Jon L. Jacobi

Author Archives: Jon L. Jacobi

Back up all your data to your NAS box without installing any software

If you know anything about NAS (Network Attached Storage), you know that it’s a great centralized backup receptacle for your PCs. If you didn’t know, we just told you. Actually, the name is bit of a giveaway: NAS is storage that you attach via ethernet or Wi-Fi and access across the network. What that doesn’t tell you is that most NAS boxes have the smarts of a PC, with a full-blown app environment that includes extensive backup abilities.But there are two things that even NAS-aware users might not realize: First, many NAS boxes are perfectly capable of backing up data from PCs running any type of operating system (e.g., Windows, OS X, or Linux) from anywhere, using nothing more than their integrated utilities. All you need to do is configure the PC to give up its data, and then use the NAS box to grab it.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Back up all your data to your NAS box without installing any software

If you know anything about NAS (Network Attached Storage), you know that it’s a great centralized backup receptacle for your PCs. If you didn’t know, we just told you. Actually, the name is bit of a giveaway: NAS is storage that you attach via ethernet or Wi-Fi and access across the network. What that doesn’t tell you is that most NAS boxes have the smarts of a PC, with a full-blown app environment that includes extensive backup abilities.But there are two things that even NAS-aware users might not realize: First, many NAS boxes are perfectly capable of backing up data from PCs running any type of operating system (e.g., Windows, OS X, or Linux) from anywhere, using nothing more than their integrated utilities. All you need to do is configure the PC to give up its data, and then use the NAS box to grab it.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How to make your USB drive faster and free

Why is your USB drive so slow? If your drive is formatted in FAT32 or exFAT (the latter of which can handle larger capacity drives), you have your answer.USB drive vendors tend to format their drives at the factory with FAT32/exFAT because every device that can read USB mass storage can read and write to these well-known formats. That includes, but is not limited to: Windows PCs, cell phones, car radios, Linux, and OS X/iOS devices. If you want maximum read/write compatibility, format with exFAT.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

How much you really need to worry about SSD reliability

The word is out: Your SSD won’t retain your data forever when you unplug it. Yup, you’ll never be able to go on vacation again without toting your SSD along. It’s incapable of surviving for two weeks without you, poor thing.I kid, of course.Not archival, but not pathetic The truth is, yes, under disastrously unfortunate environmental conditions (we’re talking Biblical), your SSD could lose data retention just a few days after it’s pulled from your PC. It could also lose it immediately if you pulverized it with a sledgehammer or threw it in a vat of sulphuric acid—almost-as-likely scenarios. To the point: I’ve re-tasked SSDs after a couple of years of sitting on the shelf, and annoyingly—I still had to secure-erase them to get rid of the old data.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Portable storage for the paranoid: We test two secure USB drives on keypad vs. software security

Congratulations: You’ve decided your data is sensitive enough (or you’re paranoid enough) to store it on a secure USB drive. Basically encrypted storage on a stick, these portable flash drives come with FIPS 140-2 level three validation, meaning the cryptographic module will be rendered inoperable if tampering is detected. It costs quite a bit to acquire validation, which is part of the reason for premium pricing of these drives.Most people administer and unlock secure USB drives using software apps, which run on the host machines to interact with the drive. That’s the approach taken by the Kingston Data Traveler 4000 G2 (second generation) USB 3.0 thumb drive that’s reviewed here.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here