u/ParisMorning

I have 2 Dropbox accounts that I am paying $300 a year for.

One of them is 3TB and I’ve used 2TB. 

The other is 2TB and I have used 1.5 TB.

So, I have about 3.5TB of data that just grows as I work on projects. 

I was in art licensing and have a massive archive of artwork/design files. I still do some work there but not as much as I used to. I create Youtube video and have a growing archive of CapCut files.

I am semi-retired and starting to look much harder at finances and money going out. I cannot sustain paying for Dropbox.  I am considering moving all my files off. (and not looking forward to that)

The only solution I see is to get two large (8TB maybe) drives and use them to back up each other. This scares the bejesus out of me because in my long career, I have had a few peripheral drives fail. One time I had both drives fail within a day of each other but fortunately it was when I had MUCH less files and was able to quickly backup the files elsewhere before the 2nd drive failed. Both were Western Digital. I also had a Lacie fail.

I am not sure what I am asking for in terms of advice - but lay it on me - whatever you got.  Have any of you done this? It’s been a long time since I’ve purchased a peripheral so I am not sure what kind/brand/type is the best anymore. What’s reliable and stable?

Thanks in advance.

I am 64 and have journaled pretty much my whole life. I don't have all my journals from younger years, but I do have a shelf full from the last 30 years. I don't particularly want anybody reading them -- least of all the person who will likely be cleaning out my stuff when I am gone. Yet, I can seem to bring myself to throw them away. I occasionally will flip back through one - but not that often. What are you doing with them?