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Re: NAS
Ken.C #217880 08/12/08 05:29 PM
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Good Point.

So any further suggestions on automating backups of personal data? I'm familiar with commercial grade products or at least I used to be years ago, but most 'low cost' stuff I'm finding seems centered on CD/DVD backup or incremental.

Sorry I'm hijacking here but it is more or less related for his future options.


With great power comes Awesome irresponsibility.
Re: NAS
Murph #217881 08/12/08 05:31 PM
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I would check out Lime Technologies Un-Raid servers.


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Re: NAS
Murph #217944 08/13/08 03:30 PM
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 Originally Posted By: Murph
Good Point.

So any further suggestions on automating backups of personal data? I'm familiar with commercial grade products or at least I used to be years ago, but most 'low cost' stuff I'm finding seems centered on CD/DVD backup or incremental.

Sorry I'm hijacking here but it is more or less related for his future options.


IMHO, the easiest and most cost effective way to backup your personal data is by using external USB hard drives. Standard USB drives. No mirroring or RAID arrays. KISS. You can get 500GB ones for $80. Nicer versions even come with automated backup software. Some even have a single-button you press to perform the backup automatically. If you have to evacuate your home you can easily grab the drive and take it with you.

The other nice thing about them is that you can do what the 'big boys' do and do off-site backups. You could easily keep an extra drive at a trusted friend's house, in a fireproof safe, or even in a safe deposit box at a bank. If something catastrophic happens to your home, your priceless photos, videos, and documents will be safe elsewhere.

I do not trust CD's or DVD's to archive important data. The media simply does not last. Not enough that I'd trust them, anyway. I've seen DVD's +/-R disks become unreadable in as little as 2 years.


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Re: NAS
Ken.C #217945 08/13/08 03:32 PM
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 Originally Posted By: kcarlile
RAID is not a backup. RAID is redundancy, but if the data goes bad, it instantly goes bad on both disks.


This is true, but read/write speed is also a major reason to use certain RAID types.




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Re: NAS
PeterChenoweth #217946 08/13/08 03:44 PM
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I agree with the Peters.

We have more than one computer on all the time at home (just don't start with me about electricity). I use the free version of SyncBack and like it very much. It enables me to set up scheduled backups or synchronizations between any folders anywhere on the network. Since internal storage is even cheaper than external USB drives, I just have everybody store their documents, music, pictures, etc. on the server and back it up every night to another drive on the network. I'm really happy with this software.

AND I periodically update an external USB drive for offsite backup. \:\)


bibere usque ad hilaritatem
Re: NAS
tomtuttle #217949 08/13/08 06:15 PM
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And for Mac folks, it's hard to go past SuperDuper for backups. I paid for my copies, I use the scheduling feature for automated backups.

Drobo looks interesting for redundancy: I think it's proprietary, not actually RAID-n, if that matters to you. And the latest version has Firewire 800.

Regards,
David

Re: NAS
Ken.C #217950 08/13/08 06:53 PM
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As I mentioned in another thread, I use the HP MediaSmart Server at home. It does an automatic backup every night of any computer that is connected to the network. It saves (default) the last three days/weeks/months of backups.
I have it set up where it mirrors data (RAID 1) across all drives for regular storage of photos and important documents. Everything else (movies/music/etc.) is standard storage.
For redundancy I also copy photos and the occassional backup to a bookdrive and my laptop. Those copies are stored on the hard-drive at work as well.
At work, we use an offsite (online) backup for important data.
Yes, I have lost irreplaceable data before. It's amazing what a loss can do to your security.

Re: NAS
Lohengrin #217953 08/13/08 07:00 PM
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Lohengrin, as I was reading your post I was thinking to myself,'I bet this guy has lost some important data before.'

Then I got to the last sentence. Ha! ;\)

All it takes is one good 'awww *%#@' moment to change your view of backups forever.


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Re: NAS
PeterChenoweth #217960 08/13/08 08:39 PM
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You think that sounds bad...

You should see my wife "clear" the house since the robbery. Scary.

Re: NAS
Lohengrin #218084 08/15/08 03:10 PM
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Thanks Peter, I have an external drive that I am currently using in this manner. However, the software that came with it insist on a total backup of all my chosen folders every time.

I was experimenting with bunch of freeware software that runs a synch process every night so it only adds or deletes files that have changed. Kind of like Raid 1, but not instantaneous so if I accidentally destroy a file, I have a bit of a window to go get it from my backup.

The Freeware stuff works but each one had its own minor quirk so I was ready to buy something that comes recommended. I should have been more specific but was trying to leave it open as I would get more suggestions.

Thanks all.

Anywhooo, lots of good advice up there.


With great power comes Awesome irresponsibility.
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