Computer Data back up media

[ghosthunter]

The thought has just hit me.

Currently our office backs up the server data on DVD+RW discs daily (6 discs, one disc per day). Data is just under 1 gig but grows to another 200mb over the year. "Rationalizing" the data at the end of the year removes most of the added bulk so it should go down again to just under 1gig.

I was thinking if it was better to use USB drives or even SD cards to back up the same data? 6 usb drives or 6 SD cards of 4gig capacity. (Why 4 gig usb capacity? Nothing much, just to match the dvd capacity for data.)

Why the random brain fart? Well, usb drives and sd cards has gotten pretty cheap, as low at P380 for a 4gig SD card and price is still coming down. USB drives cost a bit more but not by much.

Why the trouble of switching DVDRW to solid state storage? ... well sometimes DVDRWs might write "successfully" but when you try reading data off it, nothing comes out so it needs to be tested once in a while which can be a bother if the person doing the back up is in a hurry at the end of the day. Also, DVD writer drives don't last forever so it can be a pain when the current drive needs replacing because the server has to be shut down, take out the old drive, pop in the new, turn on the server and hope everything works as before.

Using solid state memory devices would by-pass the need of optical media which also tends to wear out after a number of write cycles. And if the solid state memory devices are more stable, the number of actual back up "units" can be cut down from the current 6 to 2 or 3. The cost would only be about the same for a DVD writer and a dozen dvdrw discs...

What do you think?

[Yoda]

I've long abandoned optical media in favor of 2.5" hard disks in USB enclosures for my backups. These are for my home backups though, so I'm not sure how much of that is relevant in a "business" setting.

[Horsepower]

Just get a WD World II RAID 2TB.

[Yoda]

Well, RAID != backup.

It increases reliability and provides fault tolerance but it doesn't guard against system failures or user errors, eg. if you accidentally delete a file, the RAID is not going to save your day.

[_Qwerty_]

I uses a maxtor onetouch 750gb external hd for my files..

[Yoda]

I just read up on that WD product, seems it's a NAS device, ie. over a network instead of USB.

I suppose that could work as a backup medium, it'll be more convenient if you have several machines to back up. My first thought was that it's one of those hardware RAID devices.

[ghosthunter]

The data volume is small... under 4Gb.

The current server is using a RAID set to mirror on two HDDs. Auto-fallback on boot up if one fails. Also auto-rebuild when a fresh HDD is used to replace faulty drive.

But I still want another level of protection beyond redundant HDD system hence a physical backup incase the worst happens (like a fire which toasts the server). The physical back up is kept in a place separate from the server.

[Yoda]

The data volume is small... under 4Gb.

The smallest HDDs these days would certainly seem overkill for this purpose, but you can always put the extra space to good use. For instance, you can implement rolling backups easily.

Like, if you back up daily, don't just keep the most recent backup, keep a week's worth, or even more. This has saved me at least a couple of times when the version of the file in the most recent backup wasn't the one I wanted.

But I still want another level of protection beyond redundant HDD system hence a physical backup incase the worst happens (like a fire which toasts the server). The physical back up is kept in a place separate from the server.

And you should. Doesn't take a fire to render your server and its RAID useless. Faulty memory, viruses, etc. will trash your files and the only thing RAID will do is mirror that corruption to the other disks.

This is not an anti-RAID campaign though. Just pointing out that it's not a backup strategy and that it serves a different purpose.

[Horsepower]

BluRay Single layer is 25GB. That would be a month's worth of backup.

[Horsepower]

Store it in a vacuum. Dust could easily attach itself to the data side and give you problems. That's the primary problem with discs.

USB flashdrives claim they can retain data for 10yrs but no one has actually tested to find out. None that I know of. hehe

HDDs can get dropped, magnetized, get surged and die.

Nothing beats hieroglyphics. Someone should invent something that stores data based on that. hehehe.

[badkuk]

your backup set is under 4gb? lucky you B)

Hard drives ang gamit namin; the cost of tape drives/cartridges just didn't justify its purchase. And mas matagal pag magrerecover ka from tapes.What's more, if the tape drive dies on you...paktay

You just need to make backups more frequently para covered ka in case the drives die on you.


