I second Adam's advice. He mentions "the O'reilly book", but means "Unix Backup and Recovery". This book is an _excelent_ read for anyone doing _anything_ with backups _at all_ (i.e, if you're in charge of backups, read it _immediately_; if you're only incharge of doing restores and piddly backup stuff, read it _ASAP_). The author goes into great detail about implementing backup solutions and disaster recovery plans (even how to write a proposal so good that your boss or company's accountant can't say no! :). Gabe On Tue, Jul 18, 2000 at 04:43:39PM -0500, Adam Maloney wrote: > hard drives for backup != backup solution... > > You're just asking to get burned, there's too many "what-ifs" to list. > Tape may be slow, but the shelf-life is unbeeatable and the cost is pretty > low for what you get. > > If your company relies on this data, you need to start talking about > off-site storage, nightly, weekly, and monthly backups, a real solution. > IMHO, if you feel the data is important enough to back up then you > probably should use tape and have some sort of off-site storage. > > Management is usually pretty open to spending some cash if you can prove > how important the data is. Normally the time lost recreating the lost > data is more expensive then the cost of the tape drive and tapes. > > The selection for a drive depends on how much data you have to back up. I > hate Travan, but it's probably the cheapest solution if you're talking > about < 1Gb. I've been quite happy with DLT if you need many Gb. If you > need lots of space you can get a Quantum ALT changer that can do more than > 500Gb natively for ~ $10,000 (L500). They also have the P-1000 that can > do about twice that. www.atlp.com > > Don't forget - according to the O'reilly book, if the cost for the tapes > doesn't cost more than the drive, you're doing something wrong! > > Also, Amanda is your friend. She's also a Vietnamese prostitute that goes > by "Ming Lee"... > > Adam Maloney > Systems Administrator > Sihope Communications > > On Tue, 18 Jul 2000 rgoldber at d.umn.edu wrote: > > > Hello! > > > > I'm building a file/print server. I'd like your thoughts. > > > > The network (as of right now) consists of 10-12 win98 machines plus one > > linux backup machine. Right now the database for the key client app (and a > > bunch of other important stuff) sits on one of the win98 machines. Ick. > > Before I put the linux machine in (a p75 with 32mb, found in a closet), > > they were depending on a guy switching out zip disks everyday. Ick. The > > linux machine rsyncs the current file "server" every night, plus once a > > week, so we can go back in time. If the "server" fails, the backup machine > > easily subs for it till things are righted, losing at most the day's work. > > Not good, but better than trying to restore a borken machine from zips, > > losing the same amount of work. > > > > I go into detail about the backup machine because I'm thinking of using it > > instead of a tape drive. Anyhoo, here's my plan: > > > > New dedicated file/print server (running linux, duh) > > > > pIII 450-600 > > 128mb ram > > asus p3bf or abit bf6 > > 2-4 quantum fireball 10.2g LM series (ide) > > 3ware ide raid card (2 or 4 port, doing raid 1) > > dual hot swap power supply > > maybe a tape drive > > > > I somewhat expect to be beaten severely for using "ide" and "raid" in the > > same sentence but... Does anybody have any hands on experience with > > 3ware's cards? The sales rep put me in contact with a couple of people who > > really like them... > > > > This is a dusty environment, so I don't trust anything that moves. > > Redundancy is more important than performance. So, raid 1, hot swap power > > supplies, I feel warm and fuzzy like. > > > > What I'm most interested in hearing about is how stupid/smart it is to use > > the junker backup machine as an alternative to a tape drive. Secondly, if > > it's really stupid, I'd like some suggestions for sub $1000 tape > > drives. Of course, all other pointers will be appreciated. > > > > This email turned out really long, sorry. > > > > Thanks in advance! > > > > - > > > > Ryan > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe, e-mail: tclug-list-unsubscribe at mn-linux.org > > For additional commands, e-mail: tclug-list-help at mn-linux.org > > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: tclug-list-unsubscribe at mn-linux.org > For additional commands, e-mail: tclug-list-help at mn-linux.org -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gabe Turner X-President, ACM @ U of MN dopp at acm.cs.umn.edu "I'm gonna hit ya, and you're gonna fall. And I'm gonna look down, and I'm gonna laugh." - Ren Hoek in "Sven Hoek" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: tclug-list-unsubscribe at mn-linux.org For additional commands, e-mail: tclug-list-help at mn-linux.org