Storage/backup questions

[TheoPetro]

1) I have 2 1.5TB drives that will be going into my desktop now that my raptor has died. Is there any point to partitioning them?

2) How do I set them to backup completely nightly so if one goes down I can just plug the other in and be fine? Is this imaging the drive?

3) Is there software out there I can use to backup my laptop to an external drive that I have to initiate? If the laptop HDD dies I need to be able to copy the backup drive to a new laptop drive and be able to plug it in and go.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[yh125d]

Why not mirror them? saves the trouble of frequent backups when technically it's an updated backup every time any modification is made. You'll also get improved read speeds

 

[Blain]

1. yes
2. use drive a cloning application... yes
3. yes

 

[TheoPetro]

Will Acronis home (http://www.acronis.com/homecom...g/products/trueimage/) do this for me?