Seems that we have forgotten that backups used to be made with an offline storage medium called tape. OK, so that's not "practical" these days, but keeping backup media online when it's not necessary seems to me to be a waste of equipment and power. Do the backup drives (and I assume you're using them as backup, not as redundant active storage [I.E. RAID]) absolutely have to be spun up and available all the time? Think about it for a second. Is your personal installation so active that you couldn't take a few minutes every week or two, spin up the USB drives, make your backup and then put them away? Bet you'd save money and the aggravation of always having to buy new equipment! I've been developing software for 40 years and have had personal equipment for the last 30 or so. Aside from the occasional upgrade or self-inflicted issue I've never had much in the way of actual equipment failure. I gave one of the "cloud" backup services a try a few months back. It was as slow as watching paint dry. On the other hand, though, if I need to restore something from my last backup now I simply go into my safe, get the media and plug the drive in and it works every time. Offhand, in my humble opinion, this "cloud" technology (which really ain't anything different than centralized computing was 40 years ago) has been WAY oversold. With just a few simple procedures I not only keep my material private (and out of someone else's server room) and have reliable backup. Think about it ... ;-) Bruce W. Roeser Senior Software Engineer Kronos, Inc. If you think hiring a professional is expensive, wait until you hire an amateur! - Red Adair