No mo' hard drives

[rontaki]

I destroy the data on a hard drive (not SSD) by taking it apart, bending the platters and I get to keep the strong neodymium magnets inside. Bending the platters causes the oxide layer (that has the data) to flake off, and makes it almost impossible to recover data from.

The bits needed to remove the cover and internal parts are cheap and plentiful nowadays.
Some platters are not made of aluminum, rather they are glass! A bit of a surprise when trying to bend one.
Wear safety glasses! Let's see data recovered from that!

Finally, I have a lifetime supply of strong magnets from all the drives I've sanitized this way.

 

[JasperFrank]

With spinning hard drives it was easy to know you had wiped the drive. The best way I found was to lay down new headers and sectors. This depends on the random event that the head starts to write on the platter. Now do a three pass zero out in those re-established sectors. There is no recovery from this.

 

[kcflhrc]

The only thing I want in the Cloud is me on an airplane headed for warmer weather

 

[Gale Hawkins]

The only thing I want in the Cloud is me on an airplane headed for warmer weather

Where are your bank account records stored?

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Finally got my home office set up and realized my Dell with Windows 7 was not going to cut it. Got my son to meet me at Walmart and when with HP notebook/tablet format. With the solid state drive it boots faster than my cell phone. I went the 27" Samsung curved monitor for a second display. Even with extended warranties it was under $1K. My 10 year Dell was more than that. I love having Bluetooth keyboard and bone conduction headphones.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

What Is SSD? Everything You Need to Know About Solid-State Storage

Learn everything you know about SSDs. From answering "what is SSD?" to how to choose the best SSD for you, we cover it all!

kinsta.com

 

[Oaktree]

My hard drive failed in my Dell all in one after 6 years. I had a computer repair store install a solid state drive for $200. It runs faster now and better than new.

I did the same with the laptop I use for my work. Not something I use everyday, but it's nice to have it boot up quickly when I do need it...it's about 1/2 the time the old drive took. Bonus is that it uses less power so the battery life is better.

 

[dmccarty]

Where are your bank account records stored?

Most/Many banks, especially large ones, are using IBM mainframes to store and process transactions. The systems are highly secure. In the last couple of generations data is encrypted at all times. In other systems, data is only encrypted at rest, meaning when stored. The latest mainframes encrypt data at rest, when the data is in memory, being processed and when moving among the system components. The cards that provide the keys have been around for decades and are highly protected even if someone managed to get physical access to the cards. If someone tries to tamper with the card, it will self destruct.

Later,
Dan

 

[Oaktree]

Where are your bank account records stored?

Apples & oranges.
If someone should hack your bank, they're not going to have access to your photos, personal correspondence, tax returns etc. I don't know how secure cloud storage outfits are...they may or may not come clean if there's been a breach but not sure I'd want to put all my eggs in that basket.

I'm not even sure how trustworthy some of these companies are. Do you know Google isn't selling what info it can glean from stuff you're storing there like they do to target ads like they do everywhere else?
I think Apple lets you store your music collection on their servers to access anywhere, but if they flag a song you upload as one they already have, they'll substitute their file copy for yours, even if yours may be different (ie-album version vs radio edit, etc.). I get that they're doing it to maximize server space, but it's still kind of sleazy.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Apples & oranges.
If someone should hack your bank, they're not going to have access to your photos, personal correspondence, tax returns etc. I don't know how secure cloud storage outfits are...they may or may not come clean if there's been a breach but not sure I'd want to put all my eggs in that basket.

I'm not even sure how trustworthy some of these companies are. Do you know Google isn't selling what info it can glean from stuff you're storing there like they do to target ads like they do everywhere else?
I think Apple lets you store your music collection on their servers to access anywhere, but if they flag a song you upload as one they already have, they'll substitute their file copy for yours, even if yours may be different (ie-album version vs radio edit, etc.). I get that they're doing it to maximize server space, but it's still kind of sleazy.

Cloud Technology, Software and Solutions

To create exceptional customer banking experiences, we moved away from data centers and moved to the public cloud. Explore our journey to the cloud.

www.capitalone.com

Yes, we’re cloud powered​

 

[5030]

I think I will stick with hard drives and back ups. I am migrating to SSDs.

I'm 100% chipset hard drive now. Much faster retrieval speed, no defrag and no mechaincs at all. I still back up to a Western Digital external but it's a chipset as well.

 

[Torvy]

I still back up to optical storage. It is vulnerable to different things than magnetic storage, so it gives me one added layer of peace.

