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And that is? Got a link for a hobbyist...??dherbman:
What happens when your computer crashes?
- Thread starter DandyDon
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JeffG
Contributor
Redundant Array of Inexpensive DisksDandyDon:
Basically spreading your data over multiple disk so that the system can survive if 1 disk goes.
You need a special IDE or SCSI controller
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-raid.htm
OP
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Ah - thans...!!JeffG:
I back up critical data on DVD's as well as on other hard drives (I have five in my system, two of them external). Of course when three of the drives crash at the same time, it can do some nasty things. I also backup some of the files on my other computers (redundancy is good in computers as in diving).
Mark Vlahos
Contributor
I am currently using a Mac, but I have owned Windows computers as well. My solution is essentially the same on both platforms. Unfortunately it is not cheap, but it is as guaranteed to work as you can get.
I have two backup external hard drives and they are set to automatically backup at separate times. On the Mac I use fire wire hard drives and Retrospect software. On the Windows machine I used fire wire as well, but since that machine was a laptop I made sure that the hard drives used for backup were the correct physical size for the laptop. This was needed because the laptop would not start from an external fire wire hard drive. In the event of catastrophic failure my plan was to replace the drive with the bacckup and I would be ready to go.
On both platforms I needed to make sure that the software used for backing up would copy all of the files required to allow me to simply replace a dead drive with my backup. On Windows I used software called Drive Image.
The lesson of having TWO separate backup drives was learned the hard way since on my Windows machine the primary hard drive actually failed in the middle of a backup operation. The end result was that the source drive was dead as a door nail and the backup was physically fine, but the files actually being copied at the time of the failure were corrupted. I lost all past e-mails and my address book, but my palm pilot served as a source for my address book. The only files completely lost were about 200 old messages that I had been keeping, so now I make sure to have two backup drives.
If your time and the information on your computer is important to you, backup regularly, my Mac backs itself up Thursday morning at 2AM to one drive, and Saturday morning also at 2AM to the other. The computer sits on an electrical battery backup so even during a power failure I will be fine.
Call me paranoid, but I have had 3 hard drives fail since I started using computers in 1986, so I agree it is not if, but rather when will you suffer a failure.
Mark Vlahos
I have two backup external hard drives and they are set to automatically backup at separate times. On the Mac I use fire wire hard drives and Retrospect software. On the Windows machine I used fire wire as well, but since that machine was a laptop I made sure that the hard drives used for backup were the correct physical size for the laptop. This was needed because the laptop would not start from an external fire wire hard drive. In the event of catastrophic failure my plan was to replace the drive with the bacckup and I would be ready to go.
On both platforms I needed to make sure that the software used for backing up would copy all of the files required to allow me to simply replace a dead drive with my backup. On Windows I used software called Drive Image.
The lesson of having TWO separate backup drives was learned the hard way since on my Windows machine the primary hard drive actually failed in the middle of a backup operation. The end result was that the source drive was dead as a door nail and the backup was physically fine, but the files actually being copied at the time of the failure were corrupted. I lost all past e-mails and my address book, but my palm pilot served as a source for my address book. The only files completely lost were about 200 old messages that I had been keeping, so now I make sure to have two backup drives.
If your time and the information on your computer is important to you, backup regularly, my Mac backs itself up Thursday morning at 2AM to one drive, and Saturday morning also at 2AM to the other. The computer sits on an electrical battery backup so even during a power failure I will be fine.
Call me paranoid, but I have had 3 hard drives fail since I started using computers in 1986, so I agree it is not if, but rather when will you suffer a failure.
Mark Vlahos
SparticleBrane
Contributor
Can't say I ever really have computer issues--but that just comes with being able to fix computers and knowing how to keep them up to date. That, plus owning a Mac.
I've had a hard drive or two crash before but there are definitely warning signs. Usually you'll start to hear the "hard drive click of death" before it totally dies. If something is incredibly important I'll store it on DVD (read: Top Gear collection). I also have important things spread out over my 3 computers so that helps.
As to RAID--DandyDon here's a slightly better link with graphics and better explanation. Although it doesn't specifically have RAID 1+5 (to be honest I've never heard of 1+5).
http://www.acnc.com/04_01_00.html
RAID is great; I've set up a few arrays. People want it especially after they lose stuff to a hard drive failure.
