Mirror Mirror

[Rick Stevens]

Scott Mertens wrote:
(mucho stuff deleted)
>>NOTE:  A RAID system is NOT a replacement for devising (and using) a
>>good backup strategy.  RAID helps your machine survive hardware faults.
>>Backups will save your sanity--even if it's something as stupid as "Oh,
>>sh*t!  I didn't mean to delete THAT file!"
> 
> 
> Great info.  I may be going overboard for a home network, however I have
> suffered 2 critical failures in the last 5 years that have cost me
> greatly.  3 years ago home struck by lightning, charge entered through
> modem and fried my PC.  and a HD failure that was not backed up.  Since
> I run a business from my home now I can't afford the downtime.
> 
> I use ghost on two laptops and one desktop that belong to wife and kids
> using Windz.  It to has it's limitations.  In case of failure mostly I
> have to restore to the same machine or very similar hardware for it to
> work. I have taught everyone to save data on their win machines to the
> My Docs folder and once a night a script backs those folders to a
> network drive.  So worst case I have to reinstall software, but data is
> always in 2 places.  So just kind of looking for the same redundancy for
> the new Linux box as I am learning about it.
> 
> I'm not sure but someone told me Ghost cam image a Linux box as well.
> Not sure how to accomplish this as Ghost is a Windows program?  Maybe
> must have dual boot set up, boot to win and run Ghost on the linux
> partition? Or somehow share the Linux HD and pull the image across the
> wire at night? Don't know may have to research some more.

Ghost will image a Linux drive (well, at least Ghost 2002 and later
will).  We use it on occasion.  We boot off the CD and run it from
there.  There are other "cloners", too (Ultimate Boot CD, Paragon
Drive Backup, etc.).

In a physical catastrophe (tornado, volcano, or something we have
to worry about in Southern California--earthquakes), no amount of RAID
is going to save you.  If the machine (and drives) are destroyed,
they're gone.  RAID only allows your machine to survive hardware 
failures on the drives.  Backups are the only safety net you have--and
I mean off-site backups.  It does you no good to have the backup tapes
sitting next to the machine that was just destroyed.  Back up to tape
and mail the tape to where the chance of the disaster won't affect it.

On a more local scale, you CAN do a "data vault".  Go get yourself a
small UPS, a machine you can use as the backup server, a wireless card
or access point, and small safe big enough to hold it all.  Put the
UPS, backup machine and wireless connection into the fire safe with just
the antenna and the UPS power cord sticking out.  You'll have to provide
some ventilation so the machine doesn't overheat, but there are safes
that provide that and still are fire rated.  Anyway, that's your
"data vault".

I actually have such a setup at home, but I use something called a "gun
safe".  There's no guns in it...it's just tall and not too deep so it
fits in a closet.  My backup system is in it along with some important
papers that are more convenient to have at home than in my safety
deposit box.

Put a wireless card into your main machine.  Have your main machine push
rsync data to the backup machine over the wireless.  The backup machine
(vault) has no physical connection between it and any other machine in
your home, nor is it directly connected to the wiring in your house.
The backup machine is in a safe so it's fairly impervious to physical
damage.

If you use 128- or 256-bit WEP encoding on the wireless and don't
broadcast the ESSID, you'll be reasonably safe.  You can have the backup
machine publish Samba shares so the Windows machines can back up to it,
as well.

Note that this will back up the files.  It won't produce a bootable disk
for the destroyed machine, however, so you'd have to reinstall the OS
and recover the data files from the backup machine.

This may be overkill, but this "vault" can be set up for about $2000
and will serve you very well.  It would also be deductible from your
taxes and would prove to any I.R.S. agent that you take your home-based
business very seriously indeed.
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- Rick Stevens, Senior Systems Engineer     rstevens at vitalstream.com -
- VitalStream, Inc.                       http://www.vitalstream.com -
-                                                                    -
-           What is a "free" gift?  Aren't all gifts free?           -
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