Intelligence ????
Steven Higgan
my PC, i had it set up the way i wanted it, i had it automattically back
up important documents / files every time i booted my system.
I even went so far as to store all my Programming Source Code / Binarys
on a seperate Hard Drive and Even backup that Source Code *on the same
drive* DUHHHH - how dumb is that (i just didnt want to loose 10 MB of
source code for a large project iam working on) - then thers the ~ 300 MB
of Source / Tools / Updates / Patches / Other Peopes Code
i even found a little proggie that lets me have things like Favorates on
a diffrent HD - so in the advent of Windoze crashing (as it does) i can
have my all important Favorates Safe
i had it all set up fine and dandy
untill tonite
you see i was doing some rutine updates (updating O2k) and found that
several folders on my backup drive were Gone - as in dissapeared, i ran
scandisk and thankfully thoes folders were recovered
apon further examination i discovered that my all important 10 MB of
Source Code / Binarys for a Rather Large Project had been scrambled (yes
including the backup - Renembers Computer Teacher Preaching something
about "Off Site Backups" / "Grand Father, Father, Son") what iam left
with are several folders with names like this "DIR00003" "DIR00002" and
so on...
so iam going to have to dig thru all these folders (most of the 300+ of
them are scrambled in some sort of way) and figure out the approprate
folder name - this wont be too hard the folder directorys are in the
source code files, i think
so what i thaught was an intelligent attempt at keeping my source code
safe - didnt work (iam now going to find / Make some proggie that will
backup all my source code into a seperate file and stagger the backups) -
why didnt i think of that at first
anyway for thoes that are still reading i have a question - when i get a
massive amount of damaged folders like i have in this case does it mean
that a HD is on its last legs
Steve
Richard Malcolm-Smith
> I use to think i was reasonably intelligent when it came to maintaining
> my PC, i had it set up the way i wanted it, i had it automattically back
> up important documents / files every time i booted my system.
nicked or you have a fire?
Patrick Ford
> so what i thaught was an intelligent attempt at keeping my source code
> safe - didnt work (iam now going to find / Make some proggie that will
> backup all my source code into a seperate file and stagger the backups) -
> why didnt i think of that at first
I think the part you missed was multiple redundancy. What about a weekly
(or whatever) CD? Once you have the initial capital investment, CDs are
cheap.
> anyway for thoes that are still reading i have a question - when i get a
> massive amount of damaged folders like i have in this case does it mean
> that a HD is on its last legs
Every HD should be considered to be on its last legs from day 1. Every
failure I have had has been without warning. HDs just aint safe for data
storage.
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Patrick Ford
Auckland, New Zealand
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Ken
> so what i thaught was an intelligent attempt at keeping my source code
> safe - didnt work (iam now going to find / Make some proggie that will
> backup all my source code into a seperate file and stagger the backups) -
> why didnt i think of that at first
What you did wasn't intelligent at all, take it from someone that has
done things like `cat ~/sound.au > /dev/hda1` before. First of all if
the files are of vital importance to you, then make regular back ups on
another machine and/or removable media. If you really want to be clever
keep a monthly or weekly backup offsite.
If you're getting paid to work on large projects then you can definitely
afford to buy a CD writer or removable hard disk media.
> anyway for thoes that are still reading i have a question - when i get a
> massive amount of damaged folders like i have in this case does it mean
> that a HD is on its last legs
Not necessarily, could be a software problem. If you got a message
along the lines of "detected bad sectors" then yes. Scan your drive
with "scandisk" and see if there are any.
Ken
> Steven Higgan wrote:
>> anyway for thoes that are still reading i have a question - when i get a
>> massive amount of damaged folders like i have in this case does it mean
>> that a HD is on its last legs
>
> Every HD should be considered to be on its last legs from day 1. Every
> failure I have had has been without warning. HDs just aint safe for data
> storage.
Removal hard drives are still alot safer than tape.
Don't get me started on tape.
Steven Higgan
> If you're getting paid to work on large projects then you can definitely
> afford to buy a CD writer or removable hard disk media.
iam just a poor student - i intend to get a cd writer reasonably soon
>
> > anyway for thoes that are still reading i have a question - when i get a
> > massive amount of damaged folders like i have in this case does it mean
> > that a HD is on its last legs
>
> Not necessarily, could be a software problem. If you got a message
> along the lines of "detected bad sectors" then yes. Scan your drive
> with "scandisk" and see if there are any.
ohh yep... looks like a software problem (Microsoft Strikes Again) -
although to be fare i have yet to scan my system for viruses - just one
of thoes things
steve
Patrick Dunford
What sort of tape are you referring to? A lot of tape is used commercially
because it is good stuff.
