External Ethernet HD and Mirroing

gstark33 · Jun 18, 2005

Do any of the new inexpensive ethernet external drives support
mirroring?

My wife now works from home and I (as her IT guy) want to set up a fail
safe backup/recovery system.

I'd like to have two external drives mirrored to each other.

Thanks in advance for any help

Gary Starkweather

Ron Reaugh · Jun 18, 2005

gstark33 said:
Do any of the new inexpensive ethernet external drives support
mirroring?

My wife now works from home and I (as her IT guy) want to set up a fail
safe backup/recovery system.

I'd like to have two external drives mirrored to each other.

Use three or four and rotate one periodically to offsite(in the car etc. for
backup). Consider removable SATA HDs in shock mounted trays like the
KingWin KF83. This way the drives are mechanically external but device wise
internal and thus appear to the system as internal. XP supports mirroring.

Peter · Jun 19, 2005

Use three or four and rotate one periodically to offsite(in the car etc.
for

backup). Consider removable SATA HDs in shock mounted trays like the
KingWin KF83. This way the drives are mechanically external but device wise
internal and thus appear to the system as internal. XP supports

mirroring.

I think OP was talking about ETHERNET external drives.

dg · Jun 19, 2005

Ron Reaugh said:
Use three or four and rotate one periodically to offsite(in the car etc. for
backup). Consider removable SATA HDs in shock mounted trays like the
KingWin KF83. This way the drives are mechanically external but device wise
internal and thus appear to the system as internal. XP supports

mirroring.

I was disappointed to find out that XP does *not* support mirroring. At
least not by itself in software, you need a hardware RAID card to do
mirroring, or follow some instructions on some guys website for hacking XP
to do mirroring.

--Dan

Neill Massello · Jun 19, 2005

gstark33 said:
Do any of the new inexpensive ethernet external drives support
mirroring?

Buffalo <http://www.buffalotech.com/products/storage.php> makes some
multiple-drive NAS boxes that do RAID, but they're not exactly
"inexpensive". Consumer NAS boxes contain a single drive and a USB port
for an additional drive, but don't support any kind of RAID. There are
some inexpensive dual-drive enclosures that do striping, but I don't
know if any do mirroring reliably.

My wife now works from home and I (as her IT guy) want to set up a fail
safe backup/recovery system.

I'd like to have two external drives mirrored to each other.

Two drives will give you more backup safety for the buck if they're in
separate enclosures (or hot-swap carriers) and kept in separate
locations (or a fire safe). At least one of the two drives used for
backup should not be powered up and mounted all the time. Not as
convenient as a simple NAS mirror, but the minimum for a "fail-safe"
system with two drives.

Rod Speed · Jun 19, 2005

I was disappointed to find out that XP does *not* support mirroring.

Yes it does, but that does depend on the version.

At least not by itself in software,

Fraid so.

you need a hardware RAID card to do mirroring,

Nope, not with the right XP version.

or follow some instructions on some guys
website for hacking XP to do mirroring.

Thats just a kludge, using whats in some versions of XP.

Ron Reaugh · Jun 20, 2005

Peter said:
mirroring.

I think OP was talking about ETHERNET external drives.

YES, the OP did so title the thread. If one reads his post then ethernet
seems to not be relevant. So I answered with the best solution.

Ron Reaugh · Jun 20, 2005

dg said:
mirroring.

I was disappointed to find out that XP does *not* support mirroring.

You are mistaken:
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...ll/proddocs/en-us/dm_add_mirror_existing.mspx

Eric Gisin · Jun 20, 2005

Ron Reaugh said:
You are mistaken:
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/dm_add_mirror_existi
ng.mspx

Have you actually tried it? Nobody else has reported it can be done.

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/sag_diskhowto_3.mspx
shows other features.
I think they are only available when you use disk manager remotely to Server versions.

Ron Reaugh · Jun 20, 2005

Eric Gisin said:
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/dm_add_mirror_existi
Have you actually tried it? Nobody else has reported it can be done.

HMM, that's correct. Only RAID 0 in XP is natively supported.

Arno Wagner · Jun 20, 2005

Previously gstark33 said:
Do any of the new inexpensive ethernet external drives support
mirroring?

AFAIK no.

My wife now works from home and I (as her IT guy) want to set up a fail
safe backup/recovery system.

I'd like to have two external drives mirrored to each other.

I can understand that very well.

Thanks in advance for any help

My advice would be to do it yourself with a real computer running
Linux and software-RAID1, i.e. two disks that mirror each other.
Then export the space via NFS (if you use Linux/Unix) or
SAMBA (if you use Windows). For the server best use some older,
reliable hardware, e.g. an older computer you trust. If you buy
new hardware, go for older, reliable stuff, not cutting edge.
Also keep a spare disk handy.

The advantage of this approach is that you know what you get, you
understand the technology and you can repair/upgrade/modify it
yourself. The disadvantage is that it requires some work. I
don't think it will be more expensive.

