What do you use for backup today?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mxsmanic
  • Start date Start date
rather than using any backup media..... how abt just
distributing data across a home network to several PCs
so that you have multiple data sets? redundancy that
is?
Click to expand...

In what way?

I already copy important stuff to both the machines on my LAN, on the
theory that multiple simultaneous disk or computer failures are
unlikely. But it's labor-intensive and error-prone, since I have to
do it by hand and keep track of what I copied where.
Yeah it not removable.... but its easier. No?
Click to expand...

Easier if you can automate it or if it is very limited in extent. But
it can get difficult to manage pretty quickly, and if you make
mistakes sometimes you destroy the very data you're trying to protect.
 
rather than using any backup media..... how abt just
distributing data across a home network to several PCs
so that you have multiple data sets? redundancy that
is?

Yeah it not removable.... but its easier. No?
Click to expand...


That can work but depending on how you implement it, may not
be enough. You'd need still have redundancy, multiple
copies of everything else you're still susceptible to data
loss with a drive failure. Further, if you have several
systems with same susceptibility to viri (for example,
multiple storage boxes running Windows 2K/XP ) that spread
over networks, that may mean multiple boxes go down from one
"event".

It is good to have at least one copy of data that is not
online and not potentially damaged by electrical surges (we
will ignore the theoretical perfection of powerline surge
protection for the moment). Some people go even a step
further and seek a redundant backup off-site, such than in
event of fire or flood or (whatever) there is far less
likelihood that both 'sites are effected.
 
Mxsmanic said:
Over the past few years the capacity of disk drives (and the amount of
space typically used on them) has greatly increased, and now it is
getting more and more difficult to figure out how to back up these
drives.

What type of hardware (and software) do you use on your systems for
backup?

Up to now, I've used HP DDS tape drives (DAT drives) for backup. But
DDS2 is limited to 4 GB, and DDS3 is limited to 24 GB, and that's
getting to be to small to hold even one backup on a single tape (or
even on several tapes in some cases).

So, what else is there? These DAT drives already cost me a fortune in
the good old days, and today they cost nearly as much as the rest of
the computer, when I can find them ... and even DDS4 is still limited
to 40 GB. DLT drives are several times more expensive at the cheap
end, although they do have capacity to hold an entire drive of data.

Are there other practical alternatives? What about external USB
drives, can that work? Old stuff like Zip drives and so on is
history, as it has even less capacity than tape. Archiving to CD or
DVD is also too low in capacity. It's getting to the point that the
only affordable option seems to be some sort of disk-to-disk copy (or
RAID for those who can afford it), but it would be nice to have
removable media that could be put in a safe place.

So what is everyone else building into their new machines for backup?
And do you just use standard backup tools like ntbackup on Windows or
dump on UNIX, or do you use special software purchased separately?
Click to expand...

I use hard disks as backups. I copy my data direct using Save 'n' sync to a
'backup' hard disk in another machine that runs 24/7. Inside this backup
machine I also have two disks that again copy my data - so I end up with
three copies of my 'data'.

I figure it's easy enough to install the operating system onto a new disk
and then just copy my data back.

I don't like 'backup' software that creates a backup file(s). Much rather
have the data in it's native format - that way I can copy it, share it, etc,
without the need for backup software.

Clive
 
Clive said:
I use hard disks as backups. I copy my data direct using Save 'n' sync to a
'backup' hard disk in another machine that runs 24/7. Inside this backup
machine I also have two disks that again copy my data - so I end up with
three copies of my 'data'.
Click to expand...

What's Save 'n' sync? An imaging product like Acronis or something?

I try to keep multiple copies, too. It can be difficult to manage,
but it's cheap and simple if you have several PCs/disk drives.
I figure it's easy enough to install the operating system onto a new disk
and then just copy my data back.
Click to expand...

To an extent, yes, except for the registry issues I've mentioned.

UNIX has no registry, but it can still have problems sometimes.
FreeBSD seems to be very good at recognizing hardware as it boots, so
I don't actually have to change much to get it to run on new hardware
(but if I customize the kernel I have to make sure there's enough left
in it to boot on new hardware, i.e., no missing drivers). It's easier
to recover on UNIX than on Windows.
I don't like 'backup' software that creates a backup file(s). Much rather
have the data in it's native format - that way I can copy it, share it, etc,
without the need for backup software.
Click to expand...

It's easier to get it disorganized that way, though.

Acronis lets me "mount" a backup file as a virtual read-only drive and
examine it exactly as if all the structure were restored to a disk
drive. Then I can copy individual files, etc., as required. Works
really well from what I've seen in my tests, so I have the best of
both worlds (one giant backup file, but still the possibility of
restoring individual files).
 
My main HD is an 80g. I also have a 120g, 160g and another 80g in a
removable tray and 3 other PC's on my LAN. About every 3 months, or less if
I've not made a lot of changes, I clone my system drive to the 80 in the
removable tray. I also back up my data directories to the 120 on even days,
the 160 on odd days, and another weekly copy to the 160. Additionally, it is
copied nightly to my wifes PC.

Everthing except the cloninng (Norton Ghost) is handled automatically by
Second Copy 200 (http://www.centered.com/).

It has worked great for me.

mb
 
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