Re: OT: Hardware speed gen. Q. ?

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You're just looking to argue and not discuss anything. I could go thru
and point by point everything you said but it's not worth that much
effort to me.

I will add a few inlines though, just in case a crack appears in your
closed mind:


....

1. IMO externals SHOULD be connected and up anytime the computer is
ON.

That's your opinion. And in light of the dozens of incidents I've
experienced with what you suggest, it's a bad one.

It's an excellent one, in view of the fact that a backup may occur at
any time in addition to scheduled backups. What you're really objecting
to is an opinion different from your own.


2. Backups can be scheduled; because it's an external drive makes
zero difference to the schedulers that run the backups.

Are you reminding yourself of the obvious?

No, because if you'll reread what you wrote, you said that.


3. Backups should seldom be MANUAL! My backup app peforms ALL backup
functions, including monitoring for a data increase in excess of over
250 Meg on any drive, and runs an incremental whenever that happens.

Did anyone state they should be manual? Read my post a little closer
and you'll find out.

Yes, you did.


4. In an almost ideal situation, backups are never wasting space on
any internal drive. Backup drives should be large enough to contain
multiple copies of backups in case one happens to include some sort
of malware.

Yes, that's why I have 3 internal drives. Do you just like seeing
your thoughts?

No, the internal drive for backups is buying you very little. Dual
external drives are much better and just as easily managed for those
with the experience. e.g. never connect both at the same time; power
AND data are traded from one to other. One goes bad? Easy to
replace/repair since no need to open the case.
As for seeing my thoughts, I do occasionally find responses such as
this one comedic, often in what they leave out, since the
internal/external seems to be the total extent of your "protection".



5. In an almost ideal situation, there are multiple external drives
or a dedicated housing for external drives. Drives are switched
in/out on a predetermined schedule. Drives not on duty are powered
down and physically disconnected while they are idle and only the
needed drive is powered and physically connected. All automated.
User never does anything about backups; it's done for them.

And you're not describing 99% of any single user.

Did I say I was describing 99%? No, I didn't.
And I still stand with automation is the only good way; where you
indicate so many problems with manual operations. Manual is out, auto
is in. You need to go thru some best practices IMO.

For this
workstation, I have 3 internal drives and 3 USB drives. Who are you
preaching to
again?

I don't preach; I suggest that you are only partially protected and that
part of what you are doing is more of a waste of space than it is
protection. You can even often find externals for less than the cost of
internals, interestingly enough. Who ever said marketing made sense?


6. Anyone in charge of backups who doesn't monitor the state of the
backups OFTEN shouldn't be in charge of them. Anyone making people
perform manual backups is asking for trouble no matter how you look
at it, if their data is really "irreplaceable" AND of great
imortance to them. I have a lot of "irreplaceable" data backed up,
not all of it critical though. In fact, some of it I'd never miss,
but it still couldn't be replaced. Backups need to be constantly
verified at least visually and periodically by testing.

Stating what has already been stated.

But not by you.




I will continue to offer what I think is best to the client and let
them choose. Almost every individual client has opted for the
additional internal drive when the pros and cons of both have been
presented. That's why networks store info off the workstations and
use tape backups to minimize human error.

If you're giving that advice to clients, you are short-changing them.
Tape backups are nothing but removable media, which in more up to
date sysems is now changed to DVD media.

I'm sorry, do you admin ANY networks? You have no idea what you are
talking about. Tape can store upwards to 800 gig of data. What are
you talking about using DVD's! AND back up at a rate that even hard
drives can't achieve. One of the most common on my networks is the
Ultrium 3. Read and learn:
http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/storage/tape/oem/t800v/specifications.html
and then talk about your DVD's.

It's your problem if you want to lump home/company LANs together.
You're being silly here and besides, it's something you don't do for
yourself you intimated, so ...


Read the 2nd paragraph below. That user had an external drive. Did
he ever use it? Unfortunately, no. When he had a Windows laptop,
whenever he was onsite our backup implementation performed the
backup for him. Now he's offsite more than onsite, and it was left
up to him.

Bad policy. If that's an employee, he needs to be reprimanded and
warned, with a follow-thru. The laptop belongs to the company, not
the employee in any kind of situation that makes sense. And the
company can require anything they please of it.

Again, you didn't read it. He is the OWNER of the company.

I don't see that in any way in the quote you provided though.

So? Then when I said "if it's an employee" he's covered, right? If
it's the owner and he's a client, then he's even more stupid for not
following at least the mediocre advice you provided him. Or, maybe he
knows it was mediocre.


Actually IME most travel machines are used for nothing but e-mail,
demoes and shows anyway, not to carry important data. Training
needs to be part of the plan; not a few verbal requests.

Again, you don't admin networks.

Did I say I did? I do, but I didn't say I did. Each is much more
secure than anything you described with your own situation. One client
uses a firesafe on premises because he has no other alternatives he
thinks, and the other two have bank boxes they use for their tapes in
one situation, DVDs in the other one. It takes a pretty decent sized
LAN before data occupies very many DVDs as a rule. If you're backing up
the OS and data at the same time, you're highly likely wasting space
again.

Laptop users carry EVERYTHING with
them. I implement BExec DLO on every laptop and it constantly
monitors changes while onsite. Exchange handles the email.

And ... ? Laptops are special animals and require different
considerations than on-premises machines that are always-connected,
wired or over the air.



You can't do anything about backups for anyone you have no control
over. But you sure can for the ones you do. And your own, of course.

HTH,

Twayne`


No, when you admin a network, the onus is on you. I took it
personally when the drive died. Even though I tried to meet with
him, emailed him, I still felt partially responsible.

lol, NO idea what that's about, but anyway ...

That's good; and as it should be. If you're admin to a network, it's
health is your responsibility. But you can't seem to keep track of
whether you're talking about your own machine or some fictitious network
in a company.

I don't intend to indulge you further on this. You're out to argue, not
discuss or present a differenvce of opinion. Everything you state you
seem to feel is fact and that's wrong.

Enjoy.






Terry R.



.

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