--
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-- Ephesians 4:24
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thing
$100 each, so far a reasonable strategy we are talking $4000. For that sort of
money there are more than a few alternatives. Tapes tend to be inherently
un-reliable ive had "backup specialist" reps "tell me off" for recommending
cdrw's but I think they are by far the most economical soltion for small sized
backups, tapes just suck.
Patrick Dunford wrote:
> On Fri, 5 Jan 2001 02:22:52 +1300 AD in nz.comp, Ken said:
>
> >Patrick Ford <pa...@ihug.co.nz> wrote:
> >> Steven Higgan wrote:
> >
> >>> anyway for thoes that are still reading i have a question - when i get a
> >>> massive amount of damaged folders like i have in this case does it mean
> >>> that a HD is on its last legs
> >>
> >> Every HD should be considered to be on its last legs from day 1. Every
> >> failure I have had has been without warning. HDs just aint safe for data
> >> storage.
> >
> >Removal hard drives are still alot safer than tape.
> >Don't get me started on tape.
>
> What sort of tape are you referring to? A lot of tape is used commercially
> because it is good stuff.
Its used commercially because nothing can match its capacity, reliabilty means
dumping tapes after so many uses that means a large outlay for tapes every few
months..
regards
Thing
Ray Greene
wrote:
>In article <c7t139...@news.xtra.co.nz>, mu...@mailops.com says...
>
>> If you're getting paid to work on large projects then you can definitely
>> afford to buy a CD writer or removable hard disk media.
>
>iam just a poor student - i intend to get a cd writer reasonably soon
Try a free online storage service. I use XDrive (50MB), FreeDrive
(50MB) and MySpace (300MB). If you're concerned about security you
can encrypt your files first (don't save your password on your PC
though :-)
>>
>> > anyway for thoes that are still reading i have a question - when i get a
>> > massive amount of damaged folders like i have in this case does it mean
>> > that a HD is on its last legs
>>
>> Not necessarily, could be a software problem. If you got a message
>> along the lines of "detected bad sectors" then yes. Scan your drive
>> with "scandisk" and see if there are any.
>
>ohh yep... looks like a software problem (Microsoft Strikes Again) -
>although to be fare i have yet to scan my system for viruses - just one
>of thoes things
Windows has done that to me a couple of times.
Ray Greene.
Jax
batch file for backing up). Then monthly I will backup to floppy (no zip or
cdr) and then occasionly I back up to idrive (online storage) which is handy
cause i can access my data (ph numbers for example) from anywhere i can get
on the net.
Steven Higgan
> Try a free online storage service. I use XDrive (50MB), FreeDrive
> (50MB) and MySpace (300MB). If you're concerned about security you
> can encrypt your files first (don't save your password on your PC
> though :-)
mmm - i never thaught of online storage - Thanks
Phillip Weston
wrote:
well you obviously didin't back it up enought, Telescum at the end of
everyday backup ALL ther data on a removable media type and lock it up
on a fireproof/bulletproof/theif proof safe
Patrick Dunford
>A decent tape drive system starts at $3000 for a 8/16 solution and the tapes are
>$100 each, so far a reasonable strategy we are talking $4000. For that sort of
>money there are more than a few alternatives. Tapes tend to be inherently
>un-reliable ive had "backup specialist" reps "tell me off" for recommending
>cdrw's but I think they are by far the most economical soltion for small sized
>backups, tapes just suck.
SOme tape solutions are unreliable, e.g. low end Travan, but the Tandon SLR
drives are well below the prices that you specify and regarded in a better
light for small networks.
snip
Ken
> On Fri, 5 Jan 2001 02:22:52 +1300 AD in nz.comp, Ken said:
>>Removal hard drives are still alot safer than tape.
>>Don't get me started on tape.
> What sort of tape are you referring to? A lot of tape is used commercially
> because it is good stuff.
Nasty stuff for PCs, i.e QIC tapes. I've not used DAT or other
more recent developements so no idea how they compare.
Patrick Dunford
SLR tapes are good, I am informed. Travan and the like can be nasty.
thing
and tapes its was pretty close to $4000 from datastore. I agree the travan is
rubbish, the tanberg's are good gear.
Thing
RK
>
<snip backup horror story>
> so what i thaught was an intelligent attempt at keeping my source code
> safe - didnt work (iam now going to find / Make some proggie that will
> backup all my source code into a seperate file and stagger the backups) -
> why didnt i think of that at first
>
> anyway for thoes that are still reading i have a question - when i get a
> massive amount of damaged folders like i have in this case does it mean
> that a HD is on its last legs
>
> Steve
Sounds like you needed to run scandisk/defrag a lot more often to avoid
crosslinked files etc. Your HDD could be on its way down - what brand is it?
