Is SCSI still the most reliable?

[Frank W.]

Considering how long it takes to get a formatted system back

You shouldnt. A configured configured home system
can restore after a hard drive failure very quickly.

Its the settings, preferences, etc. that take so much time to put back.

Very quickly indeed if you choose to have a mirrored system.

But couldn't some problem that caused the crash have also crashed the mirror system? In this case you
need to do backups every so often so you can "go back in time" until you have a backup that doesn't have
the problem that caused the crash.

 

[Frank W.]

Chuck you make some excellent points. Do you think that older SCSI drives (say 3 to 5 years old) are

If your data is important you need to get copies of your backup
off-site. Your machine might be stolen, or heaven forbid you might
have a house fire.

If you don't use your oven, that makes a pretty good fire protector. Also
microwaves. Anything with a seal is a good place to store removeable
media. Any problem with storing a removeable hard drive in a fridge?

 

[Peter]

I use Ghost 8.0 to image my hd drive every Friday as a backup. In
addition,

I also imaged my drive right after a fresh install of XP with my core group
of apps so getting my system back up will only take a matter of minutes, not
hours.

Minutes? You must have a cold spare then.

 

[Peter]

Any problem with storing a removeable hard drive in a fridge?

Yes, condensation.

 

[Al Dykes]

If you don't use your oven, that makes a pretty good fire protector. Also
microwaves. Anything with a seal is a good place to store removeable
media. Any problem with storing a removeable hard drive in a fridge?

Microwave ? Oven ? Not in a home like mine, where Murphy lives.

A disk kept in a fridge would need to be put in a moisture-proof wrap,
aluminum foil, and allowed to reach room temp before unwrapping. I'd
allow 12 hours. IMO if the data is important it needs to be in a
seperate building. A true fireproof data vault is an expensive item.
For business, there are many, many reasons why you can show up at your
company's front door at 9AM and be denied any entry, even if the
building and premises are 100% intact. I've seen it happen.

I'm not a big fan of cheap removable solutions. I've been watching
usenet posts of people having file system problems and in my
unscientific poll a disproportionate number are from people with USB
external drives. IMO thay are just OK and only if you do 100% readback
verify before you dismount them.

 

[Frank W.]

I'm not a big fan of cheap removable solutions. I've been watching

usenet posts of people having file system problems and in my
unscientific poll a disproportionate number are from people with USB
external drives. IMO thay are just OK and only if you do 100% readback
verify before you dismount them.

Readback verify? Is that a data check on what's just been backed up?

Can you buy temperature sensors for hard drives?

 

[Frank W.]

I'm not a big fan of cheap removable solutions. I've been watching

Readback verify? Is that a data check on what's just been backed up?


Can you buy temperature sensors for hard drives?

And what is a temperature one should aim to keep under?

 

[Al Dykes]

Readback verify? Is that a data check on what's just been backed up?


Can you buy temperature sensors for hard drives?

http://www.pcpowerandcooling.com/products/cooling/alert/index.htm

About $15. It's hardwired to 110DegF which is a conservative # based
on the datasheets I've looked at.

 

[Al Dykes]

And what is a temperature one should aim to keep under?

Get the detailed data sheet for your disk model from the manufacturers
web site and look at max recommended operating temp.

 

[Peter]

And what is a temperature one should aim to keep under?

Get the detailed data sheet for your disk model from the manufacturers
web site and look at max recommended operating temp.

Operating your hard disk just slightly below the maximum recommended
operating temperature is still going to shorten its life and produce much
lower MTBF numbers. I've seen manufacturer documents stating 22 or 25degC
(and some other limitations) for MTBF measurements.

 

[Al Dykes]

Operating your hard disk just slightly below the maximum recommended
operating temperature is still going to shorten its life and produce much
lower MTBF numbers. I've seen manufacturer documents stating 22 or 25degC
(and some other limitations) for MTBF measurements.

Cooler is better, but the OP asked how to find out an authorative
number. The place to start is the datasheet.

There's a curve, not a hard number. I recall hearing a long time ago
something like 20% reduction in failure probability within operating
life for every 10DegF reduction in operating temp. That quote is so
old that the specifics are irrelevant, but I'm sure the general curve
still applies.

 

[Rod Speed]

Its the settings, preferences, etc. that take so much time to put back.

Nope, not if you do proper backups. Those get restored too.

But couldn't some problem that caused the
crash have also crashed the mirror system?

Sure, but it depends on what you mean by a mirrored system.

If you do backups by cloning the entire drive to another,
mirroring in that sense, and then physically disconnecting
the mirror after the backup is done, you have close to an
instant restore just by switching to the clone if the original fails.

In this case you need to do backups every so often
so you can "go back in time" until you have a backup
that doesn't have the problem that caused the crash.

Sure, there are a variety of ways of doing a proper backup.

 

[Rod Speed]

If you don't use your oven, that makes a pretty good fire protector.

Just as long as you dont absent mindedly turn it on |-)

I store some of the larger cooking stuff in the oven and can
forget to take it out before turning the oven on to preheat it.

Also microwaves. Anything with a seal is
a good place to store removeable media.

Thats only good for the smaller fires. If the whole
house burns down, those wont survive a fire like that.

Any problem with storing a removeable hard drive in a fridge?

Yep, the condensation isnt good for it, let alone the ice crystals.

Its a hell of a lot easier to do offsite backups in most situations,
just by taking stuff from work home and stuff from home to work.

 

[Frank W.]

IME keeping your disks cool does more to increase reliability
than

http://www.pcpowerandcooling.com/products/cooling/alert/index.htm
About $15. It's hardwired to 110DegF which is a conservative # based
on the datasheets I've looked at.

This is a thermometer. I'm looking for a temperature sensor that tells
me when the hard drive is over a certain temperature. If one had these
on the hard drives and CPU that would be great.

 

[Folkert Rienstra]

Operating your hard disk just slightly below the maximum recommended
operating temperature is still going to shorten its life and produce much
lower MTBF numbers.

Says where?

I've seen manufacturer documents stating 22 or 25degC
(and some other limitations) for MTBF measurements.

So?