Backing up files, DVDRW or another hard drive on RAID1? Anti virus?

[mabromley]

Hello all. I've been ordering my new computer this week. Heres what I got so far

A64 2Gb CPU
ASUS K8V SE deluxe
ASUS V9999 6800 256mb ultra GPU
2x 1gb crucial non parity DDR PC3200 ram
Western digital raptor 36.7gb hard drive
Sound blaster audigy 2 ZS
Windows XP

Basically I'm stuck on what to do for back up. I've been using a CDRW for the past year but too many CDs is annoying. For anti virus I am currently using freeware with grisoft.com (AVG).

I remember my friend telling me about a DVDRW program that makes a copy of your hard drive and you can just refer back to that in windows XP. I've been using windows98 for the past 4 years so really don't know much about it. Does anyone know what its called and do they recommend it?

My other option is to try this RAID1 and buy another raptor to copy everything to and get myself the best anti-virus software avail but then theres always the unknown with viruses and someones sure to come up with a new one to blow 3years of stuth away. So please what does everyon else do for backup and anti virus software these days?

Cheers

 

[DaveSimmons]

RAID1 by itself is a lousy backup strategy for anything you want to keep more than a day. As you say a virus, worm, trojan could destroy your data, and so could a RAID controller / motherboard problem, power supply failure, or theft. Finally it offers zero protection against human error like writing over or deleting an important file.

DVDs store 4.3 GB of data, so you should be able to backups as often as you do now while creating 1/6 the number of discs.

Another nice thing about using DVD-Rs and CD-Rs is that you keep multiple backups and multiple versions of files that you change, so one bad disk doesn't mean losing all of your files.

I prefer backing up data as just normal files using your burner software rather than using a special program, since then the DVD-R is self-contained and you can restore any one file just using WIndows Explorer.

If you want to back up the Windows OS itself, you'd want an "image" making program like Acronis True Image or Norton Ghost.

 

[oneshot47]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
RAID1 by itself is a lousy backup strategy for anything you want to keep more than a day.

Thats mostly because Raid1 isn't meant as an alternative to back ups, its for redundance in case a hard drive physically goes bad. There is no substitue for backing things up. Ive developed a system where i keep important documents and such on a flash drive and i have a backup of a good initial install of everything important if i should ever need it. Thats in addition to the raid1 array.

 

[mabromley]

That flash sounds good for drivers, programs etc. What make do you recommend oneshot? I see some 1gb USB2 versions around by kingmax? For mp3s I cant make my mind up. Either a DVDRW or IPOD. Hmmm

 

[oneshot47]

Originally posted by: mabromley
That flash sounds good for drivers, programs etc. What make do you recommend oneshot? I see some 1gb USB2 versions around by kingmax? For mp3s I cant make my mind up. Either a DVDRW or IPOD. Hmmm

I use a sandisk cruzer (i think thats what its called) but they only go up to 512MB. As long as its usb2 it should be alright. Between the dvdrw and an ipod....id say get an ipod if you think youll listen to music a lot on it, and get the dvd if you plan on writing a lot of dvds. Obviously one is more expensive than the other too.

 

[Tostada]

Not backup related, but I think you should know that Raptor 36's are a waste of money these days. Current 7200RPM drives are just as fast (Hitachis are faster in most things), and you'll get a lot more space.

Raptors kick ass, but the Raptor 36 just doesn't make sense. Either get the Raptor 74 (which is much faster than the 36) or get a Seagate/Hitachi 8MB 7200RPM drive.

 

[zerodeefex]

ghost 8 your drive and use high compression. I can usually fit 20 GB + of data onto a 4.7 GB image then

 

[mabromley]

I've got a 20gb hard drive in my old comp right now and I've only ever used 10gb of that. Basically I don't have cable to download the big files. I figure I'll maybe get about 4gb of mp3s & 4GB of photos at the most over the next 3 years so even though its a waste of money I'm not really bothered. Thanks for the advice anyway.

As for backup choice I did some more looking last night and found something cheaper than flash but still USB and doesn't require a battery. Has anyone ever used one of these?

The more I look at it the more I think I probably just wouldn't use the IPOD as an mp3 player though as I listen to music on my comp or in the car and thats about it. So for all my important backup files I'm gonna go with one of these USB hard drives but not sure which one to go for. Gonna have another look tonight unless someone else has already got one and can recommend right now?

Look at the specs of these things though 20-40gb, no battery, really small, under 200 quid. That market is about ready to explode IMHO.

I want one