Nas

[Wresh]

Blew my hard drive today and like a moron I did not have any of my important data backed up. Completely my fault and no one to blame but the guy I see in the mirror each day.:shame:

Chosen my 2 new hard drives (going Raid 0), but I also want to buy a NAS for backups to make sure I have my butt covered this time. Does anyone recommend anyone in particular? I don't need more than 1 TB.

Thanks!

[Allara]

I ran a RAID 0 for a few years, but ultimately one of the drives went bad so the whole array died. So here are my recommendations:

- Use a RAID 1 with two drives or (better) a RAID 10 with 4 drives. When a drive dies, just replace it and the array will repair itself. This is almost a backup on it's own.
- Use offsite online backup with a full backup at least every 24 hours. I use Mozy (mozy.com)
- Use a simple external drive (USB or eSATA) to keep backups near, but don't rely on it for your up-to-the-minute backups

Looking into the truly redundant external NAS arrays, it would take like 5+ years of Mozy to pay off the investment in one of those. I absolutely cannot lose data, so anything I choose must be 100% reliable.

[Berae]

I'd never trust a NAS, all it takes is a failure in the NAS device itself to screw your data. Could just build a cheap-o backup machine running FreeNAS and hopefully you can replace that with another cheap machine when the hardware finally dies (by hardware I mean everything else besides the harddrives, which you should have in a decent repairing RAID setup). Of course, Allara's suggestion of an online system is a good idea, provided you aren't trying to backup a few TBs of torrented stuff :)

[Peotr]

Use a RAID 1 with two drives


This is correct.



Use offsite online backup ... Use a simple external drive (USB or eSATA) to keep backups near


This is also correct, and although that may seem redundantly redundant, if the files you need to rebuild a broken operating system are online you can easily trap yourself in a catch-22 where you can't rebuild your computer until your computer is rebuilt.

P.S. Mozy is also nice if your computer gets stolen. And Mozy takes a lot of the pain out of keeping your shit backed up.

[Allara]

You should always be able to get your operating system back up without any backups.

But also, downloading a large Mozy backup can take *forever*, so if you notice a hard drive starting to fail, throw everything onto that external drive so you can just copy it back locally when you've rebuilt the hardware.

Mozy also does differentials from day-to-day, so if you accidentally overwrite a file (not delete it), you can restore it to an earlier timeframe. This has saved my life a few times.

[Peotr]

You should always be able to get your operating system back up without any backups.

I know this doesn't apply to Wresh, but I've been seeing a lot of commercial laptops (and some desktops) that don't come with operating system disks or even recovery CDs. When you first start the computer they may ask you to make a recovery CD, but otherwise *nothing* is provided. And speaking of 'make a recovery CD', the excited new user often skips past that step, especially if they don't have any blank DVDs the first time they start their shiny new computer and Windows asks them to create that recovery disk. "Make a recovery disk? That seems .... BORING!" <click Cancel>

These laptops usually have a f$#@ing partition on the hard drive, sometimes hidden, sometimes not, with the operating system, the original 'snapshot' with the virgin recovery point (which often includes all the original bloatware), and not much else, and if that hard drive crashes it's almost like starting from the moon. I'm really persistent about getting people to keep a copy of their system, even if it's just on a thumb drive, and when you said to keep a simple USB or eSata external drive, I was wagging my finger at the screen and saying, "YES! EXACTLY! EXACTLY!" I get excited....

And I'm so anal retentive that it annoys me when the system marks that little 'recovery' partition as the C: drive. Ooooh, that gets me going.

I've even seen Windows 7 installation keys that won't work without the original OEM system, even if you have the exact installation disks for the same version. I thought Windows 7 was supposed to do away with all of that, I coulda swore that the marketing material said that any installation contains all the pieces for every installation.

I tell people to back up that little recovery partition.

And I really really really really get annoyed when someone with a laptop has worn their Windows installation key off of the 'Authentic Windows' sticker on the bottom of their computer, and didn't know that they needed to record that number somewhere. Thats always a joy to deal with.

[Allara]

That's a bit odd. Even modern MacBooks come with recovery DVDs. And Apple is at the forefront of media removal, heh.

Even so, a vanilla Windows 7 install will work on a laptop. Your power, fn keys, and touchpad drivers may not work, but it should get it running.

But I guess my perspective is a bit off, with an MSDN subscription and everything I need at my disposal in a variety of places. But still, what the fuck is up with no recovery media?

That hard drive "recovery partition" was cool back when Compaq did it in 1994. Along with loads of proprietary hardware, even in desktop systems. I never could get Windows to run reliably on any Compaq. Fuck them. In the ass. Twice.

[Berae]

Peotr is right about the commonplace recovery partition. Its really one of the most retarded things that can be done. It probably costs them 5 cents to include a damned DVD. Even prebuild desktops come with a partition instead of a disc.