I've had a hard drive or two crash before but there are definitely warning signs. Usually you'll start to hear the "hard drive click of death" before it totally dies. If something is incredibly important I'll store it on DVD (read: Top Gear collection). I also have important things spread out over my 3 computers so that helps.
As to RAID--DandyDon here's a slightly better link with graphics and better explanation. Although it doesn't specifically have RAID 1+5 (to be honest I've never heard of 1+5).
http://www.acnc.com/04_01_00.html
RAID is great; I've set up a few arrays. People want it especially after they lose stuff to a hard drive failure.
undrwater
Contributor
Add my vote to RAID. An external RAID is one of the better solutions because even your backup hard disk can fail. Critical files might be better off on some removable media (CD DVD, USB stick, etc...), and for me I have zipped critical files in redundant locations just in case.
For Mac, Unix, Linux ppl, rsync is a great tool for backup and file management across machines.
If you hear the "hard drive click of death" (or any other unusual sounds coming from your hard drive), turn off the computer, buy a new hard drive, make that your master, throw an OS onto it (or even better use a Live CD OS such as Knoppix) and copy your critical files onto the new disk or a removalbe one.
There are adapters that will allow a laptop HD to be setup in a tower or desktop machine, and those files can be copied that way. (It's how I instaled an OS on my 486 laptop which doesn't have a CD ROM attached.)
Costs for recovering data on a non-spinning drive are not necessarily so easy to bear for a home user, however if a drive is spinning, there are several recovery tools available.
...I'll stop babbling...
For Mac, Unix, Linux ppl, rsync is a great tool for backup and file management across machines.
If you hear the "hard drive click of death" (or any other unusual sounds coming from your hard drive), turn off the computer, buy a new hard drive, make that your master, throw an OS onto it (or even better use a Live CD OS such as Knoppix) and copy your critical files onto the new disk or a removalbe one.
There are adapters that will allow a laptop HD to be setup in a tower or desktop machine, and those files can be copied that way. (It's how I instaled an OS on my 486 laptop which doesn't have a CD ROM attached.)
Costs for recovering data on a non-spinning drive are not necessarily so easy to bear for a home user, however if a drive is spinning, there are several recovery tools available.
...I'll stop babbling...
vondo
Contributor
Some random comments:
1) RAID is good, but if you have a fire or flood you are SOL. Something like Don has is great because you can store it at your friends house and do a backup once a month or when you get a load of new data.
2) For me, no RAID, but I automatically syncronize every few days with a computer at work over the net
3) howarde: Ever look at the cost of data recovery from a crashed hard drive? Unless you are Ansel Adams, it is not worth it. You could drop many thousands of dollars trying to recover your average desktop hard drive.
4) RICHinNC's idea is great. I use one called a Wolverine. They come from 40GB to 100GB or more now. Mine has no screen, but it saves on memory cards. My 1 GB card lasts 100 shots in RAW mode which is a couple of days, really, but with this puppy, I can shoot for months.
1) RAID is good, but if you have a fire or flood you are SOL. Something like Don has is great because you can store it at your friends house and do a backup once a month or when you get a load of new data.
2) For me, no RAID, but I automatically syncronize every few days with a computer at work over the net
3) howarde: Ever look at the cost of data recovery from a crashed hard drive? Unless you are Ansel Adams, it is not worth it. You could drop many thousands of dollars trying to recover your average desktop hard drive.
4) RICHinNC's idea is great. I use one called a Wolverine. They come from 40GB to 100GB or more now. Mine has no screen, but it saves on memory cards. My 1 GB card lasts 100 shots in RAW mode which is a couple of days, really, but with this puppy, I can shoot for months.
vondo
Contributor
Oh yeah
5) Writable DVDs and CDs are notoriously unreliable, so unless you are very careful about which ones you choose, you should not rely on them for long-term (>3 years) backups. Another reason to have two hard drives. When one goes bad, you will know. You don't tend to try to read back in your DVDs every 6 months to see how they are holding up.
5) Writable DVDs and CDs are notoriously unreliable, so unless you are very careful about which ones you choose, you should not rely on them for long-term (>3 years) backups. Another reason to have two hard drives. When one goes bad, you will know. You don't tend to try to read back in your DVDs every 6 months to see how they are holding up.
SparticleBrane
Contributor
Heh I do, actually, but that's just becuase I like watching Top Gear.
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