Wilsons Sandbox

At 5:09 PM -0500 7/14/2000, Alan L Henderson wrote:

>At 04:12 PM 5/16/2000 -0400, you wrote: >>>>> >Hi, > I saw your post on the KLR list about backing up to CD's. I've got a cdrw >and have looked high and low for a program that will let me back-up to it. >I haven't found anything that will span from one cd to the next, or give >enough compression to fit my stuff "about 4.0 gigs" on one disc. How do you >do it? It comes in handy for backing up certain files or whole >directories, but if I crash I want to have everything! All those little >driver and update type files can be tricky to find if I try to just back up >the essentials. >Thanks for any tips! > >Mike > >I am pretty much in the same boat. I use Microsoft backup and just do the >spanning myself. It isn't pretty but gets the job done. I back up onto the >disk just enough so I know it won't fill it then go on to the next and so >on. You can then use the space left on each disk for incremental backup in >between full backups. If you find a program that will do auto spanning >please let me know. > Thanks! Alan Henderson > > >I just purchased Easy CD Creator 4 Deluxe which comes with a CDRW CDR back >up and recovery program called Take Two. I haven't had a chance to use it >yet but it says it does spanning and will back up from a complete crash >with the use of a floppy it creates and your current back up. I will let >you know later what I think of the product. I don't know if it is available >separately. You might check with Adaptec. > Alan Henderson A13 Iowa

Adaptec has a program called "Direct CD", I own it, but haven't tried it out yet. I've been having great results with weekly automated backups using "Retrospect". Retrospect keeps a record of what has been backed up in the past and only writes new files or files that have been modified. Mark B2 A2

> >Adaptec has a program called "Direct CD", I own it, but haven't >tried it out yet. I've been having great results with weekly >automated backups using "Retrospect". Retrospect keeps a record of >what has been backed up in the past and only writes new files or >files that have been modified. >Mark >B2 >A2 >

Direct CD isn't a back up program but rather one that lets you write and read from write able cd's is if they were floppy discs. Who makes Retrospect? Alan Henderson A13 Iowa

>Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2000 22:18:51 -0500 >To: klr >From: Alan L Henderson >Subject: Re: [DSN_klr650] Re: Computer back-up. NKLR >In-Reply-To: >References:

> > >> >>Adaptec has a program called "Direct CD", I own it, but haven't >>tried it out yet. I've been having great results with weekly >>automated backups using "Retrospect". Retrospect keeps a record of >>what has been backed up in the past and only writes new files or >>files that have been modified. >>Mark >>B2 >>A2 >> >Direct CD isn't a back up program but rather one that lets you write and

read from write able cd's is if they were floppy discs. Who makes Retrospect?

> Alan Henderson A13 Iowa > >

http://www.dantz.com/ Here is the website for the company that produces Retrospect. It works with writable cd's also. Alan Henderson A13 Iowa

>Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2000 22:33:21 -0500 >To: klr >From: Alan L Henderson >Subject: Re: [DSN_klr650] Re: Computer back-up. NKLR > >>Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2000 22:18:51 -0500 >>To: klr >>From: Alan L Henderson >>Subject: Re: [DSN_klr650] Re: Computer back-up. NKLR >>In-Reply-To: >>References:

>> >> >>> >>>Adaptec has a program called "Direct CD", I own it, but haven't >>>tried it out yet. I've been having great results with weekly >>>automated backups using "Retrospect". Retrospect keeps a record of >>>what has been backed up in the past and only writes new files or >>>files that have been modified. >>>Mark >>>B2 >>>A2 >>> >>Direct CD isn't a back up program but rather one that lets you write and

read from write able cd's is if they were floppy discs. Who makes Retrospect?

>> Alan Henderson A13 Iowa >> >> >http://www.dantz.com/ >Here is the website for the company that produces Retrospect. It works

with writable cd's also.

> Alan Henderson A13 Iowa

http://www.adaptec.com/products/faqs/taketwo.html Here is the info on Take Two. It does not do incremental backups. It does do selective restores. It appears that Retrospect is more flexible. Alan Henderson A13 Iowa

> >I just purchased Easy CD Creator 4 Deluxe which comes with a CDRW CDR back >up and recovery program called Take Two. I haven't had a chance to use it >yet but it says it does spanning and will back up from a complete crash >with the use of a floppy it creates and your current back up. I will let >you know later what I think of the product. I don't know if it is available >separately. You might check with Adaptec. > Alan Henderson A13 Iowa >___________________________ > >Take Two... > >My B in Law reports that while it works well with W98, it crashes W2000. > >Arne >

