Reliability of external hard drive vs DVD for system backup

[fj]

If you were using an external hard drive to store your system backup [i.e.,
in case you have to do a bare metal up restore], would it be prudent to
proactively replace the hard drive in order to avoid having it die and
losing your system backup? I'm wanting to not take the risk that my system
dies at essentially the same time as the external hard drive.

So far, my philosophy has been that my system backup should be stored on a
media [CD's, DVD's or tapes] that is essentially disconnected from the
system - so no failure in the system could kill the system backup.

While this has come up as part of another thread, it's important enough for
me to make it more visible.

Thanks for any comments.

 

[Rod Speed]

If you were using an external hard drive to store your system backup [i.e., in
case you have to do a bare metal up restore], would it be prudent to
proactively replace the hard drive in order to avoid having it die and losing
your system backup?

Nope, makes more sense to ensure that the external housing
treats the drive well on temperature particularly and turn it off
when its not in use and dont treat it bad physically.

I'm wanting to not take the risk that my system dies at essentially the same
time as the external hard drive.

Thats quite unlikely, but unplugging the external will ensure
that even say a very close lightning strike cant do that etc.

You'd have to move it out of the building to
protect against fire and flood and theft tho.

So far, my philosophy has been that my system backup should be stored
on a media [CD's, DVD's or tapes] that is essentially disconnected
from the system - so no failure in the system could kill the system backup.

Yes, and you also need to consider if you really need a fully system
backup on removable media. The risk is quite small, so there is a lot to
be said for just having what you will slash your wrists if you lose on the
removable media, and use the external hard drive for the much more
likely situations where the internal drive dies or you do something really
stupid to the contents, or an install etc comprehensively screws it etc.

In the unlikely event of say fire or theft etc, those normally involve
quite a bit of hassle replacing the hardware, so a clean install is
no big deal if you have the irreplaceable stuff on say a DVD etc.

And you can do an intermediate as well, use the files and settings
tranfer wizard to write just the unique stuff to a DVD as well, so
even say a fire is more of a nuisance than anything else.

While this has come up as part of another thread, it's important enough for me
to make it more visible.

Isnt that the usenet equivalent of flashing ? Shame, fj, shame.

 

[fj]

If you were using an external hard drive to store your system backup
[i.e., in case you have to do a bare metal up restore], would it be
prudent to proactively replace the hard drive in order to avoid having it
die and losing your system backup?

Nope, makes more sense to ensure that the external housing
treats the drive well on temperature particularly and turn it off
when its not in use and dont treat it bad physically.

I'm wanting to not take the risk that my system dies at essentially the
same time as the external hard drive.

Thats quite unlikely, but unplugging the external will ensure
that even say a very close lightning strike cant do that etc.

You'd have to move it out of the building to
protect against fire and flood and theft tho.

So far, my philosophy has been that my system backup should be stored
on a media [CD's, DVD's or tapes] that is essentially disconnected
from the system - so no failure in the system could kill the system
backup.

Yes, and you also need to consider if you really need a fully system
backup on removable media. The risk is quite small, so there is a lot to
be said for just having what you will slash your wrists if you lose on the
removable media, and use the external hard drive for the much more
likely situations where the internal drive dies or you do something really
stupid to the contents, or an install etc comprehensively screws it etc.

In the unlikely event of say fire or theft etc, those normally involve
quite a bit of hassle replacing the hardware, so a clean install is
no big deal if you have the irreplaceable stuff on say a DVD etc.

And you can do an intermediate as well, use the files and settings
tranfer wizard to write just the unique stuff to a DVD as well, so
even say a fire is more of a nuisance than anything else.

Rod - Thanks for the comments.

Isnt that the usenet equivalent of flashing ? Shame, fj, shame.

Sorry if I was inappropriate. I thought it was OK to bring up a point that
was unrelated to a main thread.

 

[Rod Speed]

If you were using an external hard drive to store your system backup
[i.e., in case you have to do a bare metal up restore], would it be
prudent to proactively replace the hard drive in order to avoid
having it die and losing your system backup?

Nope, makes more sense to ensure that the external housing
treats the drive well on temperature particularly and turn it off
when its not in use and dont treat it bad physically.

I'm wanting to not take the risk that my system dies at essentially
the same time as the external hard drive.

Thats quite unlikely, but unplugging the external will ensure
that even say a very close lightning strike cant do that etc.

You'd have to move it out of the building to
protect against fire and flood and theft tho.

So far, my philosophy has been that my system backup should be
stored on a media [CD's, DVD's or tapes] that is essentially disconnected
from the system - so no failure in the system could kill the system
backup.

Yes, and you also need to consider if you really need a fully system
backup on removable media. The risk is quite small, so there is a
lot to be said for just having what you will slash your wrists if
you lose on the removable media, and use the external hard drive for
the much more likely situations where the internal drive dies or you do
something
really stupid to the contents, or an install etc comprehensively
screws it etc. In the unlikely event of say fire or theft etc, those normally
involve quite a bit of hassle replacing the hardware, so a clean
install is no big deal if you have the irreplaceable stuff on say a DVD etc.

