DVDs decay, external drives are as vulnerable to theft or fire as your local system, making an off-site backup of your photos important. The options are growing, and getting less expensive, and in some cases, even free.

Windows Live Skydrive

Cost: Free

Storage space: 25gb

http://explore.live....s-live-skydrive

Carbonite

Cost: $49-69 US (Varies by country)

Storage space: Unlimited

http://www.carbonite.com/

My Other Drive

Cost/Storage: Free (2gb) $5mo (100gb) $240yr (1000gb)

http://www.myotherdrive.com/

Picasa, and Flickr are other options, but they really aren't designed as a backup. Facebook degrades your pics something awful so that's out.

What services do you use and recommend?

Coppola plea after computer theft

Film director Francis Ford Coppola has appealed for the return of his computer backup device following a robbery at his house in Argentina on Wednesday. He told Argentine broadcaster Todo Noticias he had lost 15 years' worth of data, including writing and photographs of his family.

A script for his latest film Tetro was on one of the computers taken, along with camera equipment.

But his publicist said copies of the script were saved elsewhere.

"They stole our computers; they got all our data, many years of work, said Coppola, 68.

He said the backup that rested on the floor in the Zoetrope Argentina studio, based in his home, was just "a little thing but the information is (worth) much time".

"If I could get the backup back, it would save me years [of] all the photographs of my family, all my writing," he added.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7019644.stm

Despite the article about Cuppola I prefer not to trust my data to outside resources.

How can we be sure these companies will still be in business next year, or even next month,

especially where they are "free". (*)

I am building an archive of films and documentaries from torrents.

These along with my photo archives are on 2 x 500Gb usb drives.

The self contained ones, that will slip in a shirt pocket.

That is for convenience, to take to and from the TV for viewing.

Two drives to get enough space.

The whole lot is now backed up on a 2Tb usb drive.

At the moment that big drive is right next to my computer and easy to steal

if someone breaks in. The answer is probably to take the "business" approach

and keep the backup off site, at a friend or relative's house.

(*) That comment is based on my own recent experience with a seedbox for torrents.

Basically I am renting space on another computer. I took out a one month subscription

but within a week, the company had gone bust. Well I assume so, as their server is no

longer accessible. Mind you it was a cheap deal, only a fiver (UK pounds) a month.

Hence my doubts about free services.

I would think you are pretty safe with Microsoft. I don't see them going bust anywhere in the near future.

I keep recommending Backblaze (Windows only) for those who want offsite, online storage.

US$ 5/month or US$ 50/year for unlimited storage.

http://www.backblaze.com/

Buy a web hosting and ftp them up to a password protected directory, you can get a good amount of storage that way cheaply.

There is also software available to make a ftp connection a mapped drive or use filezilla.

Is the a way to make skydrive a mapped drive?

Yes, and if you just want easy uploads you can do it with one click from within Windows Live Gallery.

http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/totw/skydrive.asp

awesome cdnvic

My internet in Chiang Mai is ok, with about 1800 down but only some 500 up.

Rather cumbersome to up load big photo data.

Any faster way?