Arno

Peter · Jun 20, 2005

Do any of the new inexpensive ethernet external drives support

mirroring?
No.

My wife now works from home and I (as her IT guy) want to set up a fail
safe backup/recovery system.

I'd like to have two external drives mirrored to each other.

How is that going to help?

You need first to answer yourself a few basic questions about
backup/recovery:
1. Where are critical files being located in the first place?
(local hard disk on her PC?)
2. How important is to be able to restore in situations of
house fire/flood, theft or a massive power damage?
3. How much time do you allow for system recovery or data
restore?
4. How much data needs to be protected?
5. Do you need to keep old file versions for restore (in case of
unnoticed data corruption)?

Peter

Folkert Rienstra · Jun 20, 2005

Eric Gisin said:
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/dm_add_mirror_existi
ng.mspx

What an fine use of OE-QuoteFix to have it break what isn't really broken in OE.

Eric Gisin · Jun 20, 2005

**** off FolkNuts. We are really fed up with your attitude.

You are as bad as the the other net nazis who tell people how to post.

dg · Jun 20, 2005

Rod Speed said:
Nope, not with the right XP version.

Which XP version supports software drive mirroring? I have never seen it
done but perhaps I have just been using the wrong version. I use XP Pro.

THANKS!
--Dan

Ron Reaugh · Jun 20, 2005

Arno Wagner said:
AFAIK no.

I can understand that very well.

My advice would be to do it yourself with a real computer running
Linux and software-RAID1, i.e. two disks that mirror each other.
Then export the space via NFS (if you use Linux/Unix) or
SAMBA (if you use Windows). For the server best use some older,
reliable hardware, e.g. an older computer you trust. If you buy
new hardware, go for older, reliable stuff, not cutting edge.
Also keep a spare disk handy.

The advantage of this approach is that you know what you get, you
understand the technology and you can repair/upgrade/modify it
yourself. The disadvantage is that it requires some work. I
don't think it will be more expensive.

I've rarely seen such a bad set of advice.

The user should simply mirror two drives on a PC and then keep a 3rd[4th] HD
for offsite backup. The 3rd[&4th] should be rotated offsite as a backup.

Rod Speed · Jun 20, 2005

Which XP version supports software drive mirroring?

Pretty sure server 2003 does. The MS docs
are a bit vague on that, they certainly say

You can mirror volumes only on computers running Windows 2000 Server,
Windows 2000 Advanced Server, or Windows 2000 Datacenter Server.

in the XP Pro help.

I have never seen it done but perhaps I have

just been using the wrong version. I use XP Pro.

Yes, it certainly cant do it.

Rod Speed · Jun 20, 2005

I've rarely seen such a bad set of advice.

Its not bad advice. I'd personally do it using Win and
RAID in the extra PC. Mainly because that give you a
lot more flexibility than with a ethernet hard drive box.

The user should simply mirror two drives on a PC and then keep a 3rd[4th] HD
for offsite backup. The 3rd[&4th] should be rotated offsite as a backup.

That wouldnt be as convenient to use.

Neil Maxwell · Jun 20, 2005

Buffalo <http://www.buffalotech.com/products/storage.php> makes some
multiple-drive NAS boxes that do RAID, but they're not exactly
"inexpensive". Consumer NAS boxes contain a single drive and a USB port
for an additional drive, but don't support any kind of RAID. There are
some inexpensive dual-drive enclosures that do striping, but I don't
know if any do mirroring reliably.

The Buffalotech Linkstation (under $300) doesn't support RAID, but it
will automatically back up to a second drive connected to the USB
port. Users report that this backup is slow and inflexible, with some
bugs in the implementation. I haven't used it myself, though.

Not as real-time as RAID, but it would give you some redundancy for a
relatively reasonable price. Reportedly low noise and low power, as
well.

The affordable home ethernet drive market's not very mature yet. I'm
testing the Iomega version right now (pretty slow, with a few quirks,
and no USB/FW port, but relatively inexpensive). Dunno yet if I'm
going to keep it or not.

Ron Reaugh · Jun 20, 2005

Rod Speed said:
mirroring?

I've rarely seen such a bad set of advice.

Click to expand...

Its not bad advice. I'd personally do it using Win and
RAID in the extra PC. Mainly because that give you a
lot more flexibility than with a ethernet hard drive box.

The user should simply mirror two drives on a PC and then keep a 3rd[4th] HD
for offsite backup. The 3rd[&4th] should be rotated offsite as a

Click to expand...

backup.

That wouldnt be as convenient to use.

Nonsense, it's the most convenient.

External Ethernet HD and Mirroing

gstark33

Ron Reaugh

Peter

dg

Neill Massello

Rod Speed

Ron Reaugh

Ron Reaugh

Eric Gisin

Ron Reaugh

Arno Wagner

Peter

Folkert Rienstra

Eric Gisin

dg

Ron Reaugh

Rod Speed

Rod Speed

Neil Maxwell

Ron Reaugh