Can I add another HD as a backup?

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Originally Posted By: jeffreydbrown
Besides, the value of your PC is irrelevant to the amount you invest in your backup scheme. The value of your data is a more appropriate yardstick. Any PC is cheap compared to the value of the data you're protecting.


This is a good way of thinking about it. All the pictures/videos/documents we back up to our USB external are priceless compared to the machines they are stored on.

FWIW we use (as stated) a USB external harddrive and have a batch file run once nightly that backs up our user folders to the drive. No clunky software needed - fast, dependable and easy.
 
So, I can still use the 1.0 port with a 2.0 HD, it will be just a little, or a lot, slower? I'm not worried about that, that new HD I put in it along with maxing out the RAM has made a ton of difference. I just want it to store files and will not be using it as a primary.
 
It will be quite a bit slower, but who cares since it is for backup/storage.

If it was me, I'd spend the extra $20 and get a USB 2.0 card just because I'm one to have to sit in front of the screen to make sure all was done..
crazy2.gif


Another thing I do is for photos back them up to a USB harddrive, another SATA harddrive in my main computer and then DVD. That way there is very little chance I'll loose anything.

Take care, Bill
 
OK, going with external. Any particular one for around 100 bucks? Now one more question, if I get the upgrade, will that particular one work on my computer? Also, I've noticed some external HD's don't need a power source, power coming from the USB port. Does that particular USB 2.0 have power to it? Brethren, I apologize, totally lost here and the more I get closer to ordering something, the more questions I find. So,
external HD with power OR external HD w/o power assuming the new USB 2.0 card would supply power via the cable? OR screw it, buy one with it's own power supply because I don't know if the future computer will have that with it??????????????????????????????????????
 
Most of the 2.5 inch drives will run off the USB bus. Some (most) of the 3.5" will come with a external power supply (I have seen some use a y USB cable to draw power from 2 USB ports for power)

For around $100 to $120 I'd say a 500gig 3.5 drive.

Here are 2.

Seagate

Western Digital

I don't think there is any reason to buy a 2.5" drive (I have one but for backing up photos taken while on vacation from the laptop) all of my external 3.5" drives I've made using enclosures and IDE or SATA drives.

For now, just get the drive and see how you like it. It will work fine and back up whatever is on the main computer with ease.

*IF* you need to speed it up (and that is the only thing you will get) then get a card.

Either of those 2 above are good units. The seagate does have a 5 year warranty where the WD has a year. For the $10 bucks I'd get with the seagate.

Also, Maxtor is a seagate company now. So most Maxtors will have a 5 year warranty.

I've only had one drive fail (and have a few over the years) and it was a Western Digital. That was a long time ago.

Let me know if you have any other questions!
bill

PS: I've read through some of the reviews on both and man, not very encourging... Like I've said, I've built my own and never an issue.

How big would you need? Let me look around!
 
Thanks for the insight. I think I'll just go with the Cavalry "Pre-formatted" CAUI37200, mentioned earlier. It has an external power requirement, 200G and has received quite a few good reviews. Also like that it has a built in fan. I'm still on the fence post on upgrading the USB's. My wife is going to college and uses a digital voice recorder. When I go to download it to the computer at home to make CD's for her, it takes a LONG time via the USB 1.0 and it also takes a while to download digital pictures and now we have a digital camcorder, they all seem to take forever also. With that in mind, I'm thinking of ordering the upgrage card as well. Might as well do it all at once and maybe I can get a discount on the price or shipping. Anyway, those are my thoughts. Someday, we will be getting a new computer, probably this coming fall. Wife wants a laptop because that's all she's ever used in the past ten years as a programmer, but I HATE those things. I'll still be keeping the current computer. By then I'll probably have to get a router.
 
With all of those other USB devices, GET THE CARD!
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You will be happier overall.

200 gig you can do pretty cheap. I was looking and can make up a 640gig for under $150.

My first harddrive was a Seagate ST251 40MB for $450....

Now, you can get a 640gig for $115.

Bill
 
Gentleman, thank you very much. I went ahead and ordered the USB 2.0 and the Cav. 200G external. Both for less than a 100 bucks and hopefully the HD will last a long time.
 
