Whats the safest and most reliable way to backup

Question

I have two computers that I want to Backup, one having over 1.5 TB. One option I have is I could buy a 2TB Time Capsule or External hard drive, but I have also read into setting up a home server out of a old G5 Powermac to backup to. Even though the G5 route would cost more up front but it would be easier to expand the storage in it for my forever growing storage needs, but am worried about the reliability of the G5. I'm trying to find the most reliable and secure way to back my computers up. Can anyone shed some light on this for me? I have read many Pros and Cons about backing up to a server or a external hard drive. Am I better off with continuing to have to buy larger and larger external hard drives or setting up a server. One last question, which one Is the safest against a computer virus.
I'm sorry for the long explanation and I very much appreciate all your help.

Answer 1

All backup systems have similar types of risks: data corruption and disk failure. These risks are no different for discrete disk backups or network accessible storage backups. The latter has the additional risks associated with using a network.
The best defence against these risks is to make multiple backups using different backup methods. The more the better.
There is no backup system immune to computer viruses. They come from computers, not the backups.
Basic Backup
For some people Time Machine will be more than adequate. Time Machine is part of OS X. There are two components:
1. A Time Machine preferences panel as part of System Preferences;
2. A Time Machine application located in the Applications folder. It is
     used to manage backups and to restore backups. Time Machine
     requires a backup drive that is at least twice the capacity of the
     drive being backed up.
Alternatively, get an external drive at least equal in size to the internal hard drive and make (and maintain) a bootable clone/backup. You can make a bootable clone using the Restore option of Disk Utility. You can also make and maintain clones with good backup software. My personal recommendations are (order is not significant):
  1. Carbon Copy Cloner
  2. Data Backup
  3. Deja Vu
  4. SuperDuper!
  5. Synk Pro
  6. Tri-Backup
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on backup and restore.  Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files. For help with using Time Machine visit Pondini's Time Machine FAQ for help with all things Time Machine.
Although you can buy a complete external drive system, you can also put one together if you are so inclined.  It's relatively easy and only requires a Phillips head screwdriver (typically.)  You can purchase hard drives separately.  This gives you an opportunity to shop for the best prices on a hard drive of your choice.  Reliable brands include Seagate, Hitachi, Western Digital, Toshiba, and Fujitsu.  You can find reviews and benchmarks on many drives at Storage Review.
Enclosures for FireWire and USB are readily available.  You can find only FireWire enclosures, only USB enclosures, and enclosures that feature multiple ports.  I would stress getting enclosures that use the Oxford chipsets especially for Firewire drives (911, 921, 922, for example.)  You can find enclosures at places such as;
  1. Cool Drives
  2. OWC
  3. WiebeTech
  4. Firewire Direct
  5. California Drives
  6. NewEgg
All you need do is remove a case cover, mount the hard drive in the enclosure and connect the cables, then re-attach the case cover.  Usually the only tool required is a small or medium Phillips screwdriver.