The only concern i have with usb drives is that they're pretty easy to misplace or steal. You may want to use this in conjunction with crypto software like TrueCrypt.

There are also some usb drives that have encryption built in -- no idea how it's done though, or if the process is automatic.

If you do use crypto software...don't lose the password B)

Also, since we're talking about company data, maybe you can reason with management to get the better ones like SanDisk or Toshiba -- i've had a few usb drives that were prone to corruption. Preferably, go for the SLC(single level cell) types, not the MLV(Multilevel Cell) ones that we usually see on the market. Mas matagal ata ung buhay niya by a factor of 10 or 100.


Can anyone verify: do we need to do a read/reformat of usb drives once in a while, para ma maintain ung charge/voltage levels in the ic?

[boybi]

A very timely thread. I'm in the process of computerizing our purchasing and invoicing system. And I'm thinking of what will be the best backup system to use.

Currently, I'm using a USB drive to store the file while I'm still encoding the data. But once I'm done and will transfer it to the computers in the office, what's the best backup system to use?

[ghosthunter]

The smallest HDDs these days would certainly seem overkill for this purpose, but you can always put the extra space to good use. For instance, you can implement rolling backups easily.

Like, if you back up daily, don't just keep the most recent backup, keep a week's worth, or even more. This has saved me at least a couple of times when the version of the file in the most recent backup wasn't the one I wanted.

I plan to have three back ups rolling through the week ... so it's not just one day.

And you should. Doesn't take a fire to render your server and its RAID useless. Faulty memory, viruses, etc. will trash your files and the only thing RAID will do is mirror that corruption to the other disks.

This is not an anti-RAID campaign though. Just pointing out that it's not a backup strategy and that it serves a different purpose.

I know, hence the current optical backup (1 per day of the week). But since the cost of technology has fallen for solid state media, I was thinking of something better already.

RAID is just my first line in keeping the server running and keeping downtime to a minimum. My years of working as a network tech support engineer did teach me a few things to implement in our own systems.

[ghosthunter]

A very timely thread. I'm in the process of computerizing our purchasing and invoicing system. And I'm thinking of what will be the best backup system to use.

Currently, I'm using a USB drive to store the file while I'm still encoding the data. But once I'm done and will transfer it to the computers in the office, what's the best backup system to use?

Currently I am thinking of SD cards. Less mechanical wear and tear to worry. Even with the card readers, they are cheap so replacing them isn't a real problem, just choose a durable model.

[ghosthunter]

BluRay Single layer is 25GB. That would be a month's worth of backup.

New technology for the sake of new technology isn't worth it. The cost of the blueray drives are expensive and so are the discs for them. And like I mentioned, the data would be much less than 4 gigs...

And I prefer to save each day's worth of data on separate media.

I am also opting to move away from optical media which has proven to be problematic once the technology has gotten a bit older.

Hopefully SD cards will be more stable over time.

[badkuk]

New technology for the sake of new technology isn't worth it. The cost of the blueray drives are expensive and so are the discs for them. And like I mentioned, the data would be much less than 4 gigs...

give it a year or two, baka kapresyo na ng DVD burner ung Blu-Ray-capable burners B)

[Negus]

OT: Google Gdrive pushing through hehe. ok ito para sa mga netbooks....

[badkuk]

dunno dude...i've never been comfortable storing critical data on someone else's servers...and connected 24x7 to the internet at that

[ghosthunter]

give it a year or two, baka kapresyo na ng DVD burner ung Blu-Ray-capable burners B)

But I don't need the capacity and expense of a blue-ray drive to do backup. Like I have mentioned from the START of THIS THREAD, my data is less than FOUR GIGABYTES. So even current DVD burners are enough. BUT I want to steer away from optical discs. So if someone is not so dense, I want to opt for solid state storage system.

[badkuk]

just wanted to second your opinion on the not-adapting-new-technology-for-the-sake-of-adapting line of thought. but truth be told i *can* be quite dense at times B)