backing up stuff?

  • Thread starter martin griffith
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martin griffith

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3 hard drives dead in about 6 weeks, all seagate 200G.

Just spent a day, succesfully (?) recovering most data. 150GB's

Made some clones with Norton Ghost,
1) basic non mobo specific XP setup, and

2) one with all the bells and whistles, ie dual head video drivers,
java, etc for a specific mobo etc

I've just got too much data for DVD backups

Apart from going RAID, since I'd probably have to buy a few more
drives just to back up the data before creating a RAIDarray.

Any other suggestions, alternatives to Ghost or like S.M.A.R.T
monitoring apps I should think about?




martin
 
martin griffith <martingriffith@xxyahoo.co.uk> wrote:
3 hard drives dead in about 6 weeks, all seagate 200G.

Just spent a day, succesfully (?) recovering most data. 150GB's

Made some clones with Norton Ghost,
1) basic non mobo specific XP setup, and

2) one with all the bells and whistles, ie dual head video drivers,
java, etc for a specific mobo etc

I've just got too much data for DVD backups

Apart from going RAID, since I'd probably have to buy a few more
drives just to back up the data before creating a RAIDarray.
Click to expand...
Ebay is surprisingly good for selling second hand hard drives, so you don't
need to keep them.
 
Check out:
http://www.atl-datarecovery.com/software.htm

I bought a product that came on a "Free-DOS" floppy a year or two ago.
You boot from floppy, and it will clone a drive of ANY size (GHOST will
not). I bought a 2nd drive to be used exclusively for my backup, and
clone to it every Friday. I clone a 200G drive in ~2 hrs.

If/when disaster strikes, boot from floppy, and clone backwards to your
original, then continue normally. Works very well indeed!

PS: During normal Windows use, I check the "Disable this drive/device"
in the hardware manager... I don't want Windows to know, show, write
to, or anything else with my backup drive (you could restore individual
files very quickly by enableing it, copying the files back, then
disabling it again).

It's a great product and much better than anything else I've used.
BTW, because it's a real "clone" it will copy encrypted/secured drives
too.

L.
 
I bought a 2nd drive to be used exclusively for my backup
During normal Windows use, I check the "Disable this drive/device"
in the hardware manager... I don't want Windows to know, show, write
to, or anything else with my backup drive
Leonard
Click to expand...
That would be called a *mirror*.

A backup is not a backup until it's off-site.
 
On Sat, 06 Aug 2005 22:33:56 +0200, martin griffith wrote:

3 hard drives dead in about 6 weeks, all seagate 200G.

Just spent a day, succesfully (?) recovering most data. 150GB's

Made some clones with Norton Ghost,
1) basic non mobo specific XP setup, and

2) one with all the bells and whistles, ie dual head video drivers,
java, etc for a specific mobo etc

I've just got too much data for DVD backups

Apart from going RAID, since I'd probably have to buy a few more
drives just to back up the data before creating a RAIDarray.

Any other suggestions, alternatives to Ghost or like S.M.A.R.T
monitoring apps I should think about?




martin
Click to expand...
RAID doesn't completely solve the problem. You could still have data loss
from a disk controller going bad or what have you.

If it is worth it to you, you could back up to tape. High capacity tape
drives (e.g., LTO) are expensive ($1500 US?), but the tape is cheap ($40
per 100 GB).

There is a utility called rsync which can help you replicate data from one
place to another without wasting bandwidth. You could set up one machine
as a mirror, and the other as an active machine. Then you could have rsync
run once per day late at night (or whenever you are not likely to be
using the computers) to sync up the mirror.

Have fun.

--Mac
 
On Sun, 07 Aug 2005 15:03:20 +0000, Mac wrote:

On Sat, 06 Aug 2005 22:33:56 +0200, martin griffith wrote:

3 hard drives dead in about 6 weeks, all seagate 200G.

Just spent a day, succesfully (?) recovering most data. 150GB's

Made some clones with Norton Ghost,
1) basic non mobo specific XP setup, and

2) one with all the bells and whistles, ie dual head video drivers,
java, etc for a specific mobo etc

I've just got too much data for DVD backups

Apart from going RAID, since I'd probably have to buy a few more
drives just to back up the data before creating a RAIDarray.

Any other suggestions, alternatives to Ghost or like S.M.A.R.T
monitoring apps I should think about?




martin

RAID doesn't completely solve the problem. You could still have data loss
from a disk controller going bad or what have you.
Click to expand...
Or the loose nut behind the keyboard.

If it is worth it to you, you could back up to tape. High capacity tape
drives (e.g., LTO) are expensive ($1500 US?), but the tape is cheap ($40
per 100 GB).
Click to expand...
DVD is cheaper, though 4.7GB is a PITA. Hard disks are cheap too. Either
copy the contents periodically (my choice) or mirror them. Some have one
of the mirrored set in a removeable tray. After making the mirror the
removeable gets taken to work (or home) and another put in its place and
then the mirror is rebuilt.

There is a utility called rsync which can help you replicate data from
one place to another without wasting bandwidth. You could set up one
machine as a mirror, and the other as an active machine. Then you could
have rsync run once per day late at night (or whenever you are not
likely to be using the computers) to sync up the mirror.

