Safe (from fire) storage possible?

[anitract]

Hey y'all. I'd like to start storing backups in a safer environment than a shoe box under my bed. Basically, I am worried about a fire wiping me out (data-wise) some day. So I have been thinking about getting a small fire-proof safe/vault to keep data valuables in (a couple of hard drives, DVDs, CDs).

That said, does anyone have any recommendations for brands of safes that can protect data from fire/high heat. I see some pretty low-cost safes from Sentry at Wal-Mart (which claim to keep contents safe for 1/2 - 1 hr), but wonder if, in the event of a fire, they would keep enough heat out to leave a hard drive or other sensitive media unharmed.

Lastly, I am also considering getting a safety deposit box at a bank to keep another set of backups.

EDIT: Looks like you need special safes for data. LINK

[JSB1]

Lastly, I am also considering getting a safety deposit box at a bank to keep another set of backups.

Sounds like your best bet.

The other day I heard on NPR about safeguards you should take... not only keeping backup "off-site", but also a backup to the backup maybe in another state!

Just look at the mess in the gulf states... Sayyou have a backup in you shoe box, now under water, you have a backup at the local bank, now under water....

JSB1

[ROF]

Hard drives, in most cases, can survive being submerged in water. Even nasty water such as katrina delivered. The key is in the drying. You can spend alot of money on services to restore your data or do it yourself. To do it yourself, you must understand that you do so at your own risk.

1) Remove the HDD from the computer case and remove any debris or water from the HDD outershell.

2) Open the HDD and examine it for an internal debris. You will notice water inside. This is fine, even a little dirt is OK.

3) Use a high pressure air (spray can) to clean any debris and spray any water off of the platters. You may need several cans of air to complete the drying process.

4) Take your dry hard drive and give it a few good shakes vertically. By doing this, you will loosen any other debris or trapped water. Repeat step # 3.

5) Allow Hard drive to dry out for at least 7 days. The key here is all components must not even be slightly moist. Do not use a hairdryer or other hot air dryer as these will cause streaks across your platters and cause data corruption or head scratches on your platters when you reinstall.

6) Reinstall drive and backup immediately.

I've done those steps in several cases of water damage and even once when a computer sat all winter outside in the snow. Each time the data was completely intact and retrievable. The computer itself may be dead, but you'd be surprised how resilent magnetic platters can be.

[anitract]

I probably will end up doing both. Looks like the Sentry safes probably don't keep the internal temps cool enough for data media. According to Sentry's site their safes keep the internals at 350 deg F or below. Apparantly, you need media kept at below 125 deg F. So, that sucks. The safes made for media are expensive (see link above)!

[anitract]

ROF, what are your thoughts about excessive heat due to fire? Sounds to me that you need to spend a bit to get a safe with enough insulation to keep the temps low...or is that just marketing bs?