Q. I have a personal computer at home and wonder what is the best way to protect it and other data I have from fires and flooding. Some of my digital photos and other data are irreplaceable. Can I build something that would be fireproof and flood-proof? On a personal level, how do you protect your computer data? — Chuck E., Farmington Hills, Mich.
A. Your question presents, I believe, one of those rare instances where many people know they have a problem but are too lazy to do something about it. But if a fire or flood strikes, then Armageddon strikes in that person’s private world, and he or she is consumed by guilt and heartache.
A fire can cause damage just as quickly as a flash flood. If a couch or other combustible object catches fire in the room where you store your computer and other data, the temperature in the room just 3 feet off the floor can reach 500 F within three minutes of the ignition of the fire. Less than a minute later, the temperature in the room can climb to 1,400 F. Most plastic CD-ROM discs, magnetic disks and even circuit boards would be ruined within seconds when exposed to these extreme temperatures.
You can buy many different fireproof safes and storage cabinets that can do a fantastic job of protecting what’s put inside them. Some may perform well in a flood if they have waterproof seals around the doors. But one of the problems is making sure the stuff you want to store fits inside the safe or the cabinet.
You can build a crude masonry storage bunker to help protect your possessions in all but the worst fires. This structure functions much like a classic firewall in a building. Talk to any firefighter and he will tell you that solid masonry walls can take all but what the most severe fires can dish out. But the problem is dealing with an effective door to the bunker that will stop the searing gases from the fire from seeping into the masonry hut.
I solved my personal problem with the help from some computer-savvy friends, two quick inexpensive Internet purchases and a few spare parts I had sitting around my house.
The first thing I purchased was an incredibly small flash, or jump, drive. I was able to purchase one that has a 1-gigabyte storage capacity for just $54. This device is the size of my thumb but much flatter. It plugs right into one of those small rectangular USB ports in my computer.
Once inserted, my computer thinks it is just another hard drive. I copy important folders and data onto this device, disconnect it and then throw it in my car’s glove box. Since I park my car in my driveway, it is safe from any house fire that might involve my attached garage. Floods normally don’t cut across my driveway.
From time to time I have discovered that I need more space than the flash drive offers. It just so happens I had several older computers around I no longer use. These idle computers contained stagnant internal hard drives that still had unused storage space. It only took me two minutes to remove the hard drive from one of the old computers. Fifteen dollars got me a connection cable that connects the old drive to my computer. I can transfer huge amounts of backup data to the old drives and store this device in a plastic bag in my car’s trunk.
Offsite storage of data is critical. Some people say to store data in safe deposit boxes or other places. But that is hard to do. Walking out to your car in your driveway takes seconds. If you park your car in an attached garage, however, you need to develop a means to safely store your data outside of your home.
Inexpensive plastic 5-gallon buckets with snap-on lids work well as they are waterproof. But they can become saunas if you place them in direct sunlight. A small flash drive can be placed in zip-lock plastic freezer storage bag and stored in an outdoor shed or under an artificial rock in a garden. The most important thing to remember is to protect these emergency backup storage devices from the same heat and moisture that you think might affect them inside your home.
