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Back your stuff up

So "Project Zomboid", an indie retro-RPG, developed by a bunch of people living in (and working out of) a shared flat, had their home broken into and their development laptops stolen.. of course they had backups, so that shouldn't be a problem, right.. well.. they only backed up between machines and had no external ones.. so now.. they've lost a few months of progress, on top of losing their development tools.. this event might shut down the entire company.

In the age of distributed version control systems and free online storage like dropbox, carbonite, mozy, crashplan (not to mention DVD burners), plus, if you're paranoid, encryption software like truecrypt, there's really no excuse not to keep an external backup in a geographically separate location.

That is all.

Edited by Retro
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  • 8 months later...
  • 3 months later...
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Friday noontime my HDD started clicking, friday late evening it didn't boot up any more. Saturday morning Windows didn't recognize it (not even as an external HDD) at all.

I got all the data (that I know of, if I can't remember it it could not have been important) backed up, the only annoyance was a lost weekend due to getting a new HDD and setting up Windows plus programs anew.. just saying..

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Friday noontime my HDD started clicking, friday late evening it didn't boot up any more. Saturday morning Windows didn't recognize it (not even as an external HDD) at all.

I got all the data (that I know of, if I can't remember it it could not have been important) backed up, the only annoyance was a lost weekend due to getting a new HDD and setting up Windows plus programs anew.. just saying..

Setting up Windows in a way that stores your user data on a different disk is better. Set up this disk as a RAID 10 (you'll need two disks for this) and you're protected against disk failure also. You'll still need a backup to an external destination of course.

This also makes room on your system disk, so this can be smaller which allows you to buy a much faster SSD, speeding up your system significantly.

Moving your data: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/18629-user-folders-change-default-location.html

My two cents...

-Rump

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I just had a failure of all of my network adapters. The only thing I had done recently was to uninstall one anti-virus program and install Microsoft Security Essentials.

Well, something went wrong in the process. And the only thing that saved me was that I have backups of all my PCs on an external drive. A simple system restore and it was literally like nothing had ever happened.

There's nothing better than peace of mind.

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I would tell a story that this reminds me of BUT...

OK, fine, in a nut shell: there was a certain strategy game I was developing (for four years), and I bought a Matrix Games product for fun during that period, and their faulty installer/uninstaller wiped out all my work and set me back about 4 months. That was about four years ago. The problem too is that if you are creative, sometimes you get inspired. Maybe you MIGHT make something better the second time you do it, but more than likely it will be worse. I thought about giving up on it but I didn't, but I wasn't very happy at the time.

So yeah, back yo shizzat up!

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Setting up Windows in a way that stores your user data on a different disk is better. Set up this disk as a RAID 10 (you'll need two disks for this) and you're protected against disk failure also. You'll still need a backup to an external destination of course.

This.

A RAID arrangement is

  1. no substitute for a proper backup strategy
  2. more likely to fail since each disk has a failure likelihood of its own, so they add up (well, actually it's the sum of disk A failure plus disk B failure plus simultaneous failure of A and B, plus the likelihood of a RAID controller failure)
  3. RAIDs are usually guaranteed to produce data loss if you attempt to move old disks into a new system, unless the RAID controller is exactly the same model and firmware version (how likely is that).

Finally, as the two disks are of the same age, probably of the same production batch if you buy them together and in the same store, and since they are in the same PC with the same temperature levels and the same amount of disk accesses, they are also very likely to fail at about the same time.

By the way, a RAID 10 requires at least four HDDs - two for striping, and two for mirroring. That's a lot of money for little performance gain (in comparison to a solid state disk), and for comparatively little gain in practical redundancy.

Finally, a RAID can't protect you against the consequences of a computer virus. With a proper, full backup, you may be able to restore your system.

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Setting up Windows in a way that stores your user data on a different disk is better. Set up this disk as a RAID 10 (you'll need two disks for this) and you're protected against disk failure also.

My two cents...

-Rump

kinda hard with a laptop which has a single drive bay ;)

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Well, even still, there is another option.

http://www.newmodeus.com/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2&zenid=78519c93a3d9b4d5618650e5b8c915e1

So, you can take out the CD drive, and put a HHD in its spot. And THEN, get the external enclosure for the optical drive. Or vice versa. One of the reasons I bought the Laptop that I did, was that it had 2 internal HHD bays. But the tight asses at HP didn't include the second SATA cable. And they have a price of over 100USD for that cable at their parts store....

So I found that place there, and got it for about 30bucks with shipping. Long story long.

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So what Does eSim use?

Or would that be telling?

I bet its old school tapes. :)

It's probably a combination of RAID-10, a large bank of solid state drives, tape reels, and backups on DVDs...

All stored within an old Leopard 1A5 that they originally bought to use as a model to help them cast a 3D turret, but have started using as a heavily armed data vault instead...

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...external enclosure...

Oh, wow. You just reminded me that I have an old laptop HDD in an external enclosure that I completely forgot about. Thanks!

S#!t, now I have to try and remember the password for the TrueCrypt volume I put on there. Oh, well I guess since I forgot about it altogether that it can't be that important.

I sure hope it isn't because from what I've heard, even the FBI can't crack it!

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  • 4 months later...

A co-worker of mine turned me on to a podcast called "Security Now" which highlights trends in computer security. It's a very informative (and totally geeky) show. If you're interested in keeping your data and identity safe, I'd highly recommend it.

Recent topics include: UPNP vulnerability, widget jacking (yes, there is such a thing), cloud storage and Java vulnerabilities, etc...

The host also offers a data recovery/disk maintenance tool called "Spin Right" which is highly praised by its users. (I haven't tried it, yet.)

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At least the clouds would still be there. what if the sun shines :o

Oh, the clouds are just containers for the rain? I always thought that clouds were rain in vapour form... But you are right, sunshine would cause them to evaporate.

Any guesses as to how long it will be before some 'Cloud Storage' supplier loses all their customers' content, or the account passwords are stolen by a hacker? :( I'll stick with keeping my back-up drive under my pillow, thanks.

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  • 2 weeks later...
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Just read about M-Drive

M-DISCâ„¢ is designed to last for up to 1,000 years.

Unlike computer hard-drives and optical discs (CDs and DVDs), M-DISC™ preserves and protects your files by engraving your information into a patented rock-like layer, resistant to light, temperature, humidity, and more. In fact, The U.S. Department of Defense put this to the test, and M-DISC™ was the only solution that passed. The M-DISC™ cannot be overwritten, erased, or corrupted by natural processes. Best of all, it’s compatible with any DVD player, which means you can access your data anywhere and anytime.

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  • 3 weeks later...

My co-worker found a program called TeamViewer that lets you remotely control another computer. It's great for remote maintenance/monitoring.

Connections are password protected and can be set up for temporary or repeated connections. Access levels are customizable. Video/audio meetings and file sharing are available. It can even be run in "portable" mode without having to install. Although, in any case, permission must be expressly given in one way or another for remote access to take place.

It's free for personal use. The business license is a bit pricey, but it seems to offer substantial functionality. The free version makes itself very visible on your desktop. Upon successful log on a small dashboard appears, and after logging off a window pops up notifying you of the recent session and reminding you that the free version is only for personal use. If any files were transferred during the session, a log also appears detailing such.

The coolest part: there's even apps available for Android, iPhone & iPad so you can control your desktop from anywhere. It shows your desktop screen right on your phone. Open programs, stream video, check your webcam...whatever you want to do. :sonic:

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