And you can do an intermediate as well, use the files and settings
tranfer wizard to write just the unique stuff to a DVD as well, so
even say a fire is more of a nuisance than anything else.

Rod - Thanks for the comments.

No problem.

Sorry if I was inappropriate. I thought it was OK to bring up a point that
was unrelated to a main thread.

That was just my pathetic attempt at a joke |-)

 

[dg]

As far as external drives, I think there are still quirky issues with most
if not all USB and Firewire drive interfaces (which I am guessing you are
considering). Why they aren't perfect yet is beyond me, it seems like
SOMEBODY could figure out the issue and address it. Some folks don't have
any problems, and some folks (like me) have problems only sometimes-and its
always the worst time. Specifically "delayed write failure" messages. I do
like using removable HD caddies for backup, the kind that uses either an IDE
or SATA interface from inside the PC. This way a guy can keep another drive
in a safe location in case of fire or theft and not have the external drive
issues like heat and quirky errors.

If you can fit your backup on a DVD, and deal with the procedure, that's a
pretty good way to go. Good tape drives are hard to buy for reasonable
prices. Usually its hard for an individual to justify the cost of a good
tape drive, but in a business its certainly justifiable.

--Dan

 

[Rod Speed]

As far as external drives, I think there are still quirky issues
with most if not all USB and Firewire drive interfaces (which I am
guessing you are considering). Why they aren't perfect yet is beyond
me, it seems like SOMEBODY could figure out the issue and address it.

Takes time to get all the quirks out. Took that long with IDE drives.

Some folks don't have any problems, and some folks (like me)
have problems only sometimes-and its always the worst time.
Specifically "delayed write failure" messages. I do like using
removable HD caddies for backup, the kind that uses either an
IDE or SATA interface from inside the PC. This way a guy can
keep another drive in a safe location in case of fire or theft and
not have the external drive issues like heat and quirky errors.

If you can fit your backup on a DVD, and deal with the procedure,
that's a pretty good way to go. Good tape drives are hard to buy
for reasonable prices. Usually its hard for an individual to justify the
cost of a good tape drive, but in a business its certainly justifiable.

If you were using an external hard drive to store your system backup
[i.e., in case you have to do a bare metal up restore], would it be
prudent to proactively replace the hard drive in order to avoid
having it die and losing your system backup? I'm wanting to not
take the risk that my system dies at essentially the same time as
the external hard drive.

So far, my philosophy has been that my system backup should be
stored on a media [CD's, DVD's or tapes] that is essentially
disconnected from the system - so no failure in the system could
kill the system backup.

While this has come up as part of another thread, it's important
enough for me to make it more visible.

Thanks for any comments.

 

[Lil' Dave]

If you were using an external hard drive to store your system backup [i.e.,
in case you have to do a bare metal up restore], would it be prudent to
proactively replace the hard drive in order to avoid having it die and
losing your system backup? I'm wanting to not take the risk that my system
dies at essentially the same time as the external hard drive.

So far, my philosophy has been that my system backup should be stored on a
media [CD's, DVD's or tapes] that is essentially disconnected from the
system - so no failure in the system could kill the system backup.

While this has come up as part of another thread, it's important enough for
me to make it more visible.

Thanks for any comments.

Some people do a multiple plan backup, as an example.
1. Local separate drive for images.
2. External drive for images.
3. DVD backup.
4. Clone removable backup

 

[fj]

If you were using an external hard drive to store your system backup
[i.e., in case you have to do a bare metal up restore], would it be
prudent to proactively replace the hard drive in order to avoid
having it die and losing your system backup?

Nope, makes more sense to ensure that the external housing
treats the drive well on temperature particularly and turn it off
when its not in use and dont treat it bad physically.

I'm wanting to not take the risk that my system dies at essentially
the same time as the external hard drive.

Thats quite unlikely, but unplugging the external will ensure
that even say a very close lightning strike cant do that etc.

You'd have to move it out of the building to
protect against fire and flood and theft tho.

So far, my philosophy has been that my system backup should be
stored on a media [CD's, DVD's or tapes] that is essentially
disconnected
from the system - so no failure in the system could kill the system
backup.

Yes, and you also need to consider if you really need a fully system
backup on removable media. The risk is quite small, so there is a
lot to be said for just having what you will slash your wrists if
you lose on the removable media, and use the external hard drive for
the much more likely situations where the internal drive dies or you do
something
really stupid to the contents, or an install etc comprehensively
screws it etc. In the unlikely event of say fire or theft etc, those
normally
involve quite a bit of hassle replacing the hardware, so a clean
install is no big deal if you have the irreplaceable stuff on say a DVD
etc.

And you can do an intermediate as well, use the files and settings
tranfer wizard to write just the unique stuff to a DVD as well, so
even say a fire is more of a nuisance than anything else.

Rod - Thanks for the comments.

No problem.

Sorry if I was inappropriate. I thought it was OK to bring up a point
that was unrelated to a main thread.

That was just my pathetic attempt at a joke |-)

No problem.
I'll keep in mind for the future.