I agree about RAID making perfect copies of trashed disks. Since Windoze crashes a lot more than hard drives, what we need is redundancy for the OS instead of the hard drives (or run linux). Here at work, we have a pair of drives mirrored through hardware RAID, and Windoze has messed them both up nicely several times. I've been able to get back to where I was from the USB hard drive backup (images from Norton Ghost). For off site storage, I haul the extra backup drive from work to home and the backup from home to work. Both then have off site backup. Harold > 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 >> $30. >> >> If you're going with 2 hard drives anyway, get the RAID controller; it's >> even cheaper than Total Commander. Configure the 2 drives for Raid 1 >> (mirroring). The 2 drives will be bitwise duplicated of each other >> (done in >> hardware, so there is no system overhead like a software solution). The >> Raid controller can also read from both drives concurrently since >> they're >> identical on a bit level anyway, so your read rate will double. If one >> drive fails, you still have a perfect copy on the other. >> >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: "Dennis Crawley" >> To: >> Sent: Saturday, April 10, 2004 6:08 AM >> Subject: Re: [OT:] Backup Software - Your favorites? >> >> > ----- Original Message ----- >> > From: "Bob Blick" >> > Sent: Saturday, April 10, 2004 3:04 AM >> > Subject: Re: [OT:] Backup Software - Your favorites? >> > > rsync? >> > >> > 1.- Buy the same HDD. >> > 2.- Install it removable. >> > 3.- Download Total Commander (~35U$) >> > 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! > > -- > http://www.piclist.com hint: To leave the PICList > mailto:piclist-unsubscribe-request@mitvma.mit.edu > -- FCC Rules Online at http://www.hallikainen.com -- http://www.piclist.com hint: To leave the PICList mailto:piclist-unsubscribe-request@mitvma.mit.edu