Best with sourcecode to zip and burn to disc - save on a floppy (store the
floppies safely).
Alternatively get a second machine that does very little other than say run
sourcsafe or another source control app on it.
RK
Raymond Kemp
rkemp@<ditchthis>ihug.co.nz
Jive version of a motivational quote from Josh S. Hinds:
---------------------------
"Keys t'success... Research yo' idea, Plan fo' success, Expect success, & plum
plain do it! Right on! It amazes me how many sucka's skip de last step! Right
on! Practice bein' some "doer" and success gots'ta follow ya' every step uh de
way!"
RK
Yeah we had grief with a tape drive at work (still don't know if it was the
tape or drive or even the s/w). Luckily after running the fricking cleaning
tape on the thing 5 times we managed to get the data back that we needed.
Patrick Dunford
>im quoting the tanberg slr5 series actually, for a scsi device incl scsi controller
>and tapes its was pretty close to $4000 from datastore. I agree the travan is
>rubbish, the tanberg's are good gear.
The model I was quoted on must have been a lower end model, from memory it
was $700 to a $1000 Tandberg SLR, with I think an 8 gig tape.
Apparently some of the Travan stuff around has a nasty history of failures.
Steven Higgan
says...
>
> Sounds like you needed to run scandisk/defrag a lot more often to avoid
> crosslinked files etc. Your HDD could be on its way down - what brand is it?
i hardly never run scandisk on that drive (far less often i defrag it -
slaps self on hand) - the HD in question is a No Name Brand (its a PC
General Machine) ~ 5 years old, i really should save up some cash for a
burner
> Best with sourcecode to zip and burn to disc - save on a floppy (store the
> floppies safely).
yep iam gonna take a look at winzips command line interface and automate
source code backups thru it
Steve
thing
drives. The travans loose tapes as they stretch I think and become u/s very quick. The
mecanisms are pretty nasty as well wearing out and drifting rather quick and to top it
seagate didnt update the 95 software to 98 just told ppl to use the microsoft software
which plain sucks. I had a few travans to use as test beds for scripts the customers
had dumped them for tanbergs, and some for backups for the ISP etc. I never had to touch
a tanberg in 6 months or had a tape fail, i think i lost 30% of my travan tapes in that
time.
Thing
Patrick Dunford
>ah a 4 /8 (compression) one? I think i was looking at a 12/24 to cover 9 ~ 18 gig scsi
>drives. The travans loose tapes as they stretch I think and become u/s very quick. The
>mecanisms are pretty nasty as well wearing out and drifting rather quick and to top it
>seagate didnt update the 95 software to 98 just told ppl to use the microsoft software
>which plain sucks. I had a few travans to use as test beds for scripts the customers
>had dumped them for tanbergs, and some for backups for the ISP etc. I never had to touch
>a tanberg in 6 months or had a tape fail, i think i lost 30% of my travan tapes in that
>time.
For home use here I run a Iomega TR-1 drive. Every so often it will spit the
dummy and despool the tape, or worse, simply refuse to recognise it at all
requiring a tape reformat... the despool is probably a hardware fault, but I
shouldn't have to reformat tapes so often, or new ones for that matter
The price I was quoted was OEM and before the dollar dropped and was around
$1000 for an SLR5 I think. BCL is quoting around $1600 for the same product.
I understand the tapes are around $100 each - still good compared to $40 for
a 400MB - 800MB TR-1 tape.
--
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Patrick Dunford, Christchurch, NZ - http://pdunford.godzone.net.nz/
My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit
longs for you.
-- Isaiah 26:9
http://www.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/todaysverse.cgi?day=20010105
Chris Martin
I too recently backed up all my source code, to a CD!
If you must back up to a hard disk, take the hard disk
out and leave it in a nice safe padded box somewhere.
>I use to think i was reasonably intelligent when it came to maintaining
>my PC, i had it set up the way i wanted it, i had it automattically back
>up important documents / files every time i booted my system.
>
>I even went so far as to store all my Programming Source Code / Binarys
>on a seperate Hard Drive and Even backup that Source Code *on the same
>drive* DUHHHH - how dumb is that (i just didnt want to loose 10 MB of
>source code for a large project iam working on) - then thers the ~ 300 MB
>of Source / Tools / Updates / Patches / Other Peopes Code
<snip>