Forum Moderators: phranque
I have a minimal back up system in place - data only, and all my original install disks. After the recent disaster [webmasterworld.com] that befell poor MacGuru, I am feeling even less safe than I used to.
The problem is the balance between 'ease of use' and affordability.
We have a few PCs to back up, some owned by 'less than expert' users. Any back up system that involves too much 'faffing about' ends up not getting used by my colleagues.
So, as I am looking for the is 'holy grail' of back up solutions.
In order of importance:
Obviously I haven't found anything that meets these high expectations yet.
Anyone got a solution that comes close?
I am not looking for specific product names, more a strategy or approach.
Are the latest CDRW drives fast enough to be worthwhile?
Are tape back-ups fast enough and safe enough now?
Is a portable HD the way to go?
etc
I like that route... I've been on buslink [buslink.com] for almost 2 years now, just bought a 20G model for the real estate office.
I only put programs and drivers on the C drive, all data goes on the buslink.
Can you 'mirror' a drive to the BUSLINK?
I have a a USB buslink with a dead HD in it, easily replaced, but USB is way too slow for a full backup, are you using firewire?
If a firewire portable HD is fast enough, that might be the best way for me to go - off to do some research:)
Don't know, really. I just jacked these in and they went to work.
>slow
Yeah, I'm using straight USB and migrating about 3G of data took about 6 or 7 minutes. More than tolerable in my particular circumstance.
No Fair - thats way quicker than mine is. (Ok 'was')
Hmmm.. need to check out my USB setup
Data backups are mandatory. But dont underestimate the value of the rest.
System and program files backups are recommended if you dont want to grow a beard in front of the screen updating all your programs, bookmarks, user names, passwords and preferences and similar stuff that makes you so productive you, and your beloved computer, after a drive failure.
From now on, I will be mirroring all files of all partitions of all drives of all the (little) network we have here.
Hard drives are cheap. I could afford many of them with time waisted since the last couple of days.
Backing up all files is a necessity. Your program files and system can be a lot more value than imagined.
Back growing a beard... ...%#@)!
Whenever you buy or build a PC, get 2 identical hard drives. Use realtime mirroring software to automatically back up everything from the first drive to the second.
Or, at the very least, use a backup program (such as the one that comes with Windows) to do a backup over night every night.
No connection or speed issues and the software mirrors so fast you may not notice any speed decrease.
If you need portability, buy a hard drive drawer and the chassis to mount it in. These fit in the same external drive bay as a 2nd CD/ROM drive would. That way, you can also keep a 2nd drawer and drive at another location (in case of fire, etc.).
I've used software from PowerQuest called "DataKeeper" and chassis/drawer sets from Kingston Technologies (thru buy.com).
Caveats:
*These inexpensive drive drawers don't have fans and today's drives are getting hotter and hotter, as design RPM is increased. Drives with built-in cooling cost a lot more. If you're handy, Radio Shack sells tiny DC fans - but I haven't tried that fix.
*Adding a Chassis/Drawer adds connections and jumpers and a drive data cable extension to your backup drive, decreasing reliability. Of the 4 systems I've done, 1 has faild to boot the drive a few times, requiring opening the box and "massaging" the HD connections. Both drives are on one controller (Master/Slave), so failure of connections to the drawer stop your source drive too (the BIOS can't find any drives installed).
*The keys that come with inexpensive drive drawers are interchangable, lowering security.
*Periodically removing a drawer/drive and putting in the one you keep at another location means the source drive no longer has a current backup, so you have to have a procedure of wiping the backup and doing a full copy of the source drive for each swap - complicating things.
So, the easist and most reliable method is to just build 2 drives into a PC - no drawer. But then you loose original and backup in the event of a disaster. A hybrid would be to have a 3rd drive hard-installed and swap it periodically - it's trivial to open most boxes and swap a drive (but hassle enough to keep from getting accomplished). His is what I do in my own office now.
For the record, I spent a decade as a one-person PC consultant/systems designer/systems integrator before getting into web services, so I know my way around PCs. 3 of these backp systems were done for clients and are still going after 4-5 years.
HTH....
