Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How a bug in Dropbox permanently deleted my 8000 photos

medium.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 146 posts

Re: How a bug in Dropbox permanently deleted my 8000 photos

#101

Post by kngspook »

raverbashing wrote: post #50
gabemart wrote: post #13

I think this bug should be considered completely separately from how unwise it is to use a cloud service as the sole storage of important files. Regardless of the circumstances, losing user files against the wishes of the user is the absolute worst thing a cloud backup provider can do . Even for files that are deleted intentionally and unambiguously by the user, I'm astonished that Dropbox actually deletes the files…

" from how unwise it is to use a cloud service as the sole storage of important files." I disagree (a little bit) There are some issues here: - Using a free service - Using a service that "thinks" when you want to add or remove stuff. Yes, it's easier to use, but it's not explicit, and it usually fails spectacularly. - Thinking that this "magical save thing" is equivalent to a backup.

He was a paid user. Therefore, not a free service at this point.

Re: How a bug in Dropbox permanently deleted my 8000 photos

#102

Post by slantyyz »

catshirt wrote: post #15
profsnuggles wrote: post #11

It really sucks that we all have to keep learning this lesson over and over. Everyone I've ever spoken to that has a good backup strategy in place has it because they have lost irreplaceable files. Have real backups. Syncing is not a backup strategy, raid is not a backup strategy, etc. 3-2-1 At least three copies in 2 different (storage) formats and at least one copy offsite. It sounds like overkill but you have to d…

i think people are still struggling because creating real backups still seems like kind of a pain in the ass compared to cloud syncing. what's currently the most convenient and simple way to store multiple local backups?

Getting a Time Capsule is pretty convenient if you're a Mac user. That you can add USB drives to the Time Capsule also allows you to store extra discrete snapshots using other backup software like Crashplan.

Re: How a bug in Dropbox permanently deleted my 8000 photos

#103

Post by blablabla123 »

mkesper wrote: post #17
blablabla123 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've bought myself a Blue Ray recorder half a year ago and it's as easy to use as Dropbox with OS X...

Are you using dvdisaster to secure against data-loss?

Thanks for the hint, no, but I'll do that in the future. In the past I actually had the problem of errorneous blocks one or two times. Eventhough these were Noname Multisession CDs that lay too much in the sun. (The media actually turned yellowish). Never had this problem again, but I only use brand media which I put it into proper covers that don't get too much light.

But I'll use it in the future... (Not sure if that's of interest anymore, but I used TrueCrypt for business backups.)

Re: How a bug in Dropbox permanently deleted my 8000 photos

#104

Post by blablabla123 »

slantyyz wrote: post #98
mkesper wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you using dvdisaster to secure against data-loss?

I would also add that when using optical discs for backup, M-Discs are probably preferable over conventional dye-based discs.

Wow, do they work with conventional recorders?

Re: How a bug in Dropbox permanently deleted my 8000 photos

#105

Post by icebraining »

bruceboughton wrote: post #92
icebraining wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Dropbox, it's very simple: the former is simply not supported at all. Your file should be in all devices or none (mobile excepted).

No, they have Selective Sync.

That's at the folder level, not file level.

Re: How a bug in Dropbox permanently deleted my 8000 photos

#106

Post by dublinben »

nodata wrote: post #95
ai_ja_nai wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is Dropbox a backup service? Nope. Dropbox is folder synch, a network version of a pendrive. Dropbox makes no guarantees about the durability of the data on their servers, which are merely a browsable cache. Use proper backup services, instead, like Memopal.

Hardly. "Dropbox is a home for all your photos, docs, videos, and files". -- https://www.dropbox.com/tour/1

Storage isn't backup. If you have one copy of your files ("home") then you have zero copies of your data. You're only one hiccup away from losing it all, as this person found out.

Re: How a bug in Dropbox permanently deleted my 8000 photos

#107

Post by dublinben »

blablabla123 wrote: post #104
slantyyz wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would also add that when using optical discs for backup, M-Discs are probably preferable over conventional dye-based discs.

Wow, do they work with conventional recorders?

No, but they work with conventional readers. You need a special laser to do the physical etching that they're doing.

Re: How a bug in Dropbox permanently deleted my 8000 photos

#108

Post by dublinben »

sudorank wrote: post #28
zedadex wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> If you are using Dropbox as a sole backup of your files, think again. > Simplify to If you only have a sole backup, think again. Yep. 3-2-1: "At least three copies, in two different formats, with one of those copies off-site."

I like keeping backups on a hard disk in the office. For a guy who grew up in the 90's there's something comforting about being able to physically look at one of your backup methods!

That's a great backup method, which is cheap and easy to recover. It's not very robust though. In the event of a natural disaster, your office is just as likely to be destroyed as your home. Ideally you would have an offsite backup (or two) in a completely different region.

Re: How a bug in Dropbox permanently deleted my 8000 photos

#109

Post by slantyyz »

blablabla123 wrote: post #104
slantyyz wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would also add that when using optical discs for backup, M-Discs are probably preferable over conventional dye-based discs.

Wow, do they work with conventional recorders?

Only if they say "M-Disc" on it. Many consumer recorders, especially if made by LG, support writing to these discs.

Re: How a bug in Dropbox permanently deleted my 8000 photos

#110

Post by rockdoe »

kalleboo wrote: post #41
rayiner wrote: post #37

The bug in question: > From all this information it seems that Dropbox client first deletes files locally before it informs the server about the new selective sync settings. Consequently, if the client crashes or is killed before the server is contacted, the files remain deleted without any trace. After the client restarts again, it only sees there are some files missing and syncs this new state with the server. It c…

> It concerns me that the top several comments are some variation of "you shouldn't trust the cloud with your data." No, it's "you shouldn't trust one single thing with your data". Hardware fails. OSes have bugs (OS X's "space in your drive name and we delete your user folder.") Services have unexpected gotchas. This is why you never store anything in only one place. A sync service by definition is not a separate pla…

No, it's "you shouldn't trust one single thing with your data"

Which is why he has local copies on several systems and the copy in the cloud with Dropbox.

The nasty thing here is that Dropbox effectively deleted the "local" backups.

Post reply on HN