Q's about my rig- Backups

[Mehta23]

Quick search on Amazon shows it to be £40.

Is it worth it over the G500? (I was thinking £40 for a mouse is too much, but the G500 price isn't getting my lower)

 

[EVGA_RobB]

I like my Razer products as well. I am still using a Razer Copperhead (well over 5 years old!). Though I'll be upgrading to a Taipan soon.

 

[Mehta23]

Right. Next problem:

When in chrome, if I have try to switch to another tab, nothing happens. The url in the omnibox changes, and nothing else.

 

[Mehta23]

Anyone?

Also, I'm looking for a backup drive. Just for windows backups and somewhere to store my photos.

500gb sound like enough,?

 

[Slug]

I'm looking for a backup drive. Just for windows backups and somewhere to store my photos.

500gb sound like enough,?

How large is your photo collection likely to be, and how many backups do you plan on storing simultaneously? I'd also strongly suggest a remote backup solution such as a NAS box or external hard disk rather than another internal drive, for added security. A serious problem with your PC could nuke an internal backup drive.

 

[Mehta23]

I'm not really sure how big it is...

I have a 64GB sd card full of stuff that needs to be backed up.
Same with a 16GB.
And a few gbs off my phone.

This will continue to grow of course.

Also windows backups... They're aat least 32GB. Only need one every few months...

500 sounds like enough to me, but of course a 1TB gives better value...

 

[Mehta23]

Too many questions...

But I can often hear a sort of clicking sound from my PC, I think from the PSU. Last time I tried taking it out and clearing it out, but obviously it didnt do anything. I also found that giving a short sharp tap stopped it temporarily.

 

[Slug]

windows backups... They're at least 32GB. Only need one every few months...

And what happens to your data if you suffer a drive failure between backups?

I'd strongly recommend monthly full backups, with (as a minimum) weekly incremental ones to backup any changes between them. If you are using your PC for school/college work, or for business, you might even want to make it a weekly/daily set. It really depends on (a) how important the data is to you and (b) how much inconvenience you'd suffer if you lost it.

 

[Mehta23]

I've never thought about it like that.

Might change to monthly backups.. And instant backups of pictures... Once on hdd from the sd, and then another onto the external. Maybe again on the cloud...

Quite a lot of the data is games. As long as I had my save game data saved, I wouldn't mind having to re download everything.

Pictures... Kinda need them to be backed up securely.

I have 50GB on box... But I recall something about it wouldn't let me bulk upload pictures....Any ideas if this is the same now?

 

[Slug]

instant backups of pictures... Once on hdd from the sd, and then another onto the external. Maybe again on the cloud...

My own are imported from camera memory card to PC, where I do all the post-processing in Lightroom. I use SyncToy, scheduled hourly, to mirror the local library and associated database to my NAS box next door, and a daily cron job on that mirrors everything onto an external drive. This is rotated regularly with an identical drive left at an offsite location. The Lightroom database, containing all my adjustments, is also backed up daily to two separate cloud services.... yeah, I'm paranoid.

 

[Mehta23]

I feel slightly stupid and at risk of losing valuable data now :-\

My reward - if i get good marks in my recent exams - is an external HDD. Until then it looks like I'll have to use the cloud.

 

[alostpacket]

You can also use something like CrashPlan, Google Drive, Dropbox.

I have Crashplan set to backup to my NAS and to "the cloud" - though I pay for some of the cloud stuff, it's pretty cheap. You can also backup to a friend's computer using crashplan for free.

 

[Speed Daemon]

I feel slightly stupid and at risk of losing valuable data now :-\

My reward - if i get good marks in my recent exams - is an external HDD. Until then it looks like I'll have to use the cloud.

By all means do keep your data backed up one way or another! If you can save some key files to optical media (like DVD-RW) or inexpensive flash drives. Do that first, because backing up to a "cloud" will take a long time. It took me about a month to get my first full backup of the 170GiB of files that I consider important enough to use physical diversity backups for. Most people have more than a GiB or two of files, if you include stuff like music, photos and videos, that are irreplaceable and should be backed up not only to a separate drive, but to a separate location. So if, God forbid, your house burns down, you'll have your most treasured digital stuff. Or if you have a laptop, tablet or some other portable that can get stolen or damaged beyond repair, you'd want a copy of everything safe at home.

I keep my files synced between two computers at home, and back up to a remote computer that I have an account on, and a "cloud" service. I use the "free" music/photo/etc. file sharing services to share, but not for backup! If you read the fine print, you'll find that what you get back from many of these "free" sites will not be the same quality as what you put in. Don't risk your valuable media files by using a "free" website alone!

I'm a TiVo user, and when I travel I save a bunch of my TiVo videos in unencrypted MPEG2 format to a 500GB portable USB drive and/or onto my laptop. That worked so well that I bought a larger 2TB USB drive that can hold all of my latest backups, and a whole lot of movies and TV shows. My mother is getting to the age that she's having falls and other problems, so if the phone rings, I can grab the big 2TB USB drive and just go, knowing that I have enough video to pass my time for quite a while.

Something that you might consider doing is getting an external drive enclosure with a bare SATA HD instead of one of the pre-made USB drives with "no user serviceable parts inside". Doing it this way can save you some money, and gives you the ability to swap drives. So if you can only afford 1TB now, you can buy a larger drive for it later, and use the original HD to keep your most important files in a safe deposit box, for example.

This may seem to be a lot of work, but as more and more of our precious things become digital files, they should be protected with the same care that other possessions are kept.

 

[Mehta23]

Thanks!

I did think about just getting another hdd, and then putting that in my rig for backups and removing it otherwise.