I'm using win98se and I have now tried it and it does work but it is rather limited. Not being able to do incremental back ups and the program doesn't reset the archive bit on the files so you can't use another program to do an incremental back up. It will work for now but I think I will keep looking for another program. The one good thing about it is its ability to restore from a boot floppy disk. Alan Henderson A13 Iowa

Right on. Or an even less expensive than that is Iomega's Zip or Jaz drives; the most practical solution IMHO. Use the writable CDROM drive to make copies of your expensive software CDROMs and use the copies and store the originals, also great for digital camera pics. See www.iomega.com for a more practical & less expensive backup system. -Brian Shepard Philadlephia PA A13 -----Original Message----- From: unixycle To: DSN_klr650@egroups.com Sent: 7/16/00 9:14 AM Subject: [DSN_klr650] Re: Computer back-up. NKLR While CDROM's are handy to use as storage media, they are NOT the best backup medium. I would recommend either a DVD RAM drive (expensive) or a 120mm DAT drive (I think they can hold up to 20gigs w/compression). The DAT drives are pretty reasonable and usually come bundled with backup software. Keep your CDRW for music and making backups of specific software packages, but back up your system to tape.

--- In DSN_klr650@egroups.com, Mark wrote: > At 5:09 PM -0500 7/14/2000, Alan L Henderson wrote: > >At 04:12 PM 5/16/2000 -0400, you wrote: > >>>>> > >Hi, > > I saw your post on the KLR list about backing up to CD's. I've got a cdrw > >and have looked high and low for a program that will let me back-up to it. > >I haven't found anything that will span from one cd to the next, or give > >enough compression to fit my stuff "about 4.0 gigs" on one disc. How do you > >do it? It comes in handy for backing up certain files or whole > >directories, but if I crash I want to have everything! All those little > >driver and update type files can be tricky to find if I try to just back up > >the essentials. > >Thanks for any tips! > > > >Mike > > > > >I am pretty much in the same boat. I use Microsoft backup and just do the > >spanning myself. It isn't pretty but gets the job done. I back up onto the > >disk just enough so I know it won't fill it then go on to the next and so > >on. You can then use the space left on each disk for incremental backup in > >between full backups. If you find a program that will do auto spanning > >please let me know. > > Thanks! Alan Henderson > > > > > >I just purchased Easy CD Creator 4 Deluxe which comes with a CDRW CDR back > >up and recovery program called Take Two. I haven't had a chance to use it > >yet but it says it does spanning and will back up from a complete crash > >with the use of a floppy it creates and your current back up. I will let > >you know later what I think of the product. I don't know if it is available > >separately. You might check with Adaptec. > > Alan Henderson A13 Iowa > > Adaptec has a program called "Direct CD", I own it, but haven't > tried it out yet. I've been having great results with weekly > automated backups using "Retrospect". Retrospect keeps a record of > what has been backed up in the past and only writes new files or > files that have been modified. > Mark > B2 > A2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ To email plain text is conventional, to add graphics is divine. We'll show you how at www.supersig.com. http://click.egroups.com/1/6811/6/_/911801/_/963753272/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Visit the KLR650 archives at http://www.listquest.com/lq/search.html?ln=klr650 Support Dual Sport News... dsneditor@... Let's keep this list SPAM free! Visit our site at http://www.egroups.com/group/DSN_klr650 To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: DSN_klr650-unsubscribe@egroups.com

At 12:25 AM 7/17/2000 -0000, you wrote:

>Dual hard drive setup: quick & easy to use BUT ... > >Your backups are susceptible to a virus attack. >You might accidently work on a backup copy instead of the original. >There is no substitute to offsite storage of backups in case of >fire, theft, etc. > >Other soulutions might include a dedicated 2nd "backup" computer, >setup on a home network or using 1 gig removable media. > >My ideal setup would include mirrored hard drives AND removable >media for local & offsite backups. > >Being a computer programmer forces you to always be on the lookout >for things that can go wrong, especially the things that couldn't >possibly ever happen (but occasionally do). > >Professor A9 Federal Way, Wa. [USA] > >---------------------------------------

One of my friends had a dual drive mirrored set up and something either a virus or misbehaved software took out the whole thing. I had a cdrw that I was using to archive some files, and had left in the drive, destroyed by a program misbehaving. That shouldn't have happened but did, I wasn't even using the cd writer at the time. So I still think something completely removable is best for a back up. Either a large capacity removable (disk tape or something) or a removable hard drive that you actually remove except when backing up. Alan Henderson A13 Iowa

