I realize this is a very odd question but I know how responsible a lot of PC members are so someone may have valuable input on the subject. I'm looking for a large fire/water proof safe to store paper files and small digital media. The cabinet needs to be at least 4' tall or a 4 drawer system.
I'm sure this isn't news to you, but there's a HUGE difference between fire resistant and fire proof. I did just a little investigating a while back. Even the fire proof ones might still get hot enough to allow certain things stored inside to get very hot. Of course, paper burns as 451ºF but plastics melt at lower temps.
I agree Tony. I've been reading on UL ratings and even the fully fireproof systems can be rated as high as 350deg which is enough to melt the internals of a hard drive or warp/melt dvds.
If you want a safe place to keep your backed up data your best bet it to keep it off site. I've heard Carbonite is really good and cheap. Online Backup, Computer Backup Software & Remote Backup - Carbonite I personally dont use off site backups but I really should.
The best bet I've seen is to back up important electronic files to an off-site location (for example, your computer at work, google docs, or on a flash drive in a safety deposit box). Its probably a safe bet that the media you want to protect is either: a. personally important, but non compromising (ie family photos) b. potentially personally compromising (ie tax returns that could be used to steal your identity) There's nothing wrong with taking advantage of google doc's to back up a ton of stuff you wouldn't want to lose in a fire. For the more sensitive items, however, i would personally not back them up online, as any online storage medium is susceptible to breaches in security. Corporations go through this all the time. You have some sort of online database. That database backs up regularly to fail-over standby. Those back up to a pre-production that can be brought up to replace production quickly. That's written off onto long term storage periodically, and kept on site. After a few days, the long term storage is moved off-site (probably to another city) in case of extreme emergency (like Katrina).
I'm sorry. I should have provided more details. The documents to be stored are work-related and are normally kept in a safe deposit box but we have outgrown the size of these units in our area and are looking for something more cost effective and larger. We have off-site storage but the unit is not fire or waterproof. Placing a fire and waterproof safe in this location would work great. There is also security at this location so the possibility of theft is minimal. I will be storing mostly folder-based paper files, a hard drive and dvds. The bulk of the material to be stored are paper files though. We also rotate multiple hard drives that backup the server and are taken off-site such that there is always a copy of the server files located offsite. This secures our electronic files but for more redundancy I would like to have one master drive that I update a few times a year and is stored in a secure location off site.
Ahh... in that case a normal fire proof container would probably be sufficient. Since the materials in question are backups stored in an off-site location, you probably have enough redundancy to recover if the backups are lost from a fire (since you can just make another backup), as the likelihood of the backups AND the primaries being destroyed on the same day is probably very slim.
I agree. There are a lot of options and some are quite spendy so I was hoping someone had a recommendation brandwise.
I tried Carbonite, THEY COMPLETLY SUCK PORK!!!! When I want a back-up of my "C" drive, I want a COMPLETE back-up! All carbonite will save is basically your My Documents files...that's it! When I crashed the last computer I went to Carbonheads, and when it was done, all I had was ALL my directories, and sub directories, COMPLETLY EMPTY!!! the only directories that were repopulated, were My Documents and a couple of data files.....CRAP!!! If you want a FULL back-up, use Nero, or something like it, and just do a COMPLETE copy of each hard drive...yes it's a Pain In Da nice person, but it's about the only way you can get back to where you were, with minimal data loss!!! Don't waste your money with Carbonite, you WILL be disappointed!!
My first thought was something like this: But then, maybe you should give these guys a call: Data Protection and Recovery Services, Tape Vaulting, Online Backup, Disaster Recovery - Iron Mountain
One consideration is how the fire rating is achieved. A friend of mine with a significant stamp collection was horrified to learn that some 'fireproof' safes sprayed the contents with water to keep them cool.
