if you need the data to be nearline, i would suggest getting a big external usb2.0 hard disk.

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You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.

Look into the Accordance Systems raid devices. Find them here. They have internal and external drive devices.

We use the Internal version of the 2000, but there is an External Version as well. The system is 2 hard drives, but your PC will see them as a single drive. Remove one of the locakable drive trays, replace it with another drive, flip a swtich, go home, and in the morning you have 2 idential drives in your system. It is awesome, simple, relatively cheap, and great peace of mind of us here with our SQL database in one box and the important files on a 2nd box. I'm going to get one for my home network as well. Lots of storage, cheap!

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-'13 E93 M3 Cab, Interlagos Blue, Carbon Black leather, DCT, all options, and fun, endless fun!
-'13 X5 35i M-Sport, Carbon Black & Cinnamon, Dinan Stage 2!
-'15 Toyota Sienna Limited Premium AWD, Silver & Grey, Nav & BluRay, and less lame than the 2011 it replaced
-'07 Mini Cab S, Laser Blue, 6sp, endless fun that ended (sold)
-'04 X5 4.4i, loaded, loved, modded and sold

External hard drives are inexpensive. You can construct your own for even less from a place like newegg.com. I prefer to buy the ones with both USB 2.0 and FireWire.

about a month ago i bought 2 200GB HD's for $69 ea. and the external enclosures for about $26 ea. from newegg.... a bargain.

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You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.

like other said, I would definitely recommend "backing up" to a single device to keep with the ease of management and also the ease of recovery. An external drive would be a way to go as DVDs can get lost, misplaced, etc. Being in the industry though, the correct terminology is actually "backing it up" rather than "archiving" as archiving is referred to moving data off the primary storage into a nearline or offline media..

The Accordance system I mention above allows your to backup your backup with the Raid 1 array, and makes archiving a breeze. Simply unlock the drive, remove it, slide in a new one, and take the drive offsite with you. I do it every stinkin' day and sleep well at night!

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-'13 E93 M3 Cab, Interlagos Blue, Carbon Black leather, DCT, all options, and fun, endless fun!
-'13 X5 35i M-Sport, Carbon Black & Cinnamon, Dinan Stage 2!
-'15 Toyota Sienna Limited Premium AWD, Silver & Grey, Nav & BluRay, and less lame than the 2011 it replaced
-'07 Mini Cab S, Laser Blue, 6sp, endless fun that ended (sold)
-'04 X5 4.4i, loaded, loved, modded and sold

I can't say enought about http://ximeta.com/products/network_d...isk/index.html . Easy to use, attach to and fairly fast.

I just bought a 160GB external HD; USB 2.0 from Costco for $100, no rebates. It's back up to $120 today though. It's the easiest way to back up or save things that you don't want saved on your work network storage or local disk. You can grab it and go when the authorities break down your door.

I bought my fianceé a Speeze external HD enclosure from Newegg and she built it up with a HD she had lying around. That's also a good solution as suggested above, especially if you have a spare internal HD that you're not using.

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Thanks for your suggestions guys. Let me hit the shops sometime this weekend, and get this done. Yea, the USB 2.0 devices seem the most friendly.

Cheers,

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