Re: Backup devices? SC101? LaCie Ethernet Disk?


"Neil Maxwell" <neil.maxwell@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:lverr1hb37klbq5p9dl0fna923ul5i9iou@xxxxxxxxxx
> On Thu, 5 Jan 2006 14:27:10 -0500, "Peter" <peterfoxghost@xxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
>
> >> Here's what I do to back up multiple networked PCs, and it's worked
> >> very well so far. I'm not real good at doing scheduled stuff, so I
> >> have it as automated as possible.
> >
> >I thought that scheduling is a part of automation.
>
> Meat schedule vs. PC schedule. I have a Palm Pilot with a bunch of
> stuff that I'm scheduled to do. That doesn't mean I get it done on
> time. The PC's automation is much more reliable, in my case.
>
> >> I use True Image 8 (www.acronis.com - now at 9, which I haven't
> >> tried), an external USB2 HD on one PC, and an Iomega NAS100D network
> >> HD in a remote location. I've had good luck with the less expensive
> >> Iomega network HDs, but my needs are simple and I only run XP.
> >
> >How far is the remote location?
>
> In my case, the other end of the house, in a storage location, stashed
> out of sight. I could put them into the safe, where they'd replace
> the heater that keeps my steel from rusting, but I haven't bothered
> with that yet. They don't restart after a power outage (we've had a
> few lately), so I have to go push the buttons to get them back online.
>
> If you want a really remote location, you could mirror to a set of
> external HDs that you could send off somewhere, or drop your DVD
> copies into a safe deposit box, the mail, or whatever. That's all
> human glue stuff, which I'm not so good at, as I said, so I draw the
> line there. YMMV.

Most people with personal or small businesses use car for second/remote site
storage. For that, tapes (LTO-1) seem to do better than multiple external
drives.

Keeping backup at the same site has drawbacks.

> >> You can sometimes get them for a very good price from their factory
> >> outlet store (http://www.iomega.com/direct/outlet/landing.jsp).
> >>
> >> - Weekly TI8 full backup and daily incremental backup of each PC to
> >> the USB HD, all to the same backup set name, so it resets once a week
> >> and doesn't keep growing.
> >>
> >> - Weekly TI8 alternate full backup, no incrementals, offset from the
> >> main weekly backup by 1/2 week. This is in case the main backup gets
> >> corrupted somehow (like being interrupted during the full backup).
> >>
> >> - Daily mirror of the above files, using Second Copy
> >> (www.centered.com), to the network drive, which is physically
> >> separated from the PCs. This gives me a redundant copy of both sets
> >> of backups in a remote location, in case of a burglary where the thief
> >> gets both the PC and the main backup drive.
> >>
> >> The TI8 backup file sizes are set for 700 MB, as this will allow me to
> >> copy them to CD or DVD without any extra hoopjumping. Now and again
> >> (I shoot for once a month, but actually hit once a quarter), I burn
> >> the alternate backup set to DVD and stash it in my big safe, which
> >> provides some level of fire protection.
> >>
> >> For files I want to back up more than once a day or independently from
> >> the TI backups, I use Second Copy to backup the folder(s) they live
> >> in. It won't back up open files (which TI will), but it's another
> >> level of redundancy that I like. These mostly go to a second
> >> networked drive, but some PCs have a second internal drive for this.
> >
> >How big are your backups?
>
> Depends on the PC - mostly in the 10-30G range. One runs in the 200+G
> range, but there's not much really critical data there, so it backs up
> to a second HD in the same box, and the critical data gets Second
> Copy'd to one of the 'net drives. On my main PC, I typically put
> games and other high-volume, low-criticality stuff on a different
> partition and don't bother backing up that partition.
>
> Works well for me.

Do you really burn DVDs for alternate backup sets of 10-30GB?
That part is hard to automate (DVD robots cost more than LTO-1 tape drives).


.