Cheap fire backup?

K

Karandras

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Feb 16, 2001
Messages
1,873
So I just had a thought for a cheap bkacup incase of fire (if your not paying for off site storage). Grab one of those network usb drives, and a small firebox from walmart or something (like $20). Drill two very small holes, one for ethernet and one for power. Will have to cut the cables to run through but get the cables through, hook everything up and lock the box. WOuld that work for a firesafe network hard drive?
 
I would think drilling 2 holes in a firebox would make it not fireproof.
Interesting idea though, I'd go for a 4500 rpm laptop drive and an enclosure that runs completely off USB. Low heat output, and only 1 hole now. But probably still wouldn't work in a major fire.
 
If you fill the hole with some sort of fire resistant goo on both sides then that would work alright.

Heat would be a problem huh :-/ 4500 rpm is a good idea because of the lower heat it will produce. I should inquire to the firebox people and see what you can do to them before they don't protect anymore.
 
I would think that once you break the seal on the box, it's not going to last at all.

I would also think the disk wouldn't last in an enclosed place at all. No circulation of air, no way for the heat to get out. It's never going to cool off. Even laptops get air passing over the exterior to cool it. But a firesafe is meant not to transfer heat in either direction.
 
Kay, just thought of something. THis might work, a little expensive for the amount of storage but it will only take one little hole (haven't received a reply on how much those cases can take)

One USB cable through, hooked to a USB hub and 4 1gig jump drives on the hub. 4 gig of data isn't too bad for a simple back of your pron or docs that you need to store.

Waddya think?
 
I would not trust this for any data that I remotely cared about. The hard drive definitely wouldn't work. Those boxes are pretty damn good insulators, so the heat will just keep building up inside until the drive bakes itself. USB flash drives don't produce nearly as much heat and they probably have a much higher tolerance for heat, but they(as well as the usb hub) still generate heat. Also, what happens when the cable going into the box catches fire? A fire probably wouldn't be able to burn very long inside the box since there wouldn't be much oxygen in there, but you've just opened the box to extreme heat.

So, I would absolutely not try this with any data I cared about unless I tested it thoroughly. It's just not worth the risk. Having a firesafe box is a great idea, though, but use it to store your backups. Backup to a hard drive or dvds or whatever and then put those in the box. Make sure the box is rated for media, though. A box may be able to keep papers cool enough so that they don't catch fire, but that might be a bit too warm to ensure the integrity of magnetic or optical media.
 
"Fireproof safes" are normally rated for keeping the insides under the tempurature that paper will sponantiously combust at for a certain number of hours. (number of hours varies, more hours more $$) Needless to say this is still way above the rated operating temp of a HD.

So this is not a good solution. Better than a drive sitting out? Yes. Something to depend on? No.

Just take a tape home with you each day if nothing else.

==>Lazn
 
In addition, they offer no guarantee about water or other chemicals used to put out the fire.
 
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