Best External Mirror Hard Drive options.....

[Pablo]

....for the best price....

I want to do the mirror back-up with an external hard drive on my Vista machine.

Lead me through this. Thanks.

 

[StevieC]

I like Drobo but it's very expensive... I have been looking for one myself. ... Never thought to post here!

 

[TooManyWheels]

I just finished dealing with a problem with my Western Digital external drive no longer being recognized by a particular machine. Discovered that there are many issues concerning Windows USB and Firewire drivers, and the corresponding chipsets in external enclosures.

To make a long story short, I found that the Macally brand enclosures were well-rated for compatibility. They cost about 3x the generic ones, but the one I bought solved the problem so I am happy.

Question - Are you wanting to do an image, or a synched, swappable drive?

 

[uc50ic4more]

I have a buddy who spent a gazillion bucks on a Drobo; I have a $25 USB HDD case, a bunch of old 120GB and 160GB hard drives, and either TimeMachine on my Mac or rsync on my Linux-based machines for mirroring.

I am *sure* there'd be some quality backup software for free for Windows out there for use with commodity hard drives + USB cases.

 

[uc50ic4more]

Originally Posted By: TooManyWheels

Question - Are you wanting to do an image, or a synched, swappable drive?


+1... "Backup", "sync" and "mirroring" can be ambiguous terms. What exactly is it that you'd like to accomplish, Pablo? I am positive that Vista, with which I admittedly have near zero direct experience, would have a backup facility built-in.

 

[Pablo]

I am trying to have a perfect image back-up of everything. When this main HD dies, I just want to throw the old HD in the fire and start as if nothing happened with the back-up HD.

I don't have time to do the old fashioned back-up storage.

I don't mind spending a little money, and unobtrusive is important.

 

[simple_gifts]

Quote:

I am trying to have a perfect image back-up of everything. When this main HD dies, I just want to throw the old HD in the fire and start as if nothing happened with the back-up HD.



Probably not what most people would recommend; mirroring=2 separate writes/write action and one will be over USB.

Good scenario for a dog slow machine.



An internal RAID card or native Windoze disk mirroring on the same "type of controller" is a better option; poke around

http://www.vista4beginners.com/How-to-ma...Management-tool

NT had a disk miirroring function built in, Vista should too.

Every disaster recovery plan requires a test; figure out how to recover BEFORE you have to. I recall having to edit some file prior to drive failure to enable booting when one drive had failed.

 

[StevieC]

Originally Posted By: Pablo
I am trying to have a perfect image back-up of everything. When this main HD dies, I just want to throw the old HD in the fire and start as if nothing happened with the back-up HD.

I don't have time to do the old fashioned back-up storage.

I don't mind spending a little money, and unobtrusive is important.


Then don't rely on Microsoft Software... Nothing is that easy with them! hahahaha

You will need a Raid Box that has a controller in it of some sort. Look at the Drobo for an idea, then see if you can find something cheaper...

 

[uc50ic4more]

Originally Posted By: Pablo
I am trying to have a perfect image back-up of everything. When this main HD dies, I just want to throw the old HD in the fire and start as if nothing happened with the back-up HD.


I am not sure that Microsoft allows this. 1) I am not sure that the license allows it, which doesn't matter too much, but 2) Making a bit-for-bit copy of the disk would require that you *not* be booted into the OS at the time. You may have to look at a specialized LiveCD like Clonezilla, PartImage or Norton Ghost. They'll copy the whole shootin' match from one drive to another.

Just make *darn* certain that you do not change any crucial hardware between your last mirroring and your restoration procedure if things fail: Windows ties it's installation to hardware such that you cannot just remove a hard drive out of one machine and plop it into another. The installation may be aware (not in a sentient sort of way!) that it is on a different hard drive, and may very well give you the gears on it's first boot.

(Linux-based OS's don't care about any of this. Just sayin'.)

 

[simple_gifts]

UC, W2K3 and NT server have the ability to do software RAID 1; it is built into the OS; it is hidden under disk management; however after some quick browsing, it appears NOT to be a feature of Vista; It is a license/feature issue, not a technical one. I have used MS dynamic disk mirrors for many years.

As mentioned linux (specifially Fedora) allows this configuration @ install on its desktop os.