Schmoe,

Some of us obviously differ as to the "best" setup, but I don't think any of the advice you've gotten is bad. There's just more than one way to solve the problem.

I tend to look at things through enterprise "belt and suspenders" glasses, but I have often thought about using USB for a RAID array. As far as upgrading your machine to USB2, you should be able to upgrade your front ports as long as the new card has headers such as those found on your motherboard. The front USB ports would just need to be unplugged from the motherboard headers and plugged into the card headers.

Even without headers on the card, there are cables that plug into the rear ports, then run back into the case to drive the front ports.

One thing that you might want to keep in mind: make sure your PC and external USB drive are plugged into a GOOD UPS. By good, I mean one that provides automatic voltage regulation (AVR). This protects against over- and under-voltage conditions that are not severe enough to trigger a cheap UPS but will damage a power supply, little by little, until one day it fails for no apparent reason. The cheap APC UPSs don't have AVR. Belkin, Minuteman, and others do include it in their low-end units, and it's generally marked on the box or product description. At the home-user level, you'll get more UPS for your money with brands other than APC.

Jeff
 
I dunno about that. APC has shipped me AT THEIR COST a replacement UPS NEXT DAY to one of my client's because it was noisy. APC has some VERY good customer service, and I have never had an issue with them in this regard, which may be something to look at when evaluating UPS equipment.

APC's use of AVR is a valid point though.

Their cheaper lines, which all fall under the Back-UPS series are configured in the following way:

1. Back-UPS ES: This has "Power Conditioning", which is not AVR but better than nothing.

2. Back-UPS CS: Nadda.

3. Back-UPS LS: Full AVR.

4. Back-UPS RS: Full AVR.

5. Back-UPS HS: Nadda.

The CS and ES lines are the ones you are likely to see at Best Buy and the like. I primarily sell the RS line to home users, as it offers many of the features of APC's higher-end Smart-UPS products, but without the associated cost.

My personal experience with Belkin has not been a good one.

That being said, if you feel that you'll never benefit from APC's customer service, then perhaps a purchase of a UPS that is price-comparable to something from APC's "bargain" line, but has better features is a good choice.
 
My comment made no mention of APC's customer service, which is above reproach, especially if you're an enterprise user. I simply said that you'd get more protection for your money in the "home user" space. You'll spend less for a low-end UPS with AVR from, say, Minuteman than from APC, unless APC has seen the light very, very recently.

I personally consider a UPS without AVR to be only slightly less useless than a surge protector strip for protecting PCs, as over/under-voltage conditions that would gradually damage a power supply but that would be missed by a stand-by UPS are far more common than outages or major surges, at least in my area and at the sites I've adminned.

Best,
Jeff
 
Originally Posted By: jeffreydbrown
My comment made no mention of APC's customer service, which is above reproach, especially if you're an enterprise user. I simply said that you'd get more protection for your money in the "home user" space. You'll spend less for a low-end UPS with AVR from, say, Minuteman than from APC, unless APC has seen the light very, very recently.


Never said you did, I brought it up to justify perhaps why you are paying a little more for the APC UPS.... That was my point.

Quote:
I personally consider a UPS without AVR to be only slightly less useless than a surge protector strip for protecting PCs, as over/under-voltage conditions that would gradually damage a power supply but that would be missed by a stand-by UPS are far more common than outages or major surges, at least in my area and at the sites I've adminned.


I agree with you there, which is why I stated that from the Back-UPS line, I only sell the RS series, which has AVR. My business customers all get the SMART-UPS series models. I have an SUA1000 sitting beside my tower right now.

I wasn't trying to rain on your parade, I DID mention in the end that if an individual wasn't likely to capitalize on APC's customer service, that they might be better off from a monetary perspective, to purchase a cheaper UPS.

:D
 
Got the 2.0 USB and external hard drive, 180G, in last Thursday. Hooked up the USB card, plugged the computer in, got recognized and within about 3 minutes, it was up and running. Didn't have to use the CD ROM that came with it. Wow, what a difference. Thanks for all ya'lls help. Everything works fine.
 
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