Spending cash on something flash

I had to visit the pharmacy at Boots in Burgess Hill today, on account of a new problem with my medication: next post. While there, I looked at their display of storage cards for photo and other computer files.

I'd been thinking further about the gaps in my computer backup arrangements, and while no perfect solution presented itself just now, it would definitely help if I bought (without spending very much) a bit more physical storage for some of my most important files. 'Some of my most important files' included my collection of mp3 music tracks. Files like those needed to be backed up in multiple storage locations.

And as it happened, Boots had several USB flash drives, which are of course small, light, and extremely portable. Just the thing to carry with you everywhere, not just for fun, but to ensure they are not in the same place as the other backups of the same files.

I hadn't actually used a USB flash drive before. Of course, they had been around for years. But I was still relying on SD cards for small-scale storage. But these weren't sufficient any more.

Boots had a neat-looking Sandisk 64GB flash drive. The price was certainly much higher than Amazon would ask, but it felt essential to increase the protection for my most important files as soon as possible. Suddenly they seemed vulnerable, and the online route to possession less certain than it used to be. I couldn't count, in these times, on Amazon having the same item in stock, nor being able to deliver it quickly. What if most of their warehouse staff were on furlough? So I bought it at Boots (contactlessly, of course) and took it home. It helped that I didn't need to buy fuel for Fiona this week - I hadn't done the mileage, and her tank was still almost full.

Unpacked, the new flash drive puzzled me. Where was the 'male' metal bit that would fit into one of the USB sockets on Verity, my laptop? Remember, I hadn't owned one of these before. I thought they all had a cap that you removed, and there was the male connector. This one didn't have a cap.

Now what was that knob on the top for? Oh, I see...

Sliding the knob forward pushed out the male connector, which had been in its retracted position, but was now out and proud. I introduced my new USB flash drive to Verity. They mated rather well.

There was now work to do. I had to copy three existing backups (presently resident on one or other of my external hard drives) to Verity, and add a new one, then transfer them all to the new flash drive. Making a total of four separate backups on the new flash drive. All of them important.

Half the afternoon was gone while I carefully accomplished this and redrew my diagram of what backed up what. That diagram was transformed:

This diagram (click on it to see the detail) reminded me of an electrical circuit map! I'd expanded it to show every backup and storage pathway that existed under my present scheme. The new flash drive - with four backups being made to it at different times - is bottom left. 

This complexity will simplify once I get a 2TB external SSD in 2022, to go with the new 1TB laptop I'll buy at the same time (they need to be completely compatible). The future SSD is indicated by the grey rectangle in the bottom right. 

I'm highly conscious that the bulk of my photos (which include a lot of genealogical material) still don't have a proper backup. I must see what else I can do before 2022, cheaply, as a stopgap measure. 

But all the vital stuff, including the best of my photos, is now stored in at least two places and safe.