I was wondering what is the best backup solution?

I was wondering what is the best backup solution? I know about raid and i don't think i will want to do it.
I was thinking about using external harddrives but they seem to be even more expensive than internal, so i don't really have a clue about how to back up a computer now .

Well... You're Going to Call it Overkill But....

Raid 1 with data duplicated on two computers, and all your data double burned onto archival gold DVDs, which you should then store in two different, separate places.

If that's a bit much, you should at least separate your back up files from the machine you're using in case of a meltdown, virus or other plague which might befall you. You should absolutely burn all your precious photo, music, and financial info files to optical media. I always install a second HDD into any of my machines, then store all my data on it and only use the C:/ for the OS or duplicate files that I can afford to lose.

I duplicate my stuff across 2 machines, one of which is always offline. (No RAID though)

Yes that is a little bit more overkill. I dont have anything EXTEAMLY important that i need to protect so that is overkill for me.

So you keep you backup machine off? Does using a computer with a backup drive on it shorten the lifetime of the backup drive even if you don't use it??

RAID is not a backup solution

RAID is not a backup solution; it is a fault tolerance solution, primarily for Server systems, not home users.

ALL Raid systems, even the mirrored raid-1 implementation STILL needs backups.

1- raid tutorial here

2- backup techniques

and you can google for software backup products.

Yeah a fault tolerance system for servers, but with two drives mirrored and one dies... it can be helpfull in data protection can't it? Yes i have backup software its just that they still eat up huge amouts of memory, almost the same amout that mirrored hdd's would take

it may be helpful, but a bad i/o to one (ie corrupted data in memory) and it's
immediately copied to the mirror

as to the volume of information:- that's the subject of differential backups
and selectively protecting something less than the full disk (user data)

Oh well can't you just occasionally RAID another harddrive?
Like disable one hard drive and then every once in a while, RAID it again, sorta like an incremental backup?
That should also ensure that at least one harddrive is used significantly less than the other.

1- *IF* you implement RAID-1 ...

2- AND you have the hotswap feature (meaning a SCSI controller, not the MOBO version for IDE), -- you could do this

3- it's still not a backup strategy

Those are pretty big ifs..........
and thats sorta why i posted this thread.

not really. those are the requirements to enable/disable part of a mirror and take it
offline SUCCESSFULLY.

the hotswap feature will (of necessity) also include bring the drive into sync with the
other dirve of the mirror.

w/o hotswap, guess what? you need a backup to restore the mirror.

ok so raid is ALMOST useless for data protection or back up, i probably won't raid anyway.

So... do you think i should use backup software?

I think all i will be backing up is probably just my OS's because i don't exactly have anything else. I want to backup my OS just because i have alot of data and modifications on my OS's and it would be a MAJOR pain to get it back, especially since i have to record of exactly what i did.

Thats sorta complicated. Just know that i have only select parts of my harddrive to backup, its easier this way lol.

Were do you think i should put my backup files?

frankly, I feel this is the only reasonable choice for home users

that's a google search issue; I would re-read http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic54667.html#2 and then search for software that
can perform differential backups

If you're a developer -- I guess so. Normally, recovering from a crashed HD starts with an OS reinstall (not a backup-restore).

there are some well known locations:
\documents & settings\your-login-id\ has your user DATA
\windows has the OS itself (but you also need the files in C:\ )
the registry is inside \windows\system32\config

CD/RW or DVD/RW

ok well yes i do have backup software that supports windows OS and manual and stuff.

Well...ok can't i just reinstall the original OS first then perform a complete backup?

Are a couple DVD's enough?!?! anyway don't cds sorta stop working after a while?

LOL, Ive read soo much about RAID and how it works and what Leo Laporte the king of all gurus thinks about it, and the bottom line is. It does absolutely nothing. I don't want to get into detail but. Your better of with drives not chained and daisy linked. Im 30 now and @ 17 went to MT. Sierra College and got Novell certification and was tutor and built up resume in short period of time and worked for such companies and Country Wide , and Sun America , Gas Company ,, here in Los Angeles. Anyhow I wan't to help this guy as I know just about 98 percent of people are concerned with this, as soo am I being a musician composer.

