My New External Backup System
Always eager to enhance system backup regimens, I'm taking a new approach. Previously, my backup system was a spare hard drive in each computer where I would weekly backup each computer's entire contents using Symantec Ghost. The Ghosted hard drives have saved my bacon many times over the years as I'm a tweaker and overclocker. When I was a Win98/RAID 0 setup fan, the backup drives earned their weight in gold. Knowing the potential vulnerability of having the backup hardware integral to the computer it backs up, I'm trying something new now.
I bought an external multi-interface hard drive enclosure this weekend from CompUSA. Mini review:
- IEEE 1394 Firewire Interface
- USB 2.0 Interface (backwards compatible with USB 1)
- Good quality construction and craftsmanship -- brushed aluminum housing (front and back plates); large, good quality thumbscrews.
- LED indicators for disk activity. LED panels under mesh that alternate between red, green, blue, and yellow.
- 80pin internal hard drive connector
Instruction manual, enclosure, hardware, USB 2.0 cable, IEEE 1394 cable, and clear plastic stand were included with CompUSA's package.
The aluminum panels encase the hard drive snuggly. The hard drive does not shift at all. The enclosure can be used in the horizontal or upright position. The aluminum panels provide excellent cooling; hard drive heat radiates directly into the the panels. The large surface areas ensure the alumimun's heat bleeds off into the air. Relatively quiet operation - guess this would depend largely on the make and model of drive mounted in the housing. USB 2.0 and Fireware disk operations are very good, but of course, not as fast as IDE.
I've mounted a 200GB Seagate 7200/8MB drive in the enclosure. It's easy to use. For backup operations in DOS, you have to be sure that USB is turned on the BIOS and that GHOST is instructed to load USB/Fireware drivers in DOS.
Only problem so far, which is my problem - not the device's, is that I haven't been able to back up a remote computer over the network (home LAN via 4-port D-Link router).
I think my backups are now more secure, now that I can shut off the backup drive and remove it from power connections.
I bought an external multi-interface hard drive enclosure this weekend from CompUSA. Mini review:
- IEEE 1394 Firewire Interface
- USB 2.0 Interface (backwards compatible with USB 1)
- Good quality construction and craftsmanship -- brushed aluminum housing (front and back plates); large, good quality thumbscrews.
- LED indicators for disk activity. LED panels under mesh that alternate between red, green, blue, and yellow.
- 80pin internal hard drive connector
Instruction manual, enclosure, hardware, USB 2.0 cable, IEEE 1394 cable, and clear plastic stand were included with CompUSA's package.
The aluminum panels encase the hard drive snuggly. The hard drive does not shift at all. The enclosure can be used in the horizontal or upright position. The aluminum panels provide excellent cooling; hard drive heat radiates directly into the the panels. The large surface areas ensure the alumimun's heat bleeds off into the air. Relatively quiet operation - guess this would depend largely on the make and model of drive mounted in the housing. USB 2.0 and Fireware disk operations are very good, but of course, not as fast as IDE.
I've mounted a 200GB Seagate 7200/8MB drive in the enclosure. It's easy to use. For backup operations in DOS, you have to be sure that USB is turned on the BIOS and that GHOST is instructed to load USB/Fireware drivers in DOS.
Only problem so far, which is my problem - not the device's, is that I haven't been able to back up a remote computer over the network (home LAN via 4-port D-Link router).
I think my backups are now more secure, now that I can shut off the backup drive and remove it from power connections.
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