Postal Transfers
In some situations, it may be necessary to transfer data via the postal system. This article represents the best practices for doing a postal transfer of data.
1. Make Two Copies of the Data
Because postal systems can be unreliable, you should plan to make two copies of the data that way your project can still move forward even if one copy of the data is lost or damaged in transit.
2. Purchase Two USB 3.2 External SSDs
Please purchase two external USB 3.2 SSD hard drives. If you are unsure of whether a hard drive meets this criteria, you can contact your IT professional or google search the hard drive's serial number. Alternately, you can visit this link on BestBuy.com for USB 3.2 external hard drives.
3. BitLocker-Encrypt the Hard Drives
If one of the hard drives is lost or stolen, your data needs to remain safe and secure. Use BitLocker to encrypt the hard drive.
4. Copy All Data to Each Hard Drive
Each hard drive should contain a complete, independent copy of all the data necessary for your migration and should not rely on files or data stored in other locations.
These options should only be used on slow servers that do not have USB3.2 ports.
- Copy Across the Network
Plug the USB hard drive into a USB3.0 PC that is on the same network as your server. Using Windows File Share, copy the files across the network to the USB3.0 hard drives. - Copy then Clone
Once a complete set of the data has been copied to one USB hard drive, plug in the second USB hard drive to the same computer and copy directly from one USB hard drive to the other.
5. Ship both hard drives in separate packages
In order to prevent delays that may happen if a package is damaged, each hard drive should be individually packaged and individually shipped with and each should have its own tracking number.
6. Use Overnight Shipping
7. Provide Tracking Numbers
Please provide both tracking numbers to the person who is receiving your data and request they inform you when they receive the hard drives.