Some of y'all are young. I am of an age where personal computers became a thing about when I started HS. Our school computers were 8k Commodore PETs. The drive was just a port to a cassette tape drive. Long load times and linear, like looking for the next song before technology could find gaps. We had to jot down the numbers from an analog counter on the tape player.

Spent a couple of years in entertainment software development and about 8 doing and managing hardware support for the cow spotted guys. Left the business in late 2000.

 

[Oaktree]

Cloud Technology, Software and Solutions

To create exceptional customer banking experiences, we moved away from data centers and moved to the public cloud. Explore our journey to the cloud.

www.capitalone.com

Yes, we’re cloud powered​

"The cloud" is one of those buzz phrases that sounds cool, but no one really knows what it means. You're basically trusting your business data security to someone else's server and hoping they do a good job with security and are still around when you need them.
I suppose it makes sense for a small business that can't afford an IT staff, not sure I'd want my CC company outsourcing that.
What's in your wallet?

 

[Oaktree]

I'm 100% chipset hard drive now. Much faster retrieval speed, no defrag and no mechaincs at all. I still back up to a Western Digital external but it's a chipset as well.

I'm sure prices will continue to come down on SSDs like they did with mechanical drives, but they're not there yet. Still a little pricey for my budget in the larger sizes, and don't really offer any advantages for any applications I have.

I still back up to optical storage. It is vulnerable to different things than magnetic storage, so it gives me one added layer of peace.

I dont' think I've used CD-Rs in a good 10-12 years. USB drives all the way.
I suppose in the event of an EMP they'd be safe, assuming any equipment that can read them survives.

 

[PuffyC]

"The cloud" is one of those buzz phrases that sounds cool, but no one really knows what it means. You're basically trusting your business data security to someone else's server and hoping they do a good job with security and are still around when you need them.

Tech people know what the cloud means. I prefer to look at it like this: Who's going to do a better job securing and managing your IT workloads - a world leading company that specializes in securing and managing IT workloads or a company that makes tractors? A company like JD wants to build tractors, not run a state of the art tech business, and the cloud gives them that option. And not only does moving to the cloud allow businesses to do IT better but it's also cheaper.

I suppose it makes sense for a small business that can't afford an IT staff, not sure I'd want my CC company outsourcing that.
What's in your wallet?

All the big companies are already in the cloud and have been for a while, it's the small business that lag. The small business still doesn't understand IT and sees it as a necessary evil so they all want to cut corners and half arse everything. Big businesses can't afford to take such a dangerous approach to their data.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

"The cloud" is one of those buzz phrases that sounds cool, but no one really knows what it means. You're basically trusting your business data security to someone else's server and hoping they do a good job with security and are still around when you need them.
I suppose it makes sense for a small business that can't afford an IT staff, not sure I'd want my CC company outsourcing that.
What's in your wallet?

Oak tree l hope all readers understand your thoughts on the "cloud" are not based on reality.

Keep in mind when you get your Tesla the cloud will be continuing to add to it's resell value.

 

[arizona98tj]

I'm sure prices will continue to come down on SSDs like they did with mechanical drives, but they're not there yet. Still a little pricey for my budget in the larger sizes, and don't really offer any advantages for any applications I have.

I dont' think I've used CD-Rs in a good 10-12 years. USB drives all the way.
I suppose in the event of an EMP they'd be safe, assuming any equipment that can read them survives.

They are getting reasonably priced, IMO. I just checked...a quick search found a SATA 2.5" 1TB drive, $79.99. If I lost a hard drive today, I would get one like that....I can live with $80 + tax.

 

[Oaktree]

Oak tree l hope all readers understand your thoughts on the "cloud" are not based on reality.

Keep in mind when you get your Tesla the cloud will be continuing to add to it's resell value.

I'll keep that in mind in the unlikely event I get a Tesla. I don't care one whit about resale value on a vehicle...I buy used and drive 'em into the ground.
I also intend to hold out as long as I can on getting a "connected" vehicle. Maybe you're OK with the big brother aspect, but I'm not.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I'll keep that in mind in the unlikely event I get a Tesla. I don't care one whit about resale value on a vehicle...I buy used and drive 'em into the ground.
I also intend to hold out as long as I can on getting a "connected" vehicle. Maybe you're OK with the big brother aspect, but I'm not.

When it comes to EVs this old tire spot comes to mind.

 

[Torvy]

I dont' think I've used CD-Rs in a good 10-12 years. USB drives all the way.
I suppose in the event of an EMP they'd be safe, assuming any equipment that can read them survives.

I use USB sometimes, too. I use DVR/W for data files like pictures and financial stuff as a backup...Still old tech, but not quite as old as CDR/W....also holds a great deal more.