VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

billelder · Guest

This goes under no other category than "venting." <g> First of all, when I have these things on my mind I get up at 4AM. Only infomercials are on now. It seems like I could do this when Regis or Good Morning America was on to distract me. Second, don't we all go through this? Upgrading and changing while still having to work? I'm a big believer in redundancy. Plus, I'm a big believer in redundancy.

The rule of thumb in computing is that hard drives will fail. It's not "if," but "when." It occurred to me that I have been backing up my hard drive once a week for years and had never tested to see if it would actually work. I just use the Seagate "New Drive" software and format and copy the drive.

I'm pleased to say that it worked brilliantly. My firewall software had to be told it was OK to get online, but outside of that it was great. I know I can get up and running in about 20 minutes if there was a crash. Why now? Because Murphy's Law states that when you crack the computer case, three ASAP's will come in. Smile

Just curious on the steps you take to keep your business up and running that helps you sleep at night?

Deirdre · Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 3:42 am Post subject:

I back up the database for this joint weekly or semi-weekly.
Given the great number of contriutors and posts, I should probably write a script that would make it happen automatically daily.
I used Carbon Copy Cloner to make a backup of my Main drive with all apps in and prefs set. That's the biggesst pain, re-installing apps and getting passwords in.
That's about it for the whoops-it-crashed backup.

I move media off the recording partition and make backup DVDs of session material; I also archive documents and other media like photos and movies every couple of months.

I had the HDD in my laptop replaced a couple of weeks ago because I didn't like the way it sounded. My Mac Guy told me it probably had months left in it, but I insisted on a swap out. Hard drives' lives are measured in Mean Time Between Failures. I can't take a chance on failure.
A total hard drive crash would be catastrophic.

[edited for typos. I seriously need to get my nails done— they're just too long.]
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Hart · Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 5:00 am Post subject:

Bill, that stuff scares the heck out of me too.

I currently have 3 drives in my machine. All programs reside on the C drive and all the CD's that they came on have a special place in my office for quick reinstall.

All audio, sessions, music libraries, sound effects, etc reside on the other two drives. For the most part the important stuff here gets backed up to DVD/CD..

Thanks for posting, it's probably time for me to rethink this.
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iladelf · Guest

My current job is fixing computers, so yes, you folks have hit the nail on the head; hard drives WILL fail. My take? What I'm seeing out of modern drives is that you should look to replace your old drive at the 2 year mark, no later. Used to be you could count on a drive for 3-4 years at least; not so anymore (read the link below).

http://www.pcworld.ca/news/column/5364b9650a010408016cf4f9763a44d7/pg0.htm

According to folks at StorageReview.com, they've said on my recent post that there is NO one single manufacturer heads above the rest as far as reliablity is concerned. They believe that HOW the drive is physically handled from manufacturer to end sales point has a HUGE influence on the life of a given drive.

That said, from what I've seen, my favorite drives to install are Seagate. That's what I personally use and install as replacements for customers. Had too many quick returns with Maxtor and Western Digital drives to consider anything else. And, boxed Seagates (not OEM) come with a 5 YEAR WARRANTY. Now, sure, they could fail in that time, but at least you'd get a new one.

iladelf · Guest

Watch the video from the link at the BBC. Looks to me, as long as you don't "smash" a hard drive, a recovery can be done.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6677235.stm

todd ellis · Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 7:02 am Post subject:

ok, geek squad, i have a question. i back up everything to an external hard drive - which - when i am not actively backing up - is not powered on or mounted. could mounting/removing the HD ... say weekly reduce the life of the drive? I'm not physically moving the drive - and always use the proper procedure for removing it from the system. alternately - is all this plugging & unplugging a gothic waste of time?

it's not ALL HD - i also back up sessions and finished audio to DVD/CD
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billelder · Guest

I use a Mobile Rack for my D: drives. That way audio, files and such may be used on any computer. The catch is you have to have a 5.25 bay free. Removable and hot swappable.

louzucaro · Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2007 9:42 pm Post subject:

Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2007 10:31 pm Post subject:

Agree with Lou. Unless you have a reason for unplugging it, just leave it plugged in.
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Vance Elderkin · Contributor IV Joined: 02 Feb 2007 Posts: 133

I backup my data to an external hard drive weekly, when I then unplug and carefully store away. Reason for unplugging: I live in a heavily wooded area in North Carolina (nice tall pine trees all around), which is prone to some rather nasty lightning strikes during our frequent thunderstorms. These strikes have claimed, so far, a hard drive and modem (my computer was plugged into a spike protector), a dishwasher, a stove, a refrigerator and two TV sets. It also scorched the middle of my driveway and melted a few rocks there. (In fact, the remnants of a tropical storm are going over as I type this. Let the hurricane season begin!)

You can use all of the lightning arrestors and spike protectors you want--lightning will do whatever the heck it wants to do. That's why I unplug.

Hart · Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2007 9:47 am Post subject:

Vance,

And thank goodness for the rain we're getting, no? Laugh

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bobbinbeamo · Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2007 12:02 pm Post subject:

We have power surges and occasional rolling blackouts here in the hot summer months, so I have a battery back up. just...in ....case.....
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Yoda117 · Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2007 8:43 am Post subject:

APC Symmetrix to APC rackmount UPS which feeds a Pair of Monster Power 2500 Pro Power Filters.

Backup is via tape robot.
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