I like the idea of the enclosure thingy. I'll have a look for one.

Also - WD500GB usb 4 for £40? Or a Sammy 1tb usb 4 £60

 

[Speed Daemon]

I did think about just getting another hdd, and then putting that in my rig for backups and removing it otherwise.

I like the idea of the enclosure thingy. I'll have a look for one.

IMHO it's well worth looking into. I've had several over the years, and my current one has USB and IEEE-1394b (a.k.a. "FireWire 800") connectors. I use the fast IEEE-1394 interface on my computers at home, and still have the USB option for computers without IEEE-1394 ports. Using the 1934b interface, it's as fast as my internal drives. And I can use it to examine what's on my growing collection of 1 and 2TB HDs without having to shut down and open up my computer, or having to hunt for a SATA cable.

Another thing that I like about a DIY external HD is that I can buy a better performing 7200 RPM HD instead of having to use the often cheap and slow 5400 RPM drives in pre-made USB drives.

Also - WD500GB usb 4 for £40? Or a Sammy 1tb usb 4 £60

USB 4? I'm not aware of anything more than USB 3.0.

My rule is that there's no such thing as too much storage capacity. I have a small USB powered 500GB USB drive that I use with my laptop. Not having a separate power cord makes it more convenient when I'm in a hotel room with a limited number of outlets.

I'm not a big WD fan. Back in the mid to late '90s they had a big reliability problem. I noticed that Seagate SCSI drives were the only brand used in the data centers that I worked in, and have been happy buying Seagate ever since. I did buy a cheap 1TB WD USB drive, and was disappointed with its performance. The Seagate 2TB USB drive that I replaced it with is far from the best Seagate product that I've owned, but is good enough.

I have zero first-hand experience with other brands. Everything I own with a HD came with either a Seagate or WD drive. I can't find any reason to not recommend Samsung drives, so I'd probably go with it since it's 200% the capacity for only 150% of the price.

 

[Mehta23]

I meant USB 3....Not sure how I hit 4...

I was told that WD are fairly reliable, and nowadays Sea gate isn't so much...

Might order my SSD soon... :-D

 

[Speed Daemon]

I meant USB 3....Not sure how I hit 4...

Good! I thought I was missing something.

I was told that WD are fairly reliable, and nowadays Sea gate isn't so much...

Yeah, I've read the "reviews" on the retailers' websites. Zealotry doesn't impress me.

The earthquake that destroyed their factories in Thailand did put a crimp on their supply chain. But that doesn't necessarily mean that Seagate drives are any worse than they were before. Even if there are some batches of lesser quality while the new factories get things sorted, I'm happy to return them under warranty.

Since the quake I've taken delivery on 5 2TB and 8 3TB Seagate drives, and so far the only difference I can see is that they're all made in Communist China now.

Might order my SSD soon... :-D

Are you going with a single drive?

 

[Mehta23]

I don't know :-$

I think the raid 0 has put me off, but i don't think if 2 separate drives for about £10 more is worth it. I mentioned this in the SSD thread

 

[Speed Daemon]

Oh, I thought that you would be saving money by getting two smaller drives. My bad...

 

[Mehta23]

No. All of the 240gb ones are cheaper than 2 120GB here.

 

[Mehta23]

Also, the Cm hyper 212 is now £23. Worth getting? I may not be overcooking right now, but i guess cooler temps would be good.

The idea of replacing/adding cse fans stopped for reason, but if that is a better idea, then I'm happy to do that.

 

[Speed Daemon]

After many years of enduring the shrill whine of lots of little fans (the 40mm fans in 1RU servers, Cisco routers etc. are the loudest IME), I started buying computer cases that had large, slow-turning 120mm or larger case fans to cut down on the racket.

For the CPU I've been buying fans like the MASSCOOL 8WA743 92mm Long Life CPU Cooler which has an axial flow design like the Hyper 212. The Masscool lives up to its name; it's massive, which is no problem for me and the 4RU rack mount cases that I use. Your Cooler Master pick is nice because it can be installed to blow out towards a vent or exhaust fan. I like that a lot better than top mounted fans where the hot air gets thrown all over the place. You also have the option to replace the fan with one that's quieter or more powerful as needed. All in all I'd say it's a pretty good choice.

 

[Mehta23]

Thanks!

If I were to replace to fan, would something like a Corsair SP do the trick? Would a AF be ok?
I was thinking of getting a AF twin pack for the top of the case. I could replace the rear exhaust and then the one of the CPU cooler

Or both

 

[Speed Daemon]

Don't overdo it now, they're just fans.

The closest I've come to buying boutique name-brand PC fans was when I got some 80mm case fans (back when that was the norm) from PC Power & Cooling that they claimed were especially quiet. I honestly don't know if they made any difference at all.

The big name brands just buy their fans from some OEM in China and slap their labels on them, so I just buy the no-name fans that meet my spec. I kept the fan that came pre-installed in the case that I use for the computer in my bedroom (where I want silence) because it was a lot quieter than the "upgraded" one I bought. This "free" fan has been doing fine for 10 years now.

With all the choices and all the big names selling stuff that's far from the core products that made their names, just to make more money, this is one area where I'm fine with getting what's cheapest.

 

[Mehta23]

They're just fans.... :-D

But, for example, a cosair af is a better fan that the standard cm one in my case....

Is it better to leave the aftermarket CPU cooler for when I am going to oc, or does it not matter?

Still need to get my mouse (still thinking g500) keyboard (was thinking MS Sidewinder X4 but i don't know if that's too expensive) and ma SSD(s)