Look, everyone's an expert. I've never had a Zip or Jaz disk fail and never heard of one failing not to say they don't. Its a good solution for the average "home computer". How much are you willing to spend? I backup my system to an ATL-P3000 Series Automated DLT Tape Library connected to a Sun Ultra Enterprise 450 running Sun Solaris and Sun SorEdge NetBackup that I installed, administer and maintain along with about a dozen Sun Ultra Enterprise 4000s running Solaris 7 and Oracle7 Server along with well over a dozen Intel machines running NT Server along with over a dozen Sun Ultra 10s running Solaris & NT all located at Philadelphia's University City Science Center. If my hard drives fail, which they eventually will, I'll be back up in a matter of a few hours; painlessly, quickly, and easily. Backup & Recovery is a technology in of itself and there are many methodologies as well as many software/hardware backup products from as little a couple of hundred bucks up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. How important is your data and how do you want to recover after a disaster; many different ways. If you're not a professional and your system is extremely important to you, don't pretend to be a pro, hire a consultant for a 1 hour quick evaluation/recommendation. If you have an average home system and you're an average hobbyist, then go with DAT tape, Zip, or Jaz. Also, define backup. Whats your understanding of backup? Just the ability to copy a file to another media? Or do you mean a method where you regularly and frequently backup all your hard drives and keep a weeks, months, and/or years worth of your data stored at an offsite location?. You may be talking about an archival system versus a backup system. -Brian Shepard Philadelphia PA A13 -----Original Message----- From: Mark [mailto:mjv2@...] Sent: Sunday, July 16, 2000 9:52 PM To: Shepard,Brian Cc: DSN_klr650@egroups.com Subject: RE: [DSN_klr650] Re: Computer back-up. NKLR Kinda Long At 11:22 AM -0400 7/16/2000, Shepard,Brian wrote:

>Right on. Or an even less expensive than that is Iomega's Zip or Jaz

drives;

>the most practical solution IMHO. Use the writable CDROM drive to make >copies of your expensive software CDROMs and use the copies and store the >originals, also great for digital camera pics. See www.iomega.com for a

more

>practical & less expensive backup system.

I think Zip is pretty useless size-wise and has low reliability. I've seen many Zip disks fail, and I've had one Jaz 2 disk fail. I've has 100% reliability with CD-R so far. However, in the past, I used 230Mb and 640Mb magneto optical disks and I liked them better (as fast as a hard drive), but MO disks are expensive. CD's are great at a buck a piece. I got the following of a Mac user website, but I'm sure there's universality here: Backup and Archiving Computers fail. There is no way to avoid it. When your computer fails, will you be prepared? This is a question every business owner should ask themselves. Running your company without a reliable backup system is a disaster waiting to happen. Fortunately, there are several options available to fit your needs and budget. A brief description of the various types of backup and archival systems follows. RAID A RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) system is not really a backup. But by mirroring two or more drives, you have a level of reliability not available with a single hard drive. When one drive fails, the mirrored drive will continue, with minimum downtime. Tape Tape drives have been around forever, and offer the highest capacity available of all backup methods. Capacities of 30GB or more on a single tape are common. Tape has been proven as a reliable means of backup, but it does have its drawbacks, mainly speed. While drives have become considerably faster over the years, tape backup is still the slowest method. CD-R and CD-RW Convenience is the best word to describe backup to a CD-Recordable disk. While a 650MB capacity is minuscule by today's standards, the write-once, read anywhere nature of a CD makes it great for restoring a Mac to its original configuration, or for archiving old documents. As for CD-RW, I do not recommend using it as a means for backup of data that you consider important. Also, note that not all CD-R media are created equal. MacInTouch has an interesting report on CD-R media failures. It is definitely worth reading. DVD-RAM With a capacity much greater than that of a CD-R disk, DVD-RAM offers good speed with decent capacity. As a relatively new technology however, I would not recommend it for vital company data. Removable Drives Removable drives come in many forms, most notably the Iomega Zip drive. With a paltry 100 to 250 megabytes per disk, these drives offer relatively cheap storage for your data. I would only recommend a Zip or Jaz drive for transporting data, not for vital data storage. The media is not reliable enough for serious backup or archiving. Castlewood has introduced the ORB drive, which promises to be a more reliable solution due to its hard-drive like design. It offers a cartridge capacity of 2.2GB, and cartridges are quite inexpensive. Before making any final decision, it is important to consider current and future needs. If you have over 100GB of data to backup, then tape will be your only option, where autoloaders for multiple tapes are readily available. Smaller shops may opt for a combination of Tape for backup and CD-R for archiving. Whatever your needs, a well-planned backup strategy will offer you reassurance that your data is safe. Mark B2 A2