»How can I keep my data safe and backup my harddisks?«
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 My machine has two hard drives. The primary hard drive is simply installed programs and is completely expendable. The secondary hard drive contains nothing but data (roughly 60 GB or so) and is priceless (to me, at least). I want to set up some sort of a system, possibly automated, so that I can readily back up the entire contents of my secondary hard drive. I've used CDs in the past, but backing up that much data onto CDs is painful at best. Can anyone recommend the best process (including hardware and software) for backing up this secondary hard drive? posted by Tiefling |
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| in-my-opinion.orgTechnology, Computers, Science, InternetComputers and InternetHow can I keep my data safe and backup my harddisks? |
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 As you may know from  I have several computers (for example one with 11 harddisks and another with 7 harddisks). I have approx. 2000 GB. So I am in an even worse situation than you. Now, the ONLY way how you can make sure that your data lasts is the following: Having a RAID-1 (Mirroring) system (= at least 2 hard disks) or a RAID-5 (= at least 3 hard disks) that stores the data. (And actually an additional hard disk that stores the OS (e.g. Windows XP)). A RAID controller (hardware or software) does the following: Whenever you write something to your hard disk, it also writes it to the other harddisk. In other words: When a hard disk fails you still have 100% of the up-to-date data. Nothing gets ever lost. You yourself do not need to backup anything. Everything is in the background and the mirroring harddisk works in the background and no program even cares that it is there. Hard disks WILL fail. It happened several times to me. [CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS PICTURE] [CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS PICTURE] [CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS PICTURE] [CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS PICTURE] posted by knn |
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If you have Windows XP then you simply need to buy another 60 GB disk and then let Windows XP do the mirroring. Moreover many motherboards nowadays have a hardware raid controller onboard already. Thus if Windows XP doesn't work for you then you might use your motherboard. posted by knn |
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Please don't misunderstand me. The backup I am talking about is a real-time up-to-date backup, of course. This is to prevent data loss in case of a harddrive crash. It is NOT an incremental backup = where you have older versions of the same file. In other words: If you want to keep older versions of your files (e.g. in case of an accidental deletetion or a virus attack) then you need to make ADDITIONAL backups, of course. You would need to buy another harddrive just for that purpose, or use DVD-Rs posted by knn |
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Damn, nice working space! So is a RAID controller pricey? posted by Tiefling |
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Tiefling: So is a RAID controller pricey? There are different ones. But those that are able to to simple RAID-1 are cheap. And as I said: Check first whether you don't have a raid controller already on your mother board or in your Windows. Tiefling: Damn, nice working space! Thanks. posted by knn |
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 Tiefling: Damn, nice working space! I too agree, that is phreaking phat. Knn lets us see some of his life, this is a real moment! Tiefling: So is a RAID controller pricey? An ata 133 raid-1 controller card wouldn't be that much, $100 or so. But you have a newer computer, you might have a raid controller onboard, like knn suggested. Check your manual/online for the specs. 60 gig drives cost little these days. Looking into a dvd-r drive would also be worth it. posted by volonteshiva |
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volonteshiva: An ata 133 raid-1 controller card wouldn't be that much, $100 or so. Nah, 20$ See  posted by knn |
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knn: volonteshiva: An ata 133 raid-1 controller card wouldn't be that much, $100 or so. Nah, 25$ See Yeah, you're right. I did a crappy, short search for prices... posted by volonteshiva |
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 Tiefling: Damn, nice working space! Very nice, nice looking place you've got there. Heh, you should see my working space. Two monitors, but no fucking room for moving, when I leave my room I normally knock over atleast two things. I like how you've set out your computers on a roundish desk, mines on a flat desk that's slowly bending down in the middle because the wait of my monitors is too much for it to hold. Heh and nice stock of coke and booze. posted by hungarian kid |
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Now there is however a problem with RAID: You need to have 2+ hard drives. As you see from my computers, the hard drives are stacked on each other. IN OTHER WORDS: It can get HOT. Very hot. What I have noticed that the computer with the 11 hard drives doesn't get near as hot as the one with 9 hard drives. I found out that MAXTOR hard disks get hot, while others do not. So: Don't buy Maxtor. The Seagate that I use stay pretty cool. OK, what do I want to say? It turns out the the noise produced by the whole system is unbearable: harddisk*9 + computer fans + power supply unit*2 (because you need more power if you have so many hard disks) + fan Yes, I have a fan (ventilator) positioned directly in front of the maxtor harddisks. In other words: I needed to place everything into a separate room. Before I installed an air conditioner only for my machines but now I use a ventilator. So I have all my computers placed in a separate room so that I don't hear them too much and can listen to music. However: Cables cannot have more than a certain length. Especially monitor cables cannot be longer than a few meters. USB cables are not such a big problem. They can be very long: I made an experiment and combined several USB cables to check how long they can get and as you see from the pic (in my garden) they can get pretty long. [CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS PICTURE] posted by knn |
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knn: The Seagate that I use stay pretty cool. I only buy Seagate, they're fairly reliable. knn: Yes, I have a fan (ventilator) positioned directly in front of the maxtor harddisks. Heh I had to do that with my modem once. It look's like you have a fair amount of computer know how, why havn't you resorted to building water cooling systems for each one? I can see how that'd be a huge tedious task though, and the water cooling systems are always about half a foot taller than the case. But they generally don't produce much noise, they're just big and tedious. An easy and cheap way to reduce sound from your computer is to put cardboard on the inside of the case. posted by hungarian kid |
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hungarian kid: It look's like you have a fair amount of computer know how, why havn't you resorted to building water cooling systems for each one? Harddisks and power supply make the most noise. hungarian kid: An easy and cheap way to reduce sound from your computer is to put cardboard on the inside of the case. Have you done that with a computer with 9 resp. 11 harddisks? I doubt it that they survive a heat flash. Especially if you live in a hot country. posted by knn |
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 Please don't make the mistake and backup on streamer tapes. DO NOT use streamers. They are not worth it. It's far cheaper to regularily buy hard disks to do backups than to buy streamers. Moreover, even the best streamer technology will be outdated in 1 or 2 years and you will have streamer tapes lying around, while having harddisks lying around is always good (you can make a new RAID system with these harddisks). Moreover streamers are sloooow. Just a tip: If you do a Raid-1 system as I propose, then you simply need to take out 1 of the 2 harddisks to have a backup. And you need to insert 1 new harddisk to have a fully functioning RAID 1 system again. Thus a backup is pretty easy, while streamers suck. posted by knn |
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 knn: As you see from my computers, the hard drives are stacked on each other.
IN OTHER WORDS: It can get HOT. Very hot. What I have noticed that the computer with the 11 hard drives doesn't get near as hot as the one with 9 hard drives. I found out that MAXTOR hard disks get hot, while others do not. So: Don't buy Maxtor. The Seagate that I use stay pretty cool. Just on a side note: 10 degrees cooler = double the life time. And since we are using a raid-system (= very big hard disk space) we should really take care of hard disks life times. I have already lost 3 Maxtor drives (that were in a raid system) and that sucks. posted by knn |
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The time now is 24 May 2012, 06:58 php B.B. |