Rod said:
The considerations are too obvious to actually need that.
It really just comes down to whether the card is big enough really.
I was actually wondering if it could even be done (nonvolatile memory
card acting as a drive). I know that USB memory sticks are available.
As well, I was interested in opinions about cost- effectiveness from
those who have chosen this path. I will spend some more time googling
around.
Yes, but that approach is a bit risky, its easy to forget about something
important until the laptop gets stolen etc and you need to restore. Its
easy to forget about stuff like digital certificates and account passwords
etc.
Agreed. I've got a schedule of all the folders I will backup up
regularly though. It helps that most of my stuff is in a cygwin user
directory, that I don't use much in the way of digital certificates,
and that I keep a copy of my passwords in one place.
I've found RWs reliable enough when written directly, not using
packet writing. I normally use Roxio EMC to write them.
I have Easy CD Creator 5.2, and have had some files dropped without
notice while burning sessions, as well as while importing sessions.
I've successfully used others (CD BurnerXP Pro 3 and Sony CD Extreme).
Even with CD-RW, though, if I use multisession, it will fill up too
quick due to the session overhead.
Just to clarify my envisioned scheme, my reason for creating
multisession CDs is as an intermediate off-line repository (which
doesn't necessarily mirror the files system on the hard drive). In
this "scratch" disc, I can incrementally amass a collection of
snapshots of various tasks on my hard drive. Each snapshot consists
of key hierarchical files needed to rebuild the task in question to
its current state, bundled together with tar and compressed with gzip.
At some point, I have enough on the scratch disc to warrant burning a
more efficient and permanent copy, either as a disc-at-once to CD-R,
or as a large session.
I then discard the scratch disc to avoid too many copies of the same
thing spread over too many discs. Some people may question this,
since I'm throwing away a good fall-back copy, but I believe that
keeping track of backups is just as important as having backups. I've
spent a lot of time scratching my head over multiple snapshots taken
at various times, with large overlap between them. In addition, I
also have limited space to store extra backups, especially if the data
on them are not densely packed.
I realize that using a CD-RW means I don't have to discard the scratch
disc, but I'm not yet ready to take on the greater risk associated
with CD-RW's (though admittedly, it is a *perceived* risk from reading
about them). I also realize that the most recent files are on the
hard drive, but since the scratch disc doesn't necessarily mirror the
hierarchy on the hard drive (I choose the hierarchical structure to be
convenient for stashing snapshots, not for working in), I would like
to avoid reassembling the a version of the scratch disc from the hard
drive. Furthermore, I would have to be aware of a corruption in the
CD-RW content before even going to the trouble of reassembling the
scratch disc content. Verifying the scratch disc content is not
hassle free if the hierarchical structure deviates from that of the
hard disc. Finally, the scratch disc and its various snapshots has to
be reliable because it acts as a fall-back for when problems arise in
the HD content, either due to the hardware, software, or my own
mistakes. Only after I burn the permanent backup onto CD-R is the
scratch disc free to be discarded or overwritten.
If the scratch disc is in fact a multisession CD-R or CD-RW, the
actual amount of data (as opposed to session overhead) will probably
fall short of the quantity needed to burn a complete permanent disc,
so it will probably be a large session on the permanent disc.
Thats more complicated than it looks. If you configure the apps much,
it can be convenient to back everything up even when you dont actually
need to backup the system/OS and apps themselves. While most
modern apps should have their config stuff in the registry, not all do.
Yes, I fully agree. I also have a "schedule" of files to backup as
administrator, too, which include app customization files and options
that I have identified. I guess I was just going to take the hit of
losing customizations that I haven't captured. I was envisioning the
scenario in which the HD dies, and I'm actually reinstalling
everything from scratch after replacing it. A complete image of the
HD would certainly make that a lot less painful. I don't have the
resources for that at the moment, though.
Sure, but you need to be aware that it is a more risky approach.
When doing a clean install on an older OS like Win9x I normally
image the system over the lan, then do a manual copy of the
stuff I know I will have to restore, obviously data files etc and
emails etc, but its surprisingly common to need to actually
restore the original image to check something that I forgot
about when reconfiguring the new clean install.
Oh, believe me, I completely relate. That is what has led to my
"schedule" of things to capture in my backups. Not just application
data, but preferences, both as administrator and user. I've had to
extend my work to another PC once, and this experience has helped me
flesh out my "schedule" of useful files to capture.
I'm still reluctant to trust incremental images of the system,
but I dont have the limitations you do on where to store the
backups. I just image my laptop etc over the lan to a PC.
I use to use my account space in an formal institutional setting
to stash away my snapshots of tasks, thus eliminating the need for
a scratch disc and a permanent CD. Having access to a LAN makes
a world of difference.
There is something to be said for wearing the downsides
of a decent sized external drive in your situation.
Er...I don't quite follow that last sentence. I agree that a decent
external drive is a very good thing. My workspace right now is
small enough that I have to stick with a small laptop that I can push
around the small deskspace. I am constantly disconnecting things like
the mouse (to use the touchpad), the PDA connector (which is 2 wires,
one to the docking station and another to a power supply for charging
the PDA), USB printer cable, and sometimes even the power for the
laptop.
The external HD is certainly a good path, though the extra connector
means I will certainly use it less often than I should. As well, I
was really looking for a replacement for the intermediate scratch
disc, since the plan was to always make a space-efficient copy on CD
(disc-at-once or large-track-at once). However, given that the jury
is still out on the longevity of CD-R, perhaps I should consider an
external hard drive to be THE backup, rather than the CD-R. I had a
Kodak Gold Ultima become unreadable after 3 years, in the same CD
drive that burned it. Since I burn only about 1 CD a month on
average, that amounts to a scary failure rate. It might even be
higher, I haven't had much occassion to check out all my CDs.
I will look further into the use of a nonvolatile memory card as a
scratch CD and compare that option to forgoing the scratch CD in
favour of an external HD being THE backup.
Thanks for your thoughts.
