Family Historian User Group

I've been reading the post regarding Microsoft Skydrive and it reminded me about BT Digital Vault and I was wondering if anyone on here uses it, I really want something that just backs up my photos and FH whilst keeping them on my computer, but I'd rather 'speak' to someone who has first hand knowledge before I try it out.
Thanks for any advice.

ID:6423

Depends on the size of your files but I and many others use DropBox. Search for the many comments that have been posted here before. One point , if you share your pictures etc with others and they join DropBox you get an extra 500Mb per person joining. I now have 5.75Gb!
Dagwood

I don't use the BT product mainly because you only get it with BT Broadband and I would only consider them if they were the only ISP left.

So the point is that if you continue to use BT Broadband, then BT Digital Vault is probably OK,
but if you switch to another broadband supplier, what happens to your BT Digital Vault service?

Whereas, if you use Dropbox or Microsoft Skydrive or Windows Live Mesh, the service is independent from your broadband supplier.
Also many more people worldwide use these services than BT Digital Vault so support should be better.

Thanks for the comments, I didn't think of what happens if I leave BT, but my work will still be on my PC so wouldn't be lost. Skydrive and Live Mesh both look like another version of DropBox and to be honest I don't like the idea of having my work only on a 'cloud' somewhere, I much prefer it on my computer. Thanks for the input.

Rusty said:
Thanks for the comments, I didn't think of what happens if I leave BT, but my work will still be on my PC so wouldn't be lost. Skydrive and Live Mesh both look like another version of DropBox and to be honest I don't like the idea of having my work only on a 'cloud' somewhere, I much prefer it on my computer. Thanks for the input.

BT Vault is their version of the Cloud. The idea of Live Mesh and indeed any of the others is that you can use the data from there on any machine if you wish. They also allow you just to use it as external 'off site' backup which is all I use Sky Drive for. I prefer having my data local and backed up locally but the belt and braces of a back-up in the cloud is also well worth having imho particularly as it is 'free'.

The only thing about have things 'in the cloud' is how good your internet connection is and how much data you are uploading and downloading.

Drop box and others just copy your files to cloud storage, they are still on your computer. The advantage is that if you have 2 computers, dropbox will synchronise the files (As long as you have internet access) so that all copies are the same.
Thus 2 computers would have the FH project folder on each plus a copy in cloud with drop box. Dropbox also keeps backups that are not counted towards your quota.

Thanks everyone, I think that where I was going wrong was that I was dragging and dropping my files into Dropbox, whereas if I copy and paste my work stays on my computer.

Rusty did you read the hints in the knowledge base on how to use FH with Dropbox?

http://www.fhug.org.uk/wiki/doku.php?id ... ts:dropbox

Yes I did Jane, but I obviously didn't understand it, I'll go back and have another go.  (Do we have a 'blushing' icon?  I think that I need it)

I just have the Family Historian folder (which contains my project folders) in my Dropbox folder:

C:UsersPeterDropboxFamily Historian Projects

The only thing I have to backup manually is:

C:ProgramDataCalico PieFamily Historian

Same here, And I have one PC on XP, the other on W7.
I use synctoy to copy the Program Data (Application Data)CalicoPieFamily Historian Folder to a USB drive , thus ensuring my customizations move between machines

If you regularly use the FH V5 Plugin Backup and Restore Family Historian Settings to Backup your C:ProgramDataCalico PieFamily Historian and Windows Registry settings to your C:Users...DropboxFamily Historian ProjectsBackup folder, then they will also be saved in Dropbox and can be synchronised with other PC by using the Plugin Restore tab.

Another point about DropBox is that if you somehow, mistakenly, deleted a file on DropBox it would be deleted from both computers. However you can go back to the DropBox site and find any deleted file and restore it without problem.
Dagwood

Re Dagwoods post above does this mean that if Dropbox was to lose all your files (maybe due to a fault at their end) you would also lose all the files on all of your PCs that were syncd to Dropbox?

Or if you accidently delete, or otherwise lose all of the FH files on one of your PCs, then everything else will be 'updated' to nothing.

I've not used Dropbox, as my project folder is bigger than the free allowance (2Gb) and the smallest upgrade seems to be $10 per month, so have not taken the time to consider all the 'what iffs' resulting from an error of some sort in a syncing type setup.

Dropbox might have their own backups, but I can only imagine the shock at seeming to have lost everything (of course you always have your own backups - and know that the recovery process works ok - DON'T YOU?). [cry]

David ~ you are wise in recognising the risks associated with any automatic cloud synchronisation service.

Different services such as Dropbox and SpiderOak and Windows Live Mesh offer different features in terms of amount of free storage, what can be synchronised, and how long backups are retained.

In addition there are cloud backup services such as SkyDrive and Google Docs.

It is worth mentioning that such cloud services usually utilise quadruple replication, i.e. the files are stored on four different servers, so that the risk of accidental loss is minimised.

As you say it always wise to have your own PC backups as well, and check that they work.

Also consider the vulnerabilities of these PC backups.
What would happen if there was a lightning strike, power glitch, or even a fire that destroyed all the internal/external hard-disk and CD/DVD storage where you keep your PC?
Ideally backup copies should be stored in physically separate locations, by say exchanging DVD with a friend or relation, or keeping the copies on physically separate PC.

David,

Another cloud sync option is SugarSync. They offer 5gb as the starting point for free.

Bill