So I have a job that will be getting me out of the US. For most things I’m not to worried, except for my computer. What would be the best way to securely move it and also not potentially worry about damaging it?
It’ll be a given that I have an encrypted off-site (cloud) back up, but I’m torn about removing the drives to hand carry and then shipping the chassis. My only worry about that would be customs stopping me because of carrying hard drives… more specifically 3x M.2, which I’m not as worried about and 4x 2.5” SSDs
Thoughts?
Image the drives to cloud storage and ship all of the hardware with insurance (wipe the drives before shipping if you’re worried about data security).
SSDs are incredibly resilient to shock and would be the least likely component to fail from rough shipping. Insurance covers you on everything else.
I’ve travelled several times with multiple drives, never been stopped. I put them in USB drive enclosures, makes it look “normal” with the bonus of some mechanical protection.
unless you’re moving to the middle of the desert, leave “the computer” (desktop? glass case? server rack? windows? linux? what?) behind and just bring the drives, then buy the other stuff locally.
Carry drives in your carry-on. You are unlikely to be stopped. Worth encrypting them and backing them up remotely though if you are worried about it.
Why not keep your data remotely accessible and then go through customs with a blank device? If you’re only out for a few days, then download files as you need them. If you’re out for weeks or months, transfer a few TBs if need be. If you’re worried about internet transfer speeds, encrypt the files, put them on an external hard drive, and mail them to someone at your destination ahead of time.
Wouldn’t mailing defeat the purpose? Customs also check mail.
They can inspect the drives if they want. The key is they can’t access anything, as it’s encrypted, and they don’t have control over your physical person.
https://www.eff.org/wp/digital-privacy-us-border-2017
General advice from EFF. A bit dated, but much of what I would have advised is here.
If the GPU is heavy, consider carrying it seperately. Carry it with an ESD pack
If you have any HDDs, absolutely carry them seperately.
If you’re sure the SSD’s won’t move away in their place,having them on pc shouldn’t cause any problems; but keeping them on your personal belongings is the safest option.
Rest of the components should be fairly safe to ship, maybe the case in weird shapes could cause some trouble; but if you have the foam the case came with chances are it’s not going to cause much problems.
Leave it as is. Get some ESD safe packing material to immobilize any parts that might flex too much (GPU, CPU cooler). Or just remove and pack them.
I think the stuff is called Instapak expanding foam. Personally I think I’d remove the GPU and any mechanical drives to play it safe, but I’ve had a PC shipped to me before fully assembled with Instapak around the GPU (no HDDs, only SSDs) and it was fine. Ideally ship it in the original box for the PC case.
When I did it recently the hardware (w encrypted data) went through a checked bag inspection but it didn’t really affect anything else. I’m not sure that other countries’ security apparatus is going to threaten people to vacuum up their data like the usa, and in leaving the usa you typically don’t deal with usa customs inspection
I took it with me directly to avoid paying for a big estate transfer service and import tax that would otherwise be assessed by default on a normal shipment
Australia can and does FYI.
