http://elecraft.85.s1.nabble.com/Bit-image-backup-Safe-sectors-tp7556299p7556337.html
to use an SSD. Solid State Drives constantly are moving sector
too many times. This occurs whenever a file needs to be updated or
rewritten, and is especially true of the directory sectors. Because of
completely useless backup. We discovered this recently when a friend
by-sector backup. Those backups are very much useful when needed. With
sector-by-sector. I recommend it whole heartedly!
> Hi, Jim...
>
> There are several programs that make literal copies (mirror
> copies)
> of disk contents. This includes the OS and all program files as well
> as
> data...
>
> I happen to have been using one called "Macrium Reflect
> Professional" for the last few years. It produces a bit-for-bit
> literal
> image (a mirror copy) of the TOTAL contents of one or more hard
> drives,
> and can re-load such images. It does much more than copy data files.
> At
> present, I am using a PC with 2 inboard hard drives, each of 250 GB
> capacity. One of these is my WIN7 Ultimate OS and associated files
> (including programs, etc), and is about 80 GB in total content. The
> second is my Ubuntu 11.10 OS and a somewhat smaller collection of
> files
> (including programs, etc.) I back up the former almost daily onto a
> 1 TB
> external USB hard drive, and somewhat less frequently onto a Sandisk
> 64
> GB stick...the 80 GB on the C:\ drive fit nicely onto the 64 GB stick
> with the compression used by Macrium. The rate-determining step in
> these
> USB-based devices is the USB transfer rate itself; 80 GB takes about
> 25
> minutes to back or restore, and I do it last thing at night, letting
> Macrium close down the PC when finished.
>
> If I had a third drive bay, I would probably choose to back up
> onto
> a third drive...hard drives have become so inexpensive that you can
> practically use them like floppy drives. This would be significantly
> faster, about 10-12 minutes for the 80 GB contents of C:\
>
> A while ago, I used a Sparc 20 with a shoebox tape drive and "DAT
> Tapes," but that had little to do with my ham radio operation. These
> were unsatisfactory because the error rate was significant. I also
> tried
> using an elderly PC as a network server at home on our LAN. That too
> was
> somewhat cumbersome. My wife is an active software developer (vide the
> "OWL" system from Cengage), and separately uses a version of Macrium
> onto a 1 TB external drive, but much of her work is stored on a
> corporate "cloud," and hopefully backed up there as well.
>
> I do not have a high opinion of "Windows Restore" -- it is
> significantly more involved to use than is Macrium Reflect.
>
> An advantage (to me the most significant one) of doing a bit-image
> backup is that when it comes time to restore program files (i.e. .exe
> files, etc), one does not have to search out the distribution media
> and
> play "baking cookies" with those media for hours to rebuild the
> system.
>
> A disadvantage of doing a bit-image backup is that in the absence
> of good "garbage collection" one keeps using the same general
> structure
> over and over again...a case can be made for rebuilding from scratch
> (not from the bit image) on a regular basis...some have suggested
> once a
> year, at least.
>
> The Linux crowd can tell you of several useful Linux based
> utilities for total backup, restore, partitioning, etc...I won't
> enumerate them here, though many of them are very useful.
>
> In general, I don't favor running anything off the "cloud." My ISP
> is sometimes down for 1 or more hours, and that mode of dis-operation
> would leave me in the cold. Moreover, in view of the spate of
> successful
> hacking attacks, I don't trust cloud security. If I disconnect from
> the
> internet, the only ways someone can hack me are via my WiFi or to
> physically break into my home. I have taken pains to barricade the
> former. The latter takes care of itself in the usual way.
>
> Hope this answers your questions....
>
> John Ragle -- W1ZI
>
> =====
>
> On 5/22/2012 12:59 PM, James Robbins wrote:
>> John,
>>
>>
>>
>> Could you be more specific about your process for "bit image
>> backup" and
>> "safe sectors"? Program you use? What files you choose to
>> backup? Whether
>> Windows Restore program is or is not a suitable substitute? Thanks.
>>
>>
>>
>> 73,
>>
>> Jim Robbins
>>
>> N1JR
>>
>>
>>
>> "It is vitally important to practice "safe sectors." A bit image
>> backup
>> takes only a few minutes, and can be made on an auxiliary hard
>> drive or a
>> jump drive."
>>
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>
> --
> Sent from my lovely old Dell XPS 420
>
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