Backup Strategy?

[discofuel]

So my current backup strategy uses two western digital external hard drives.

The first I have permanently connected to my iMac using Time Machine.

On the second I use CCC to backup to every week and keep it in the trunk of my car as an offsite backup.

Just had a couple of questions to make sure I'm prepared for the worse...

- What temperatures can hard drives survive at? Is there a risk of it overheating in my car?

- I've read about some issues with CCC's backups. I'm currently backing up to an encrypted disk image - is there any way to verify the backup? If I just cloned the drive instead so it was bootable is there any way to encrypt it? And is Super Duper more reliable?

Thanks

 

[slpdLoad]

Someone with more knowledge will have to answer about the encryption, but generally if you can successfully boot from a clone, then you're good to go.

Is there really no other place than the trunk of your car? Due to vibrations, heat, wrecks, getting stolen, etc...almost any indoor location would be better.

I'd check the manufacturer's website to see specs of the drive/enclosure.

 

[satcomer]

- What temperatures can hard drives survive at? Is there a risk of it overheating in my car?

Check the drive manufactures manual, it should tell you.

- I've read about some issues with CCC's backups. I'm currently backing up to an encrypted disk image - is there any way to verify the backup? If I just cloned the drive instead so it was bootable is there any way to encrypt it? And is Super Duper more reliable?

A clone is a clone. Both programs just use the included unix script for rsync. The only difference is price and the shareware SuperDuper can back just changes after the full backup. However CCC now can do the same.

 

[discofuel]

Temperature (Non-operating)
-4° F to 149° F
-20° C to 65° C

Unlikely to get that hot!!!

Is there really no other place than the trunk of your car? Due to vibrations, heat, wrecks, getting stolen, etc...almost any indoor location would be better.

Guess it's not ideal. Could leave it at a friend's house but then I'll probably end up not backing it up as much.