Backup question

[jisley]

Hey all...

I just purchased an AIT backup drive and am wondering what the current wisdom (and
user experiences) with using software or hardware compression for backing up and/or
archiving audio and project files. I'll be using Retrospect as my backup client.

For as long as I can remember, it has been recommended that no compression be used in
audio backups and archiving. Is this rooted in fact or in the voodoo of legend and
hearsay? I'm curious what user experiences have been regarding this and if this has
changed with the new generation of backup drives and media.

Thanks in advance...

[LaptopPop]

If it is a unit specifically made for backing up, its probably fine. Check the specs in the manual -- most list things like error rate and average time between failures.

I'm a bit of a maniac in terms of backups. I put a ton of work into recording the music, and I want to be sure to preserve it. I use IDE hard disk drives in a USB2 case to back up the projects every few days -- only takes about 10 minutes to back up an entire CDs worth of projects and raw tracks at about 30 or so tracks per song. For a Mac, a firewire disk would be very similar. When the project is done, I back up the final versions onto DVD-R.

I personally do NOT use compression because that inherently makes any backup media more sensitive to media errors. If a single bit went bad in the midst of a song wav file, its likely no one would notice. If a single bit goes wrong in the backup file (depending on the exact compression scheme used) it can affect your ability to reference the entire file. In the better schemes, there's redundancy and error checking built into the compression format, but you pay for that with drastically reduced compression ratios -- sometimes so much that you may as well just go uncompressed. Also, if your files are uncompressed on a disk, it is a lot easier to use a file retrieval tool to fix them.

-lee-

[miyola]

For my backup, I simply make a copy of my files (with tri-backup software) on another disk. When the project is finished, I burn it on a DVD R. I don't use compression or else, because I d'ont want my back-up to be "software dependent"...

[Cagatay]

Originally posted by molivier72:
For my backup, I simply make a copy of my files (with tri-backup software) on another disk. When the project is finished, I burn it on a DVD R. I don't use compression or else, because I d'ont want my back-up to be "software dependent"...

Hi,
Do you work in 24 bit 192 khz format?
How much data would be a big song with a lot of harddisk tracks?
How many songs would fit on a dual layer dvd disc and how long does it take to back-up?
Thanks in advance

[wynsmth]

You are only kidding yourself if you think data is really backed up on a hard drive. It doesn't happen often but I have had not only my backup drive wiped out but all my drives wiped out by some computer glitch. CDs, DVDs or tape backup is the only real way to go.

[LaptopPop]

I strongly disagree about backing up on a hard drive... ******IF***** you do it like I do. My backup hard drives are external units. They are only attached to the computer and powered up for doing backup transfers. I connect them, do the backup, then dismount and disconnect them. They spend most of their life powered down in the corner.

If you are talking about hard disks that stay connected to the computer, I would agree that they would not be as good as seperate backup media.

The thing I love about removable hard disks is the transfer speed - it totally rocks, and time is precious to me.

-lee-

[wynsmth]

I strongly disagree about backing up on a hard drive... ******IF***** you do it like I do. My backup hard drives are external units. They are only attached to the computer and powered up for doing backup transfers. I connect them, do the backup, then dismount and disconnect them. They spend most of their life powered down in the corner.

So were mine! Never again. Proceed at your own risk. It's your data. How much is it & your time worth?

[James Steele]

I dunno... any, and I mean ANY backup medium can fail. Also maybe it would help to distinguish between backup and archiving. I see very low risk in backing up to removeable hard drives. I might see actually backing up to TWO drives instead of ONE, but besides that I can't see much chance it will go wrong. Now if you're talking about archiving stuff, well yeah, maybe some sort of optical media would be the way to go. However, in that case obviously use a quality brand of media because CDs and DVDs can become unreadable just like hard drives can.

[LaptopPop]

Sounds spot on, James. Right now, when the project is finished, I make an archival copy onto DVD-R. I'm seriously looking at getting one of the new dual layer drives - double the data and faster data transfer than my current drive sounds REALLY good to me!

-lee-

[wynsmth]

All I can say is from personal expereince, backing up to a hard drive is MUCH more prone to failure than CD, DVD or tape. None of these other formats has ever failed for me, at least not yet. That's not to say that any of them are perfect. Just the chances of failure is higher on a hard drive. Again, your choice.

[LaptopPop]

Fair enough. For me, the chances of two (or three!) seperate hard drives crashing at the same time when they aren't even connected to the same computer is so low that I don't lose any sleep. I archive to DVD, I backup to hard disks. Life be good.

-lee-

[James Steele]

Yeah, I think it boils down to your individual judgement as what is an acceptable risk. I honestly think that if hard drives are removed from the machine and it's on 3 drives (counting one in the machine) and we're not talking the bargain basement brand drives, that the odds of all 3 failing is slim and I'm willing to take that risk I guess.

Now, on the other hand changing system software in the middle of a project using this system is not something I'd want to do, as there have been cases of new OSs corrupting drives.

[inukshuk]

Hi all
I've just found another back-up medium which looks interesting, but would like to know if anybody has had any experiance with it.
Iomega® REV™ 35GB 1394/FireWire® External Drive
http://www.iomega.com/direct/products/category.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=17384895&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=391603&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=67&bmUID=1100860254840

Not for archiving.

[kazuya]

Hi,
i use a internal HD (IDE) and a external Firewire HD (IceCube 80GB) to back up my projects. When it‘s mixed and mastered i delete the unused soundbites and compact the rest in DP and burn it on CD. That‘s enough for me...

[daveyboy]

The more backups the better. I use Retrospect to backup onto DVD. I start a backup set with every new client so at the end of EVERY session I backup to their DVD. I also keep my own set of backups so that not only is it on the hard drive but it's on 2 sets of backup disks. I try to push for the purchase of a firewire drive so at the end the client also has it on his own hard drive.

I've had quite a few times to check the integrity of some older backups that were done using Retrospect, going back as far as 5 - 6 years and have been able to pull stuff off those cds with no problem.

On compression: Sometimes I've compressed, sometimes not. I've found that with audio you don't get a huge benefit in saving space and turning off the compression setting speeds up the dvd burning process.