At 04:53 PM 1/30/2010, Ed Reeder wrote:
FWIW, Be aware that flash drives "wear out" (i.e., they have a finite number of write cycles), that is why they are not recommended for operating page files. I read one account where a user wrote to a USB drive until it failed. He got about 5,000 complete (wrote every bit) cycles before failure. Still, for normal use 5,000 is a big number, though much less than the hundreds of thousands that the manufacturers claim.
Good point, Ed. 5000 is a lot of backups. But not infinite.
Typical hard disk lifespan before failure is over three years.
Interesting data. My experience suggests that this is average, but not at all "typical". In my experience, you'll either get fairly early failure (within the first year) or more than five years from a hard drive. But the average of that bimodal distribution may well be three years, even though very few drives die during their third year.
But that's anecdotal. I don't know what the large-scale stats say.
You can google to get more info.
I did. There seems to be a feeling that time should be measured in hours of use and not years of age, and that heat will reduce the lifetime.
That suggests that my USB backup drive is in for a long life. It is only used an hour or two a week, and is outside the computer case at all times.
One thing to investigate is backing up over the Internet. It provides both physical security and general availability.
Internet backup trades physical reliability (not security) against data security. It is in fact LESS secure, even if more reliable. If the backup is on my shelf and not connected to anything (especially not the Internet), then it can't be hacked.
"It is easy to run a secure computer system. You merely have to disconnect all dial-up connections and permit only direct-wired terminals, put the machine and its terminals in a shielded room, and post a guard at the door."- F.T. Grampp and R.H. Morris
Interestingly enough, Fred Grampp was a good friend in my bachelor days (early 1960s). We went skiing and drinking together back then. He also taught me a little about hacking. I watched him violate this rule; he got an evil program into a computer that was protected as described above. But, for most purposes and unless Fred is the hacker, physical security is sufficient. And "cloud storage" seems less secure with every article I read about it.
There are a number of free sites that provide limited storage, but you'll likely have to pay to get all the storage you'll want.
Looks like about $5/month will satisfy what I need and more, if I were to go that way.
You do need to have backups and the backup software on hand to rebuild your basic OS so that the Internet is available.
That's a good point. But that is not something that changes all the time; one backup stored off-site should be good for years. It's just the OS and a browser; in the case of Windows, the browser is part of the OS, and I'll put up with Internet Explorer long enough to download Google Chrome.
I use the Acronis True Image software and have been extremely pleased with its speed and operation.
Looks like a high-quality package. Cheers DaveT -- Shoptalk ** Sponsored by the new Aldila Voodoo. Learn more at http://aldilavoodoo.com/