 

[TooManyWheels]

Why not do a clone of the primary drive (Acronis, Ghost, Perfect Image), then a simple whole- drive synchronization periodically? There are lots of free file synchronizers, I have been using MS Sync Toy but there are plenty of others.

 

[Pablo]

Originally Posted By: TooManyWheels
Why not do a clone of the primary drive (Acronis, Ghost, Perfect Image), then a simple whole- drive synchronization periodically? There are lots of free file synchronizers, I have been using MS Sync Toy but there are plenty of others.


Is that what folks do? I can do this with an external drive?

Just in passing I remember statements about bone easy recovery- how?

 

[mstrjon32]

I have dual internal 1TB drives, configured in RAID 1. If one has a mechanical failure, the other "takes over". Replace the failed drive, rebuild the array (an automatic process), and then redundancy is reestablished. If you're concern is mechanical failure, RAID is the way to go.

Backing up with a separate drive is good in the event you erase a file you'd like back or something goes wrong with the operating system that wipes out some data. I'm much more concerned with mechanical failure though.

 

[uc50ic4more]

Originally Posted By: TooManyWheels
Why not do a clone of the primary drive (Acronis, Ghost, Perfect Image), then a simple whole- drive synchronization periodically? There are lots of free file synchronizers, I have been using MS Sync Toy but there are plenty of others.


That'd be a bugger to do incrementally, wouldn't it? You'd have to mirror the whole flippin' thing each time if I understand what you're saying... That's a lotta bit and bytes flying around.

I know it's a little off topic, but with Ubuntu, I just set up separate / and /home partitions; clone the / once the install is done and incrementally back up (using rsync or the GUI, grsync) the /home partition. The / partition doesn't change (excluding /tmp, but who cares?) unless and until some new or updated software gets installed (which is rare, as I usually only install security updates and stick with a stable kernel, etc.), and the /home is always reasonably up to date.

 

[TooManyWheels]

Actually, that is what I am doing in Windows. I partition my machines into System and Data Partitions and then only synchronize the System partition when I make a major change. It does take a while to do the compare routine on the System partition, but it breezes right through the data. I keep email on the data partition so it is kept up to date with the routine synchs.

 

[uc50ic4more]

Originally Posted By: TooManyWheels
Actually, that is what I am doing in Windows. I partition my machines into System and Data Partitions and then only synchronize the System partition when I make a major change. It does take a while to do the compare routine on the System partition, but it breezes right through the data. I keep email on the data partition so it is kept up to date with the routine synchs.


I have to hand it Microsoft, too: Changing the location of "My Documents" is as easy, as I recall, as right clicking on My Documents, choosing Properties and hitting "Change Location". You simply choose an external hard drive, internal partition, etc. and all of the data is moved. Most user data, in addition to all of your documents, is in there somewhere, so it can act as a pretty comprehensive "personal account" partition to incrementally back up; massive Outlook .pst files notwithstanding!

 

[SrDriver]

I use Acronis True Image Home.

Link To Web Site

With it you can make a bootable CD in case of a crash and restore your backup from an external USB drive.

I have used it doing a complete restore in Vista without issue.

It will also backup many Linux systems.

Have seen it for sale @ several stores that sell software.

Inexpensive and works for me.

 

[Virtuoso]

I have a batch file that robocopy's all the important folder's (11 that we seem to use) to active (current) and archive (cumulative) backup directory's on a removable USB drive. Have it set up to run nightly at 1 am or during start-up if the system was off.

Not exactly the solution you're looking for, but it's fast, free, and easy to set up.

 

[tropic]

I'm normally not a fan of utilities with alpha-blended shiny-icon GUI's, but a mainstream disk imaging program like Ghost will work well in this situation. Just store an HDD image of your system drive on an external drive, and schedule Ghost to make regular backups of your user files to that same external. When your system HDD finally dies or you accidentally delete half your OS (or accidentally save over an important document), you're covered.

A RAID1 array is nice to have, but it doesn't help much in the event of a user error, virus/nephew attack, or software install gone wrong. You just end up with two pristine copies of the same mess.

A freeware program like Karen's Replicator might be all you need if you're just looking to backup your user data. Set up a replication task, and new or changed files are copied to an external drive, network share, etc., on your specified schedule without even popping up a window to bother you.

 

[firemachine69]

I used to love Ghost on my Norton's System Works 2001 (last GOOD version of that particular A/V). Come to think of it, I think I saw it packed away last week. Nice!