zipping RAW files

Not that I'm paranoid...

But I use RAID5 (four drives striped so any one can fail and the data remains) for main storage. (On a SnapServer, FWIW)
Additionally I keep a copy on a large HDD inside the PC, and backup to DVD as well.

Matt

RAID is fine Matt but as mentioned previously - if you delete the file it will delete it across the full aray

I always keep my files on the server and a copy on a removable drive. I then copy everything I do to that drive and never delete from it. The only drive I delete from is the server. I also back up to DVD as well - belt and braces works

For the non-geeks who might be confused by all this RAID talk:-

RAID = Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks

RAID1 = two identically sized disks. The data is copied onto both, so each disk is a mirror image of the other. If one disk fails, you replace the failed drive, and the system copies the data from the existing good disk onto the new - "rebuilding the array". Downside is that you are only using 50% of your available disk space, it takes slightly longer to write to disk (as it has to be written twice) but it can be slightly quicker to read from disk.

RAID5 = Three or more disks. The data is written into "stripes" across the disks. There are 2 data stripes and one parity stripe. If one disk fails, the missing data can be recreated without replacing the drive. It sounds a bit like juju magic. Think of it like the equation 2 x 3 = 6. If you lose either the 2 or the 3 or the 6 you can recreate the equation with some simple artithmetic. Quicker to write to than RAID1, you can use the full capacity of the array (the sum of all the disks) minus the 30% for the parity stripe set. RAID5 arrays are often hot swappable - you can change them while the system is still running.

There is more, much more to it than that! A quick google or check wikipedia if you have run out of ovaltine at night!

RAID protects against single disk failures, not against accidental deletion of files - for that you need backups to CD, DVD or tape. If you run a server and run something like Windows 2003 Server you can have shadowcopy make backups of your files every few hours - but you need a bit more disk space. I must check and see if Vista has shadow copy, but some PC manufacuturers (e.g. Dell) offer a RAID1 array option on some models.

EDIT:-

P.S. you can mirror RAID arrays too!

P.P.S We are a very long way off topic! Sorry!

Paranoia works for me, I have a hot spare as well. Paranoia rules . . . OK Yah.

Seriously though. Something I read on this thread (I think) didn't ring quite true. DVD can be re-written if you choose DVD+/-RW media and you have a similarly capable drive.

Fot the normal (Matt? ) home user/photography enthusiast, an additional external HDD (or 2 even) should cater for 99.9999999% of your backup needs. They are sooooooo cheap, it's a no brainer really. My recommendation is a Seagate device. The 5 years warranty has a lot to do with that recommendation.

It's actually not difficult to make one. Choose your enclosure, USB2, Firewire, or both, and add your choice of hard drive. Easy peasy.

[quote="Mannesty"].... Something I read on this thread (I think) didn't ring quite true. DVD can be re-written if you choose DVD+/-RW media and you have a similarly capable drive.
/quote]

I believe that rw discs have less stable dye, with increased fading/changing with age. This is less of a problem with write only disks.

Long term archive on rw is not reccomended for this reason

You may well be 'write' ( ) but the OP didn't mention long term archival requirements, and neither did I. I am talking purely about having a second copy (or more) to recover from if/when things go pear-shaped.

Long term archive is a completely different kettle of fish and I agree, DVD +/-R media is better than the DVD +/- RW options and at least 2 copies on media from different manufacturers would be my preferred option + a fire safe (which I have, and use) to keep one of the copies in.

Now, I'm going out for a ride . . . . back later.

I was goingto go for a ride today, but I had to take the car in for brake problems, then a few jobs around the house, take the dog out, pick up car.

I've got soaked 3 times today!

Where are you riding?

A company I have dealings with kept their backups in a locked fire safe in their server room.

Their building was outside Buncefield fuel depot

When the depot exploded the server room was hit by part of the neighbouring building, destroying the servers and burying the fire safe under many tons of rubble.

The moral? Don't keep your backups in the same place as your computer. Even a different room could (and in this case would) make the difference.

My main PCs hard drives are water cooled because it is my experience (though Google disagree) that hot HDDs fail more often. I then back up across the network to a second PC which exists solely to house my backup hard drives (note plural). I also backup to DVD.


An important point to note, writeable DVDs and CDs are not particularly light stable, even +/- R ones. It's essentially a photographic process and as such they react to light just like any other film. If you use them for long term archival make sure you are using high quality disks and keep them in the dark.

Actually this is what I had, a cheapusb/fw enclosure and a Maxtor 80GB drive. However the enclosure had a failure in its switching mechanism, which managed to as well as make the enclosure US, it crapped the hard disk as well.

So as in all things, one gets what one pays for.

I replaced with a Lacie ext HD.