toblix Posted January 25, 2013 Speaking of hard disk fail, the other day I turned on the computer and the BIOS was like «hey buddy, you gotta have a bootable disk here or I can't do anything!» and I was like «but what about the one I've used every day for the last couple of years?» and nothing. So I had to buy a new disk and reinstall Windows, and you know when you've just reinstalled windows and it comes up in that ultra-low resolution? SUCKS Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ThunderPeel2001 Posted January 26, 2013 Was it an SSD failure? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
toblix Posted January 27, 2013 Yeah. It was working fine, and then suddenly it's like it literally doesn't exist. With a solid state drive it's even worse, because you can't hear anything, so you're even more in the dark. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elmuerte Posted January 28, 2013 HDDs can also fail silently. SSD go from working to completely unreadable instantly. You can recover a lot of data from a broken HDD, this isn't the case for SSD. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Roderick Posted January 28, 2013 That's shitty and very alarming and it makes me consider not getting SSDs. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
osmosisch Posted January 28, 2013 SSDs make things so much faster that if you can afford them it's silly not to use them, but it is a good idea to be aware of the risks. I personally don't use large data files so I just put my programs on the SSD and the data they affect on the HDD. That way the stuff I care about is safe and everything runs quickly. Alternatively just have an automatic backup running that copies your data from the SSD to the HDD every day or so. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
toblix Posted January 28, 2013 It's moot, because data is never safe on any hard disk, whether it's magnetic or solid-state. If you care about your data, you should back them up. RAID is not a back-up, and an external hard disk is not a good solution either, based on my experiences. I would probably go for a cloud-based one unless my files were impractically huge. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Roderick Posted January 28, 2013 External hard disks have served me well so far, I always keep multiple copies of all my work. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nachimir Posted January 28, 2013 toblix is very correct about data never really being safe. If you want to keep it, multiply it and keep it moving. I use cloud based backup and an external disk. The former is Backblaze, which is pretty cheap, and constantly makes incremental backups of everything when connected to the net. They have (somewhat expensive) options for retrieving a lot of lost data as on a USB key or HDD by post, but you can also log in to retrieve files, which has saved me from repeating a couple of hours of design work once so far. I was glad I went with them when I read of the lengths they'd go to to maintain the service as they'd started it. With an external drive on OS X, I use Carbon Copy Cloner (not sure what a Windows equivalent is), and it automatically makes an incremental backup whenever I plug that particular one in. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tabacco Posted January 28, 2013 Yeah, backblaze is great, and insanely cheap for what they deliver. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
toblix Posted January 28, 2013 Quick question about Backblaze, which I've heartily recommended to everyone without actually having tried it myself. Do I chose what it backs up, or is it just «I'm in all your directories, backing up your filez?» I guess it only supports local disks, so I can't "back up" my mapped NAS or anything crazy like that ... Oh, also, what kind of access to backed-up files do I get? Can I log in and download specific files? Does it keep a history of changes? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ThunderPeel2001 Posted January 28, 2013 Buying a second harddrive and setting up a RAID 1 array is also pretty secure. The chances of losing data then are extremely slim. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
toblix Posted January 28, 2013 ~DISAGREEMENT OSUKEN GENESISU (Watashi wa hantai!!!!) Even with a mirrored disk setup, if you've constantly got write access, you're just as likely as before to delete or destroy your data, either by accident or by the force of the virus!!! It's like they say, if you've got write access, it's not a backup. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ThunderPeel2001 Posted January 28, 2013 Even with a mirrored disk setup, if you've constantly got write access, you're just as likely as before to delete or destroy your data, either by accident or by the force of the virus!!! It's like they say, if you've got write access, it's not a backup. Yeah, that's true... I was just referring to, you know, Hard Disk fail. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elmuerte Posted January 28, 2013 backups are for sissies Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Erkki Posted January 28, 2013 OSUKEN GENESISU (Watashi wa hantai!!!!) According to google translate that is swahili Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lu Posted January 28, 2013 ~DISAGREEMENT OSUKEN GENESISU (Watashi wa hantai!!!!) ~DOMO, GANBARRE HAADU DISKU~~~. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
toblix Posted January 28, 2013 Yeah, that's true... I was just referring to, you know, Hard Disk fail. Yeah, sorry, you're right. You're pretty well protected against hard disk failure. A lot of people consider that a sort of back-up, though, which is how I was reading you, but you're of course right. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nachimir Posted January 28, 2013 Quick question about Backblaze, which I've heartily recommended to everyone without actually having tried it myself. Do I chose what it backs up, or is it just «I'm in all your directories, backing up your filez?» I guess it only supports local disks, so I can't "back up" my mapped NAS or anything crazy like that ... Oh, also, what kind of access to backed-up files do I get? Can I log in and download specific files? Does it keep a history of changes? Yes, local drives only I think, and yes, you can tell it which folders to exclude. Yes, you can log in to retrieve files; it gives you the option of a zip archive, flash drive (60GB $99) or a hard disk (3TB $189). Actually, come to think of it, those prices probably aren't that bad. Not sure how complete the incremental backups are, but it does allow you to select a window of "from the beginning until X time ago". Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tabacco Posted January 28, 2013 Yeah, backblaze's only filtering options are excluding certain directories (I exclude steamapps and dropbox, for example) and limiting the largest filesize it'll back up (defaults to 4GB, can be changed to unlimited). I use both Backblaze and Time Machine. The latter is most useful in case of disksaster, but if my apartment burns down or floods or something then an offsite backup swill have been well worth it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brkl Posted January 29, 2013 If I lose my data, I can always just buy a plot of land in the countryside, abandon all modern comforts and live as a hermit farmer. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Roderick Posted January 29, 2013 And isn't that what we're all secretly hoping for? That one hard disc failure that'll push us over the edge to going Luddite. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ThunderPeel2001 Posted January 30, 2013 And being happy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
