Using Google Docs to Back Up Genealogy Data?

One of the challenges I took on for the Winter Genea Blogger Games is to back up all my genealogy data. I would like to use an external source (my flash drive) and an online source. This way I will have two backups in case of backup failure (like the time my Zip Drive failed and all the data on the diskettes was lost).

This was one of the challenges I took on in 2008. I decided to use an free online storage website to store my genealogy data backup. After researching several sites, I chose one to upload my data to.

I thought everything was peachy keen until December of 2009 when my computer hard drive crashed. I got a new computer in January, installed all my old software, then went to download my files from the storage website.

I found out very quickly what a mistake I had made. The site that I chose gave me a tremendous amount of web space. However, the free service did not allow me to download folders. Only the paid service allowed bulk download. This meant that I would have to download thousands of files and photos one file at a time.

Luckily, I had most of my data on old CDs. I recovered most of what I had except some documents I had downloaded from October to December and my photographs from December 2008.

It was a hard lesson to learn at the time when I so needed a miracle!

In order to complete part two of my back up plan, I need to find a free online website. I could use something like Flickr for the photographs. There is a monthly limit, but I think over a month or two I could get all of my old photographs uploaded.

I’m looking at Google Docs as my secondary backup for my genealogy databases and documents. Does anyone use it? If so, what is your opinion of it as a backup source? I read that you don’t need to convert documents to google docs format.

Let me know what you think about this option. Can it handle RootsMagic database and larger JPG documents? Do you see Google Docs as a good option for keeping your documents online?