Backup and Archiving

[rcannonp]

I'm curious as to what backup systems people use. I've thought about using a working drive and then getting a dual bay firewire enclosure set up in a RAID-1 configuration for archiving to bare hard drives.

Also, what do you use to keep track of archived files on external drives ...iView, Portfolio, Filemaker, something else? I have a copy of DevonThink that does that sort of thing, but I haven't used it enough to know how well.

 

[I Simonius]

I'm curious as to what backup systems people use. I've thought about using a working drive and then getting a dual bay firewire enclosure set up in a RAID-1 configuration for archiving to bare hard drives.

Also, what do you use to keep track of archived files on external drives ...iView, Portfolio, Filemaker, something else? I have a copy of DevonThink that does that sort of thing, but I haven't used it enough to know how well.

system?:lol:
If only I could call it a 'system' ;-)

 

[Denis Pagé]

I think my setup is very satisfactory: I run with RAID-1 and I just lost a hard drive two days ago due to an overheated cracked connector. No problem! Everything is still up and running. I changed the wiring and as I am writing these lines, the lost drive is actually rebuilding (recovering) the information from the working drive. Beside, I have full tape backup to prevent from fire, steal or else...

One backup is not enough for important data! Always think about a total loss and you will be glad having a copy OFFSITE.

Hope this helps

 

[rcannonp]

I run with RAID-1 and I just lost a hard drive two days ago due to an overheated cracked connector. No problem! Everything is still up and running. I changed the wiring and as I am writing these lines, the lost drive is actually rebuilding (recovering) the information from the working drive. Beside, I have full tape backup to prevent from fire, steal or else...

Thanks for the reply.

So, what sort of hardware do you use in your RAID setup? Do you use dedicated RAID hardware or do you configure it in software? Wiebetech is supposed to be coming out with a two bay version of their RTX series enclosure. I was waiting to see what price point those come in at and thinking of picking one up. I'm still not sure if I would want a JBOD or hardware RAID unit.

 

[Denis Pagé]

Thanks for the reply.

So, what sort of hardware do you use in your RAID setup? Do you use dedicated RAID hardware or do you configure it in software? Wiebetech is supposed to be coming out with a two bay version of their RTX series enclosure. I was waiting to see what price point those come in at and thinking of picking one up. I'm still not sure if I would want a JBOD or hardware RAID unit.

Software RAID is somewhat slow. I use a Promise TX23'' RAID controller that I can control remotely from any other computer over the the LAN (Or anywhere in the world if proper port open in firewalls) if local computer is not accessible.

You can have either Software JBOD, software RAID, hardware JBOD or hardware RAID.

JBOD (Just a Bunch Of Disks) may increase performance but at the cost of loosing all data security! If only one drive fail in the bunch, all of them fail! Maybe good for gamer on a rush for speed but very bad for invaluable data. Avoid it!

RAID is more expensive:
In JBOD, 4''GB + 4''GB = 8''GB
In RAID, 4''GB + 4''GB = 4''GB

With RAID there is an increase of performance only in the "read" operations but you have peace of mind if one drive fail. You can continue working while waiting for a replace ment drive but then, keep up to date external backups religiously!

External array may be a good choise if you have more than one computer to protect. This should not be a local USB/FW unit but something accessible from any computer on the LAN. More and more of these units are also accessible to home entertainment systems... That may be a good idea to move your PhotoShoots and Lightroom catalogs there then making backups on the local drive.

If money is not a concern, I suggest going to RAID-5 with which you can loose more than one drive and continue and also have an "hot spare" drive that can be used to rebuild automatically the array in the advent of a drive failure.

Hope this helps

P.S.: May be an "Equipment talk" topic?

 

[rcannonp]

I was thinking of getting a JBOD setup, because I haven't figured out exactly how I want to set things up. I could either configure a software RAID-1 setup or use one drive as a working drive and then clone it to the backup. I'm still trying to figure out how I want to handle all of it.

 

[Denis Pagé]

I was thinking of getting a JBOD setup, because I haven't figured out exactly how I want to set things up. I could either configure a software RAID-1 setup or use one drive as a working drive and then clone it to the backup. I'm still trying to figure out how I want to handle all of it.

OK so: I you want to do with what you have on hand, opting for a RAID-1 will keep you away from the hassle of thinking about backup as it is done "real time".

 

[Mark Sirota]

Part of a complete breakfast!

Note: The danger of RAID-1 (or any RAID solution) is that it doesn't protect against data corruption -- the corruption will be immediately replicated to the other side of the mirror. It is good protection against disk failure, though.

To design a complete data protection solution, you need to enumerate your risks and design a system that addresses each of them. RAID 1 is an excellent component of a data protection solution, but don't think of it as your complete solution.