|
PureBytes Links
Trading Reference Links
|
TO: JMB
RE: Backups, Mirroring, & Raid
The costs for a mirroring setup involve an extra hard drive and the
mirroring controller. I don't have specific costs for the controller
... if this idea appeals to you, let me know and I'll get some specific
models and costs.
The concept is that you have two hard drives, let's say partitioned as
drives C & D. Both drives are set up identically and contain EXACTLY
the same information. So, if you save a file to the D drive, the
mirroring controller automatically saves the data to the D partition
and the same subdirectories on both physical drives.
If one drive fails, you lose NO data... just continue with the remaining
drive.
This essentially eliminates backups, with one potential drawback. If
for security or other reasons, you want to move the data to another
location (for example, if you're concerned that your computer may be
stolen or you need to transfer the data to another computer) this would
be a problem.
However, with 1 (or maybe greater) GB removeable drives very reasonably
priced, it is very practical to just backup to the removeable drive.
There are also "docking stations" that allow you to insert and remove a
regular hard drive, thus turning it into removeable media. I don't know
how well this setup works. I'm currently using an internal zip drive
and find it satisfactory for all my backup needs. If I were buying
something now, I would probably go to a 1 GB Jaz of Sparq drive.
Mike
|