JL Sargent Posted November 29, 2017 Share Posted November 29, 2017 With the ransomware problem and the fact I've been hit by lightning before, I want to start doing a stand alone backup maybe once a week or monthly would probably be ok. My idea is to simply have a drive that I connect via USB3 and copy all documents to the drive and then disconnect/put away until the next backup. Is there a better way to do it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel Posted November 29, 2017 Moderators Share Posted November 29, 2017 Couldn't that be done with a normal external hard drive that plugs into the usb ? I use one like that for pictures and was told when not using to disconnect it, this will extend the life, could be what killed the last one I left connected ? By far no expert but I know how much of a pain it is when things like you talked about happen. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted November 29, 2017 Share Posted November 29, 2017 I use a mirror raid for all drives. Use separate partitions for OS and your files. Preferably a separate hard drive for C (use a SS) I use an internal segregated drive and Synctoy to create a daily backup as of that evening - this has saved my butt many times because of deleting files by mistake. I also use a docking station and a few hard drives to create backups of everything and keep one offsite. EasUS Todo freeware works great. You will also want to use EasUS to take an image of your C drive after a clean install, a week later when all bugs are worked out, and then quarterly in case you ever get a virus. You can be back online in about two hours with a clean install if a disaster hits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JL Sargent Posted November 29, 2017 Author Share Posted November 29, 2017 10 minutes ago, tigerwoodKhorns said: EasUS Todo freeware works great. I'll check into this, thank you. Does the mirror raid protect against ransomware? 18 minutes ago, dtel said: Couldn't that be done with a normal external hard drive that plugs into the usb ? That is what I'm looking at doing, but with a solid state drive that I only connect when doing the actual backup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted November 29, 2017 Share Posted November 29, 2017 A mirror raid means that each storage hard drive actually has two copies at all times. This is helpful in case of a hard drive failure, you have a real time spare drive. If you keep sufficient backups, if you get ransomware you can just reinstall everything and tell them to go screw themselves. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avguytx Posted November 29, 2017 Share Posted November 29, 2017 I'm similar to tiger where all of my computers (living room desktop and 3 laptops) backup to a NAS Synology DS216 running two 2TB drives in RAID 1. I have each computer set to backup during the night so no one is affected during the day. I have them set to backup nightly and retain backup copies for 2 months and delete old. The NAS is also the unit that keeps track of all my FLAC CD's. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JL Sargent Posted November 29, 2017 Author Share Posted November 29, 2017 So the raid is not LIVE to the computer system? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted November 29, 2017 Share Posted November 29, 2017 I might suggest backing up your data files the the cloud. There are several free versions, MS, Iclound, Google, etc. Then if lightning hits your house and burns it to the ground you still have all your data. +++ I haven't done this for a while but I used to make 3 thumb drives with all my pictures on it and give one to each of my three kids. It might make a nice Christmas gift. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJkizak Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 The one problem with the cloud is your internet speed. If its not 100 meg you will be taking a very long time to back things up and then there are the things that interfere with your traffic, priorities you know and it will get worse with the elimination of net neutrality. I have a 10 meg connection and tried to use a cloud based CNC program which was a disaster. JJK 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avguytx Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 Nah...dont need a cloud backup. Nothing I've got is that important. When it is, it's in a fire proof safe or a bank safety deposit box. I could care less if I lose pictires. Lol. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Matthews Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 I like keeping all my legal files on the cloud. If my computer breaks or is stolen, I can get a new computer, and I am right back in business. That's consideration "numero uno." On that same front, I use gmail, Google Contacts and Google Calendar. They work well together, and again, it's all in the cloud. They also work very well with Android phones. I am up-to-date at all times via my cell phone. Google also syncs all my Chrome bookmarks and settings. Google has a "Download Your Data" feature which allows you to press a button to zip and download all things "Google." I do this pretty much weekly. At the same time, I download all my MS Word legal files in a big zip file. I keep 4 sets of backups in weekly rotation, for a month's worth in total. At the same time, I put it all on a flash drive and keep the 4 sets there as well. Some people think if they have their data synced in the cloud with all their devices, it's the same as having a back-up. It's not. If you delete something (or everything) from one device, it's gone from all devices. That's syncing. It is not a substitute for back-ups. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaddeus Smith Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 Go sign up for a Veeam account and download their free "Veeam Agent for Windows". You can perform bare metal backups to usb devices, NAS storage, etc. You also create a bootable usb drive (or iso) so that you can perform a full recovery of a system , or simply file level backups. Cloudberry is another option for capturing bare metal backups, with support for all of the major cloud storage providers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 I avoid the issue by not having anything on there I care about if I lose it. Paper rules. Are you guys seriously keeping important stuff on your computers? 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Travis In Austin Posted November 30, 2017 Moderators Share Posted November 30, 2017 1 hour ago, oldtimer said: I avoid the issue by not having anything on there I care about if I lose it. Paper rules. Are you guys seriously keeping important stuff on your computers? Just flight plans and legal files. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaddeus Smith Posted November 30, 2017 Share Posted November 30, 2017 18 hours ago, oldtimer said: I avoid the issue by not having anything on there I care about if I lose it. Paper rules. Are you guys seriously keeping important stuff on your computers? You Luddite. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted December 1, 2017 Share Posted December 1, 2017 Thad, I am replacing a mirror raid that is 1 tb with two 2 tb discs. I am using EasUS TODO to create the first clone. How do I do the second mirror disc? Should I just create a second clone or do I need to install the first clone and let the Raid create the mirror drive? The Raid is a Dell T7400 workstation. it is a built in SAS controller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaddeus Smith Posted December 1, 2017 Share Posted December 1, 2017 You basically need to create the raid mirror and then clone your data to it. In RAID activity, creating a new virtual disk of any variety will wipe the drives which you've added, so cloning beforehand and then adding to RAID will be pointless. Likewise, having a single disk in a RAID configuration and then mirroring it after the fact will essential force you to create a new RAID type, thereby forcing a wipe of the drives in the RAID configuration. So you basically need to copy your data off to a single external drive with sufficient space, install the new drives, build the new RAID, and then copy your data back from the swap drive. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avguytx Posted December 1, 2017 Share Posted December 1, 2017 I guess I could set mine up like the city I work for; we have 3 Seagate SAN's with 32TB each running RAID 6 (24TB after RAID). But that's a little overkill for home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaddeus Smith Posted December 1, 2017 Share Posted December 1, 2017 28 minutes ago, avguytx said: I guess I could set mine up like the city I work for; we have 3 Seagate SAN's with 32TB each running RAID 6 (24TB after RAID). But that's a little overkill for home. My current unRAID NAS is 32TB usable and about 70% consumed. At my previous job I managed about 900TB of storage from 3Par, NetApp, Nimble, and Synology. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avguytx Posted December 1, 2017 Share Posted December 1, 2017 I think that's a little larger population than the small city I'm in. That much space would be overkill for me at home as I don't have near that amount of data to save. Thankfully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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