RAD BACKUPS

[Johnny Ragazzo]

I am running Windows XP Pro SP2 on 2 Western Digital Raptors in a RAID 0
array, I also have a Western Digital 120 GB drive I use as a back up and for
storage. I wanted to know if anyone knows of the best program to use for
both backing up and restoring data for a RAID setup? I have heard that most
back up programs have trouble reinstalling to and from a RAID set up. Any
suggestions? Thanks.....

John

 

[DL]

I've used both Handy Backup and Genie Backup on a mirror raid sys without
problems.
Also used Backer for synching with a problem.
If you need a full sys backup, I understand later version of eg Ghost is
suitable.
I take it yr aware raid 0 has no fault tollerance.

 

[Yves Leclerc]

Most backup software should be able to backup the data off the RAID. Whta
would be the problem is with restoring the RAID definition. Your RAID
definition can not be restored since the RAID disks need to exist before the
backup can understand it.

Y.

 

[Bob Davis]

I am running Windows XP Pro SP2 on 2 Western Digital Raptors in a RAID
0 array, I also have a Western Digital 120 GB drive I use as a back up and
for storage. I wanted to know if anyone knows of the best program to use
for both backing up and restoring data for a RAID setup? I have heard
that most back up programs have trouble reinstalling to and from a RAID
set up. Any suggestions? Thanks.....

I'm running a RAID0 setup on an ICH5R, use Norton Ghost 2003 to clone this
array, and have had no trouble either cloning or restoring from a clone. I
have six drives in mobil racks that I rotate for this cloning operation
every Saturday, and important files (working image folders, business
databases, documents, etc.) are updated hourly to a separate drive (D
using Task Scheduler and a batch file using 4NT (DOS) commands. Outlook and
IE files are backed up daily using eBackup (www.inachis.com). One of the
cloned drives is kept off-site.

The cloning drives in mobil racks are old drives used on older systems, from
20-80gb. in size. Why not use them for a practical purpose?

 

[Bruin]

I am running Windows XP Pro SP2 on 2 Western Digital Raptors in a RAID
0 array, I also have a Western Digital 120 GB drive I use as a back up and
for storage. I wanted to know if anyone knows of the best program to use
for both backing up and restoring data for a RAID setup? I have heard
that most back up programs have trouble reinstalling to and from a RAID
set up. Any suggestions? Thanks.....

John

Yesterday I installed a new 160 gig SATA drive. My 4 WD 40 gig drives in
RAID 0 were running out of space.
I decided to dump the RAID but did not want a new WinXP build (& spend the
weekend installing needed software). I used Powerquest Drive Image 7.0 to
create a back-up image on my external drive, then restored that image to the
new 160 gig drive.

The old RAID 0 drives are now in static bags & put away & my new drive with
the old build (it's actually a fairly new build) is running great. Drive
Image was unable to copy the drive but it could make the image, & restore
that image to a new drive. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't
back-up your RAID 0, you can!

 

[Frank]

Yesterday I installed a new 160 gig SATA drive. My 4 WD 40 gig
drives in RAID 0 were running out of space.
I decided to dump the RAID but did not want a new WinXP build (&
spend the weekend installing needed software). I used Powerquest
Drive Image 7.0 to create a back-up image on my external drive, then
restored that image to the new 160 gig drive.

The old RAID 0 drives are now in static bags & put away & my new
drive with the old build (it's actually a fairly new build) is
running great. Drive Image was unable to copy the drive but it
could make the image, & restore that image to a new drive. Don't
let anyone tell you that you can't back-up your RAID 0, you can!

Backing up a RAID 0 to another device is a given. What I want to
know is how you ended up with more room on a 160GB drive when
4 x 40GB drives in a RAID 0 gives 160BG of space.

 

[Bruin]

Backing up a RAID 0 to another device is a given. What I want to
know is how you ended up with more room on a 160GB drive when
4 x 40GB drives in a RAID 0 gives 160BG of space.

errr typo? That was 2 WD 40 gig hard drives. =P

BTW, 2 years ago I posted here looking for a way to back up my previous RAID
0 (a fast one, different controller) & I got reply after reply that it
could not be done.

 

[Frank]

errr typo? That was 2 WD 40 gig hard drives. =P

BTW, 2 years ago I posted here looking for a way to back up my
previous RAID 0 (a fast one, different controller) & I got reply
after reply that it could not be done.

Yes I know that this is not the best newsgroups to get accurate
information. There is or was a person who had a signature
that stated something like, the right answer to the wrong question
does not help.
Back to backing up RAID 0 systems. When I first purchased DI 6&7
I was testing it. It backed up just fine. When I tested the restore
I
was not able to do the job. XP's fault? No. Drive Image fault? No.
My fault? Yes. I kept missing the F6 to install the RAID drivers
during
the restore boot-up. Where did I find the answer? The DI help file.
Bruin this is not directed to you. It is directed to the group as a
whole,
especially the CDO posters.

 

[Bruin]

Yes I know that this is not the best newsgroups to get accurate
information. There is or was a person who had a signature
that stated something like, the right answer to the wrong question
does not help.
Back to backing up RAID 0 systems. When I first purchased DI 6&7
I was testing it. It backed up just fine. When I tested the restore I
was not able to do the job. XP's fault? No. Drive Image fault? No.
My fault? Yes. I kept missing the F6 to install the RAID drivers during
the restore boot-up. Where did I find the answer? The DI help file.
Bruin this is not directed to you. It is directed to the group as a
whole,
especially the CDO posters.

The fact is that I was easily convinced that the only way I could completely
back up my drives was if I wasn't using them. Meaning having a 2nd OS on
another drive that I could boot to & use that to back it up. They said that
you can NOT copy a complete image of Windows while being IN Windows. Wellp
that is not true. Thank God!

I got 3 high end CAD programs, plus 2 different data management software to
manage the CAD files not to mention Autocad & some other software for work.
Plus all my games! Most of them are huge, 2-3 CDs to load. All this takes
a ton of time to load, basically a weekend. Then there is getting XP
tweaked to an acceptable level, turning off services, cleaning up the crap
they put in the UI, etc...

A complete image once every couple of months plus backing up data regularly
is the only way to go. & there are a ton of new games to be released by
Christmas!

 

[Johnny Ragazzo]

I had been using Drive Image 7, but after installing Win XP Service Pack 2,
the program no longer works. I have tried reinstalling with the same
results. When I run the program, it halts looking for a specific file then
exits. Back to my original question, "What is the best program for backing
up and reinstalling from a RAID 0 setup?" So far I have heard Ghost 2003.

Are there any others?

Thanks...