<click cancel="">And I really really really really get annoyed when someone with a laptop has worn their Windows installation key off of the 'Authentic Windows' sticker on the bottom of their computer, and didn't know that they needed to record that number somewhere. Thats always a joy to deal with.</click>
They always seem to place it right where one of the user's legs would make contact with the bottom of the laptop too...

[Rennys]

Heh, not anymore. They've gone the recovery partition route this time around. In fact, they've gone the recovery partition that connects to the Internet to download the rest of the OS route. They just recently released how to copy the OS X 10.7 install to a USB drive, but they're going full on "cloud" where everything needs to be downloaded.

I use a NAS at home along with backing up my code to a USB drive. I back up the data to the thumb drive by using Mercurial clones. Basically, another revision control. Makes everything fairly straightforward for me. The only thing I haven't bought yet is an offsite online backup system. That seems bandwidth intensive to me, which is the only reason I haven't done it yet.



That's a bit odd. Even modern MacBooks come with recovery DVDs. And Apple is at the forefront of media removal, heh.

Even so, a vanilla Windows 7 install will work on a laptop. Your power, fn keys, and touchpad drivers may not work, but it should get it running.

But I guess my perspective is a bit off, with an MSDN subscription and everything I need at my disposal in a variety of places. But still, what the fuck is up with no recovery media?

That hard drive "recovery partition" was cool back when Compaq did it in 1994. Along with loads of proprietary hardware, even in desktop systems. I never could get Windows to run reliably on any Compaq. Fuck them. In the ass. Twice.

[Wresh]

Thanks for the help and comments all. :)

I really don't have a lot personally to back up that is really needed for me to keep. My financial records, personal documents and the music CD's I ripped to my hard drive. All of it should easily fit on a thumb drive. So until I get a more permanent solution (NAS, offsite using Mozy/Carbonite/Etc), I will make sure I buy 2-3 thumb drives to back up everything on them. Once I know what route I am going to take, I will move it all to them.

I can always re-rip my CD's, but I am pissed at myself about my financials.....then again, completely my fault for not taking a few dollars to back it up onto something.

Live.....get pissed about it...have a drink or two......learn.....don't repeat....lol

[Allara]

Apple is at the forefront of media removal


In fact, they've gone the recovery partition that connects to the Internet to download the rest of the OS route.

Oops, apparently my comment was too prescient. My MacBook purchased September 2010 still included a recovery DVD! Guess I am now part of the stone age... ;)

[Rennys]

Oops, apparently my comment was too prescient. My MacBook purchased September 2010 still included a recovery DVD! Guess I am now part of the stone age... ;)

Yep! Total stone age. Shame on you for not keeping up on the last 7 days of news!

[Aindayen]

So the root cause is Wresh is a moron. We all can agree on this! :)

[Wresh]

So the root cause is Wresh is a moron. We all can agree on this! :)

Pretty much!!

But, I don't die in fire! :D

[Allara]

But, I don't die in fire! :D
But your data does! Or would have if your computer had succumbed to a fire of catastrophic proportions! Because it wasn't backed up! Get it?

I so funny, I kill me.

[Wresh]

But your data does! Or would have if your computer had succumbed to a fire of catastrophic proportions! Because it wasn't backed up! Get it?

I so funny, I kill me.

HAHA.....


Bastards :)

[Aindayen]

/Snicker

When work calms down Wresh I'm going to drive up and buy you, kath, and valdis a beer! Hopefully it's before 2015 or I lose my sanity.

[Wresh]

Anytime!! Where you living now btw?

Well, got my HD's ordered. Went to Tigerdirect in Naperville, IL (about 10 minutes from me) to get my RAM and uh oh......They had EVGA GTX 550Ti's on sale for $139 with a $20 rebate.....Picked up 2 to run in SLi...lol.

[Aindayen]

Roscoe it's north of Rockford.

[Loniel Bonewalker]

For some the recovery partition is quite nice. For instance a friend of the family asked me to take a look at her computer, because it was now broken. Of course she had absolutely no idea how it could have broke and surely had no part in breaking it heh. Well when I went over the house to take a look she was using her dvd drive as a cup holder, and her recovery disc for a coaster.

She assumed that was what those items were meant for as they made things more convenient for her lol. Anyhow needless to say the computer has so many things wrong with it that it needed to be restored, and her cd was toast as if that would matter though as her drive to this day is reserved for her beverages. Thankfully it worked out and she now has a partition for recovery. While I am sure most of us would hate it, I tend to think the restoration in a partition is for the unfortunate common "what does this button do" people.

[Berae]

Well when I went over the house to take a look she was using her dvd drive as a cup holder, and her recovery disc for a coaster.
Huh? Why would she need a coaster if she had a cupholder?