You use drive C as your OS and apps, and your other drive, external not recommend as they lose data over time and copy over your documents folder which contains everything if you were smart and put your music and docs and videos and stuff in there. Then you can copy over your bookmarks or file depending on what OS you use Firefox or Internet Explorer. Also you go deep into your folders you can find your OE address book or whatever client. Copy all that over in your other drive.

Also make your net cache go into the other drive as you keep C clean for OS and apps. Something like this if Im making any sense. However back to the question @ hand.

The best source for backup, after all u read above is a NON movable device.

Meaning NOT hds and not external their the worst. You need it on a media, either a flash drive, Wait for the 64GB version and DVD , However you must not scratch that DVD and keep it in a case and take care of it. It is a non movable media and therefore will last your entire life time. BTW We also did HDDS business with my old man, hard drive data savers,, Soo I sorta know what Im saying LOLz ,,

Burn it on DVD , and put it on a flash drive that you dont carry with you. If it drops your a dead man, soo once again as you took care of your DVD and put it in a case and left it alone, same thing with flash drive. Be gentle... GL, and youll never have problems no will anyone else here! thank you and God Bless !!!

The CHEAPEST (but slowest) way to backup is burn cd/dvd's.,but easiest is another hard drive (internal or external) It depends on 1. What computer? 2.What OS? 3. How much are you backing up? Prices are falling tremendously! I bought 320gb external thru Best Buy in Dec. $95 tax incl. Check Tiger,Newegg. Good Luck! DJ

Yes, first reinstall the OS and then restore the DATA portion from one of the backups. I'm a doubting
Thomas that one can restore the OS portion correctly.
First, you need to boot from alternative media (say a CD) and run the restore
from there. Note the conflict ont CD; needed for boot and then needed for backup data.
After that's solved, here's the kicker; those darn GUIDs for the components all over the
registry. Personally, I fear the restore over \windows would just corrupt everything.
I'll open another thread on the subject and post the ID back to you for review.

CDs and DVDs are far better that flash drives and have a theoretical
life time of forever. I backup to an external USB HD and it's been very faithful.

Ad Nauseum....... (or) Forward into Oblivion.....

First, flash drives fail frequently, personally I wouldn't even consider one for long term storage.

Second, magnetic storage (such as HDDs, video & audio tape) can be affected by magnetic fields. I guess it's a little absurd, but make sure you don't run the vacuum cleaner next to your backup HDD. It was claimed that video tape was prone to "self erasure", but VHS looked so bad in the first place, how could you tell.

Photographers tend to suffer from paranoid delusions of creating s*** that is worth preserving for a thousand years or more. To that end, these DVDs have been created: http://www.delkin.com/shop/home.php?cat=62

So, should you want to view a photo of Granny in her coffin, those Gold DVD thingys would positively be the way to go.

One caveat; put a DVD player in your time capsule since you might not be able to buy one in 50 years. Well, you almost certainly won't be able to buy one.

New Years Resolution to self; Stop asking stupid questions about backup software that stores the "backup copy" on the same HDD. Any back-up solution needs to be stored out of, and away from the machine in question. Anything less is tantamount to throwing your money away, or allowing a software manufacturer to steal it from you.

Excellent resolution, Captain !

yes, no, maybe. Recall "There's no such thing as a dumb question, just dumb answers"

This is the jaundice view problem of the teacher / expert; it's far too easy to loose
the appreciation for the naive user who as not the same level of experience.
If the student can't ask questions openly without reprisals, then learning will soon
stop!

(this happened in a calculus class of 30; by midterm there were only 20 of us left
and fewer that a dozen got passing grades on the finals.)

I use an external hard drive with Norton Ghost to back up my online business. I was told that this would allow me to quickly get back up and running should my main PC's drive ever fail and I needed to buy a new PC with nothing on it. Have not had to use it yet, but it seems like a good solution (unless the external hard drive also fails...)