Backup options

[iceman (Mike)]

Ok, so after going through the scary stuff of almost losing my life's work, I've got approval from the minister of finance to purchase some backup hardware.

I've got a 300gig external USB2 drive that I store everything on, so as a minimum, I'll need another 300gig drive.

On one hand, I could get a normal 300gig drive and mount it inside my home computer. Would probably write a bit faster.

On the other hand, if I get another external one then I can take it with me if required, during an emergency, fire, etc.

My computer has 2 USB2 ports, so backing up from to the other would just go through the USB ports. I imagine it would be a bit slower than normal because of traffic on the bus, but a backup is a backup. It doesn't have to be lightning quick.

Any other points of view?

So the next question is, what software do I need/should I use?

What will backup software give me, that a normal windows explorer copy/paste can't?

Any advice on software or other solutions?

Thanks in advance.

[g__day (Matthew)]

Is networked attached storage an option? Either a NAS attachment to an existing hard drive (to make any IDE drive visible to your PC / a network) or dedicated USB 2 HDD would be fine.

I just have lotsa PCs, each with at least two drives so I back up across partitions and across PCs for my really important stuff.

HDDs are dirt cheap nowadays, an internal 300GB SATA drive is around $140

http://www.fluidtek.com.au/

Check out NAS here. http://www.auspcmarket.com.au/

Networking > Wired > Devices > NAS | Network Attached Storage

If I wanted to say add a terrabyte spread dynamically across all my PCs I'd simply buy a 2, 3 or 4 bay NAS device, load it with 1 to 4 IDE drives of size 300 to 500 GB and plug the NAS via standard network cable into my router. To all my PCs there'd be a common drive say I give it path z:\ that each PC could partition or see the whole of depending how I set it up. The NAS is smart so I can RAID (mirror, stripe or both the drives for speed or resilence). Basically NAS is what major IT shops do to provided a shared pool of data across one or more PCs, its very, very effective and efficient.

e.g. for $121 you get a network device that can take any IDE device and make it visibile to your network (direct connect to a PC, hub, switch or better yet router).


VANTEC NEXSTAR3 BLACK USB2.0 EXTERNAL 3.5IN HARD DRIVE CASE

http://www.auspcmarket.com.au/images...BK_23067_0.jpg


+ Add an external hard drive to your laptop or PC, or RJ45 network
+ Uses LAN with proprietary driver, USB1.1, or 2.0 to connect, for Win98/ME/2000
+ Aluminium case w/stand, fits any standard-height 3.5" PATA IDE hard drive
+ Enables direct LAN connection into any standard Ethernet network
+ Allow direct connection to network without server, IP address, or protocol
+ Durable data process path and fast speed as computer internal storage
+ Simple backup or expansion allows Mirroring (RAID 1), Aggregation or RAID 0
+ A unique hardware ID and access key codes defines access rights
+ Unit is invisible and safe from external hackers since TCP/IP protocol is not adopted
+ Increase storage capacity or create an automatic copy of primary unit through software
+ Cable included - powered by 240v external power-supply


or for $192 buy a Netgear version that houses 2 internal IDE drives



NETGEAR SC101 STORAGE CENTRAL $192

http://www.auspcmarket.com.au/images...01_27685_0.jpg


Housing for network attached storage using 10/100 ethernet and IDE ATA drives
+ Takes up to 2 IDE drives, not included - choose them below
+ Capacity can be doubled or tripled by adding a 2nd or 3rd Storage Central
+ Share your valuable files or keep them private with password protection

[iceman (Mike)]

There's a lot to take in there, i'll come back and read it in-depth (and follow links) later tonight.

Thanks for all the info.

[sheeny (Al)]

G'Day Mike,

I have sort of copied my brother's system.

I have a 300 G drive in my PC where I store all my bulky stuff like photos, etc.

I also have an external 250G drive.

I use Second Copy to automatically back up everytime I log off, or shutdown. It backs up everything off my D and L drives to my K drive (the external). I can't recommend Second Copy too highly IMHO. It works well, and I hate losing data!

I'm not as anal about carrying my external HDD with me as my brother is though... admittedly his whole business (photo restoration, etc) relies on it. He unplugs his external drive and takes it with him everywhere just in case the house burns down!

Al.

[g__day (Matthew)]

Any external HDD will do what you want, particularly with the right software (until Vista provides this next year).

If you ever want to have more than one PC share a hard drive simultaneously, then NAS is a killer concept. If you will never have more than one PC to backup, or if the data doesn't have to be visible to more than one PC at a time NAS is probably overkill. However, its very well priced overkill!

Generally external hard drives cost about $100 more than internal ones. So an internal one in a NAS is about the same price as the external one via firewire or USB2. Either USB2/firewire or NAS for 300 GB will cost you say $260 to $290. With NAS you simply need a free network card or a hub or switch or router and you just plug it in and you are done. Check with the supplier.

For me I would advise a NAS if you ever want your storage device to be available to more than 1 PC at a time (and a multi bay NAS is very upgradeable). By the sound of it this device doesn't have to be mobile unless there is a fire. In a fire you switch the NAS off, unhook it and carry your terrabytes of games, data, taxes files, images etc away under one arm.

[mickoking]

Originally Posted by sheeny

He unplugs his external drive and takes it with him everywhere just in case the house burns down!

That is very smart advice. I am starting to get in the habit of doing multiple back ups. And with imaging all my best shots are also in hard copy.

[rogerg (Roger)]

I have a 350gb network storage device in the house and a 300gb PATA HD in the obs computer. The 350gb is the main drive I store stuff on, and it gets backed up to the 300gb (if I ever run out and need the 50gb I'll find some way to get it). I use Second Copy to backup my laptop to the 350gb upon shutdown.

This works well for me because the observatory is as secure (if not more secure) as the house, connected via CAT5 and completely seperate - it's very unlikely both would be damaged or burgled in the one incident.

If I wasn't lucky enough to have the networked computer outside the house to backup stuff to (as was the case until 6 months ago) I'd take regular backups either on DVD or removable HD (USB/network/whatever) and store that at a relatives house or in a safety deposit box. This works well when you just do this off-site backup every few weeks, which for my data would be often enough.

I've got a few problems I'm still trying to overcome so it all works flawlessly and is complete (stupid Maxtor security stuff on the network drive), but it's pretty good how it is.

Important thing is to (if possible) not just backup to a different drive in the same computer. I always worry about someone stealing the drive(s) more so than fire etc.

Roger.

[acropolite (Phil)]

For backup I always use optical disks. Copying to another HDD isn't a terribly safe method to backup, as you've already discovered. A power spike on your PC can take out 2 magnetic drives as easily as one. I'll take optical backup over magnetic any time. I have never had an optical disk fail to read despite having backups from when CD burners were only double speed. The only optical medium I have experienced problems with are rewritable disks and then only when using InCD or similar sequential writing software. If you're paranoid about your optical disk backups failing over time re-copy them every year or so.