What's wrong with Fireproof Safes?
There is nothing literally wrong with a home fireproof safe. They are well designed to keep paper products from reaching a temperature that will destroy or ruin them. However they will not forestall Computer data that you have backed up on Cds, Dvd, or even flash Drives from being destroyed. They will not safe photo slides and negatives either.
The qoute is that we may not understand fireproof or fire defiant ratings that are assigned to safes. There are three basic ratings for fireproof safes by the Underwriters Laboratories. If a safe is rated for 1 hour then it must voice the internal temperatures below the specified rating for the entire hour.
Ul 350 - The safe must keep the interior temperature below 350 degrees Fahrenheit. That's below the normal temperature for most paper products to burn, char or become useless.
Ul 150 is the rating for tapes, cartridges, microfiche, and microfilm. In addition to holding the interior at or below 150 degrees, the humidity must be below 85%.
Ul 125 is the standard for diskettes. In this Case, the temperature cannot exceed 125°F and 80% humidity.Humidity and water damage is leading if you intend to safe electronic devices like flash Drives.
Test Your Own Data Media
If you doubt the need to have a good rated home or office fireproof safe to safe your data, then you can try this simple test.
Find a integrate of photo negatives or slide and a print or two that you don't care about. Get two old Cds or Dvds with some data on them. Put one of the Cds in a jewel Case.
Preheat your kitchen oven to 200 degrees and shut it off so the elements don't turn on. The radiant heat could be greater and cause the plastic to melt even if the air temperature is only 200 degrees. Place both the Cd in the jewel case and the other Cd on a piece of paper and place them in your oven. Wait a few minute and you can watch the Cd in the jewel case curl up. Obviously the data will never be retrieved from it. Take off the other Cd carefully that you don't bend it. When it is cooled you can put it in your Computer and see if the data is intact. Sometimes it will be Ok.
Now preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Don't set it on 350 just in case your oven thermostat isn't accurate. When the oven has reached the exact temperature, shut it off. Insert your photos, slides, and negatives on a piece of paper. Put your good Cd back in the oven also on a piece of paper.
You will observation that a negative will practically immediately curl up and be destroyed. The pictures will curl a minute and most likely be discolored slightly. The pictures will ultimately flatten out again but there will be no hope for the slides or negatives.
The Cd will remain flat but the data will be gone. You will likely be able to see bubbles in the plastic of the recording side of the Cd.
Alternatives
Here are three alternatives if you want your data protected.
Get a fireproof media safe. It will safe your pictures, slide, negative, Cds, and Dvds. As shown above, a Ul 125 rated fireproof safe will safe your data from heat and moisture. While a quarterly home fireproof safe may safe the data contents for a few minutes, the likely hood that the data will be safe longer than 15 minutes is very low.
Benefits of a fireproof media safe:
The potential to speedily backup to a flash drive and immediately store your data ever night after doing a backup.
The data is ready whether or not you have internet access.
You don't have to pay any monthly or yearly fees ones you have your safe.
Drawback of a fireproof media safe:
The biggest drawback to a fireproof media safe is the preliminary cost. They aren't cheap.
Use an online backup system. This is a very productive way to ensure that your data is safe. Well, as safe as you can expect when you are using someone else business to keep your data. If you don't have very much data, you can find free services on the web.
Benefits of using online backup:
Your data is kept in a wholly dissimilar location.
In many cases, your data can be encrypted for extra safety.
Drawback of:
You may need to use special software. Software changes over time and so do encryption methods.
You may find yourself converting your data or even tantalizing it when a business goes out of business.
There are yearly fees when you have a lot of data and that will cost you more over time than a fireproof media safe.
You can't store some purchased software Dvds online. They often wish the customary Dvd to reinstall the software.
Uploading your nightly backup to the internet is not as fast as recovery it on a flash drive.
Rent a security deposit box at your local bank.
Benefits of a security deposit box:
You have maximum protection.
You have offsite data protection.
Drawbacks of a security deposit box:
Limited passage to your data. It isn't there when you need it and you can't regain it every night.
Deposit boxes are literally small. You can store a lot of data on Dvd but you can't put many slides and negatives in one.
The costs of a deposit box vary greatly but they also will cost more over time than a fireproof media safe.
Conclusion
Evaluate your situation. If you don't have much data then online backup may be the best option. If you have a lot of data and you have many purchased software packages then your best option is a home or office fireproof media safe. Anything you do, don't be caught with a fire in your home and office and find out that you have lost your data.
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