And if you have a software glitch, you have two
identically trashed hard drives. Been there, been burned.

A "BACKUP" is just that. You make a copy and then you
tuck it away somewhere safe using removable media (HD case)
or a separate computer and network mount the drive for use
only when backup is being done. At least you then have
something from which you CAN backup.

Any disk trashing virus will just toast your
hard drives faster if you have raid.

What you should consider today is a removable SATA or
USB2 or Firewire drive since the newer controllers
support hot swap,
so you can mount and remove the drive without rebooting.

It is also a question of how valuable your data may be.
If your house/office burns it is likely that the
hard drives will not work too well for recovery.
A removable dive (or two) that you rotate back and
forth between two safe locations is the only really
GOOD backup. And with big drives being as cheap as
they are, there is no reason not to have a few (like
I do).

Robert

Jason S wrote:
>
> Most motherboards these days have a version with an integrated Promise Raid
> IDE controller for about $10 more, or PCI card with the controller is about
> $30.
>
> If you're going with 2 hard drives anyway, get the RAID controller; it's
> even cheaper than Total Commander.  Configure the 2 drives for Raid 1
> (mirroring).  The 2 drives will be bitwise duplicated of each other (done in
> hardware, so there is no system overhead like a software solution).  The
> Raid controller can also read from both drives concurrently since they're
> identical on a bit level anyway, so your read rate will double.  If one
> drive fails, you still have a perfect copy on the other.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Dennis Crawley" <proyectosenpic@YAHOO.COM.AR>
> To: <PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
> Sent: Saturday, April 10, 2004 6:08 AM
> Subject: Re: [OT:] Backup Software - Your favorites?
>
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Bob Blick"
> > Sent: Saturday, April 10, 2004 3:04 AM
> > Subject: Re: [OT:] Backup Software - Your favorites?
> > > rsync?
> >
> > 1.- Buy the same HDD.
> > 2.- Install it removable.
> > 3.- Download Total Commander (~35U$)
> > 4.- Use Synchronize Directories Module
> >
> > Synchronize after a week or so.
> > Synchronize after a mayor (and well done) soft installation.
> > Save important and frequently modified data on a CD-RW.
> > Don't leave connected the removable HDD during a normal session.
> > Put the HDD in a save(*) and dry place
> > (*) Mechanically and electrically
> > The restoring process is a simple plug on!
> >
> > Try Taskzip. But I don't like background processes. I do prefer leave a
> > unique task and go to read something... or use my wife's computer. :)
> >
> > Dennis Crawley
> >
> > PS: Backup processes are about strict discipline. That's all!

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