storage ideas (capacity?)

[threeputt]

Thanks all, but now I'm really confused. Not getting consensus here at all. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

Derf, going your idea for just a minute, about how much dough are we talking? And how do you solve your backup issues. DVD? CD? Tape? The tapes we have are 12Gig. We back up three times a week. Not real savvy on this stuff, but my understanding is that the backup software only looks for changes made since last backup and backs up those, correct?

We've had jobs where a single client's truck graphic is 1Gig. Typically would you store that onto a CD (what's their capacity 770 megs or something?) May I ask what your storage strategies are?

 

[gerald]

At this point I would say if you can't do this yourself, go with your tech support person because we obviously can't agree on this and we won't be there to be help you if it goes down.

As you can see, this post has driven me to drinking.

 

[Sabre]

We spec a system with a RAID array for anything containing critical data. Why? Cause it's cheap and effective. To this day, I have never seen a sata connection fail and I'm not sure where the concern from the other forum members stems from.

People are lazy, people dont back up files. A very simple raid array gives you a 100% data backup should a drive fail and you have lost nothing.

Maintenance? None. It's an extra drive spinning in your case. Please take the current number of times per year you take your hard drive out for a bearing overhaul or a platter scrub and multiply it by 2. The only drawback to a properly setup RAID array is the initial expense of buying an additional drive. Would I pay $100 to get my data back after it's lost? You can count on it. Why not pony up at build time.

 

[Bobby H]

It's just as simple to run a copy of Norton Ghost and back up your C:\ partition to an external hard disc drive. This is absolutely what I recommend. Especially when it comes to things like a virus attack. One button backups are easy and can really save your bacon if someone slips up and allows a malware-laden e-mail message to infiltrate your local network.

External USB 2.0 or IEEE-1394 400 or 800 connected hard drives are great for this purpose and for storing things like large format vehicle wraps, huge billboard designs and other files where the storage footprint exceeds 1GB.

DVD storage is suspect over wear and tear issues. CD storage is not nearly as cost effective in price per megabyte as massive external hard drive storage. And not nearly as fast either.

 

[signage]

Bobby H have you ever looked at Acronis imaging software?

 

[2NinerNiner2]

threeputt -

This is what I have done and I feel that for me, anyways, it gives me the peace of mind some of the more elaborate examples here do. I hooked up an external 250GB USB drive that I bought for around 250CDN. I know I could set up an auto backup routine, but at the end of the day, I simply copy the 'Clients' and the appropriate 'Quickbooks' folders to it and let it overwrite the ones that are there. I also backup my iBook to it in a similar manner (my main system is a WinXP PC). Not elegant, but it works for me and I have a copy of my most important data that, if the need ever arises and I have to vacate the premises in a hurry (as I have done on two occasions when the fire alarm went off), I grab it and "run" ( OK, walk quickly ! - down 15 flights of stairs!

I see on their web site that Best Buy has a 500GB external USB 2.0 drive on for 249.95 ... one way to do it

 

[Bobby H]

Bobby H have you ever looked at Acronis imaging software?

I'm not familiar with it. But if it does the same kind of thing as Norton Ghost (or even a better job in doing the same duties) then it would be worth checking out.