Best way to back up hdd?

[brianosaur]

I currently have two 10k raptors set in a raid-0 and a 3rd hdd I use to transfer/copy important data & files onto.
I know many peeps hate raid 0 and any failure on 1 disk in the array the whole thing is lost.
That aside, lets just assume Im stupid & stubborn and wont change b/c I love my raid 0 raptors bc they are lightning fast.

Lets hypothetically say 1 drive in the array just physically exploded and there is no chance of recovering any data off of it - EVER.

So what would be the best recommendation - prior to this happening - to accomplish a full system copy, image, backup or whatever in case of catastrophic failure.
I would like to then just purchase another like hdd, set up the same array and get the system back exactly how it was before the failure.
I'd liked to easily get back the O/S, programs, files, pics, ....everything - soup to nuts -without having to reinstall anything, if possible. (or perhaps just the o/s if need be)

Whats the best way to accomplish this?
Thanks

 

[Hawkeye22]

Image the drive. Just be sure the backup software can work with your raid controller otherwise it won't be able to see your array when reinstalling the OS.

Acronis offers a free trial of their software.

 

[Guest]

this exact post was just discussed a few days ago. Do a search

 

[pip_seeker]

I currently have two 10k raptors set in a raid-0 and a 3rd hdd I use to transfer/copy important data & files onto.
I know many peeps hate raid 0 and any failure on 1 disk in the array the whole thing is lost.
That aside, lets just assume Im stupid & stubborn and wont change b/c I love my raid 0 raptors bc they are lightning fast.

Lets hypothetically say 1 drive in the array just physically exploded and there is no chance of recovering any data off of it - EVER.

So what would be the best recommendation - prior to this happening - to accomplish a full system copy, image, backup or whatever in case of catastrophic failure.
I would like to then just purchase another like hdd, set up the same array and get the system back exactly how it was before the failure.
I'd liked to easily get back the O/S, programs, files, pics, ....everything - soup to nuts -without having to reinstall anything, if possible. (or perhaps just the o/s if need be)

Whats the best way to accomplish this?
Thanks

It's not that we hate it, it's that it's typically wasted... never full potential used. Which just wastes money and could cause a nightmare. I speak from experience, so I know without a doubt it's not worth it now. The only reason it was somewhat worth it when I did it is we didn't have 100GB drives then, so you could string 4 drives together to make one large one.

It can be very hard to back up a Raid- 0 setup because the drive size can be rather large. Typically you would need a seperate drive = to the size of the Raid or close to it. You possibly could ghost it, but the image could get so big that it wouldn't fit on DVD so ghosting it or cloning it to another drive might be your only option.

I think possibly the best / cheapest / easiest option would be to purchase a USB /firewire back up drive. They have software that comes with those drives that back up based on how frequent you want backups run. If you use the Raid alot, that is most likely the best backup option.

If the raid goes down a while from when the raid was built, you may not find another like drive. Hard drive sizes change all the time. It's not saying you won't find one similar but raid will run best with identical drives. So if one drive goes you might as well buy 2, 3, 4 new drives and rebuild the raid that way. It's another reason Raid is typically not a cost effective solution for just regular type use. Raid is a specialty type thing that is required for only a very few tasks. If you don't do any of these tasks... the performance is wasted.

It really depends on what you use it for, but just regular everyday use is just overkill.... and redicuously expensive to maintain and a bigger risk to your data than just a single drive.

good luck.