data on one system.
Very robust backup services, well-proven over the years.

Box.com
Central cloud storage

Free to CU members, up to 10GB
(More data storage available. Contact ChemIT for details.)

http://www.it.cornell.edu/services/box/about.cfm

Good for working files. Good for sharing, including to your own, other computers. Limited space.
Individual file size limit is 2GB.
Limits on file names and path lengths.
Cornell-contracted. Use and rights governed differently than with your group's private DropBox.com accounts, for example.
More space is available to individuals; contact ChemIT to put in this request to CIT, please.
Has capacity for shared folders and documents, if sharing is desired.
Service stores prior versions of files, and in most cases also deleted files.
Consider backing up files in case account gets hacked or of a bad internal actor.
NetID-based so usernames and password are easy to remember.

Other backup-related info

Hard drives fail

It's not a question of if a hard drive will fail. Only a question of when. Thus, make sure your unique data is not on just one hard drive.

  • Backups is a term which applies to restoring current or very recent data.
  • Archiving is a term focusing more on restoring prior versions of data or older data.

Synchronizing is not a panacea

Synchronizing, especially without access to prior versions, can confer very limited data protection since undesired changes get sync'ed. What can happen to a hacked DropBox.com account demonstrate this danger.

Ideas to back up Box.com (or DropBox.com) files

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