This alternative not only backs up the data, but the function, at the
Click to expand...
cost of an entire machine. It's still wasting bandwidth, though bandwidth
that is otherwise unused, perhaps. Some still get charged for use though.

--
Keith
 
JeffM wrote:
I bought a 2nd drive to be used exclusively for my backup
During normal Windows use, I check the "Disable this drive/device"
in the hardware manager... I don't want Windows to know, show, write
to, or anything else with my backup drive
Leonard


That would be called a *mirror*.

A backup is not a backup until it's off-site.
Click to expand...
Right again. Offsite backup is the only truly safe way to go. There are
internet backup services that can be had fairly cheaply. There has to be
literally hundreds of these services out there. Or, you can mail a
weekly DVD to a friend, or just take them into the office with you.

However, the only way I've ever lost files in nearly 30 years of using
computers is by a disk drive going belly up. I've never had a computer
stolen, or lost any data when a mainboard basically blew up, and took
every PCI card on the system with it. I've never had a house fire, or a
lightning strike, or a coffee spill into my PC. I've never fired a
weapon at my PC out of anger or frustration...
<http://www.killacomputer.com/> *

Thus, using some kind of RAID mirror, or even a simple nightly backup
between installed disks, would have saved every file I've ever lost. I
suspect that is true of 99.9% of the folks out there. Using a network
disk appliance would be even safer, because they can be on different
circuits, and are probably immune to virii and obvious user errors.

* So, it is amazing to me that nearly any wacky thought I have can be
searched for on the internet, and some oddball has actually done it,
taken pictures, and put them up on a website. What a wonderful world...

--
Regards,
Bob Monsen

If a little knowledge is dangerous, where is the man who has
so much as to be out of danger?
Thomas Henry Huxley, 1877
 
On Sun, 07 Aug 2005 11:04:19 -0400, keith wrote:

On Sun, 07 Aug 2005 15:03:20 +0000, Mac wrote:

On Sat, 06 Aug 2005 22:33:56 +0200, martin griffith wrote:

3 hard drives dead in about 6 weeks, all seagate 200G.

Just spent a day, succesfully (?) recovering most data. 150GB's

Made some clones with Norton Ghost,
1) basic non mobo specific XP setup, and

2) one with all the bells and whistles, ie dual head video drivers,
java, etc for a specific mobo etc

I've just got too much data for DVD backups

Apart from going RAID, since I'd probably have to buy a few more
drives just to back up the data before creating a RAIDarray.

Any other suggestions, alternatives to Ghost or like S.M.A.R.T
monitoring apps I should think about?




martin

RAID doesn't completely solve the problem. You could still have data loss
from a disk controller going bad or what have you.

Or the loose nut behind the keyboard.

If it is worth it to you, you could back up to tape. High capacity tape
drives (e.g., LTO) are expensive ($1500 US?), but the tape is cheap ($40
per 100 GB).

DVD is cheaper, though 4.7GB is a PITA. Hard disks are cheap too. Either
copy the contents periodically (my choice) or mirror them. Some have one
of the mirrored set in a removeable tray. After making the mirror the
removeable gets taken to work (or home) and another put in its place and
then the mirror is rebuilt.

There is a utility called rsync which can help you replicate data from
one place to another without wasting bandwidth. You could set up one
machine as a mirror, and the other as an active machine. Then you could
have rsync run once per day late at night (or whenever you are not
likely to be using the computers) to sync up the mirror.

This alternative not only backs up the data, but the function, at the
cost of an entire machine. It's still wasting bandwidth, though bandwidth
that is otherwise unused, perhaps. Some still get charged for use though.
Click to expand...
What I meant when I said "without wasting bandwidth" is that rsync will
only copy files which need to be copied. Files which already exist
and are up to date on the target will not be copied. Also it uses
some kind of difference detection to attempt to handle modified files
efficiently.

It is all documented on the Internet. Just search for rsync.

--Mac
 
On Sun, 07 Aug 2005 13:26:19 -0700, Bob Monsen wrote:
....
weapon at my PC out of anger or frustration...
http://www.killacomputer.com/> *
....
* So, it is amazing to me that nearly any wacky thought I have can be
searched for on the internet, and some oddball has actually done it,
taken pictures, and put them up on a website. What a wonderful world...
Click to expand...
Yeah, but after you shoot it, do you eat it?
http://www.churchofeuthanasia.org/e-sermons/butcher.html
--
Cheers!
Rich
------
"There's nothing wrong with America that a good erection wouldn't cure."
-- David Mairowitz
 
Rich The Newsgroup Wacko wrote:
On Sun, 07 Aug 2005 13:26:19 -0700, Bob Monsen wrote:
...

weapon at my PC out of anger or frustration...
http://www.killacomputer.com/> *

...

* So, it is amazing to me that nearly any wacky thought I have can be
searched for on the internet, and some oddball has actually done it,
taken pictures, and put them up on a website. What a wonderful world...


Yeah, but after you shoot it, do you eat it?
http://www.churchofeuthanasia.org/e-sermons/butcher.html
Click to expand...
Yum! The Church of Dahmer.

Related reading:

http://www.liebography.com/hed/tyson.HTM

--
Regards,
Bob Monsen

If a little knowledge is dangerous, where is the man who has
so much as to be out of danger?
Thomas Henry Huxley, 1877
 
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