Disaster Recovery How not to lose important data.

[vujsa 0]

To begin with I was a Boy Scout. The Boy Scout motto is: "Always Be Prepared."

 

That being said, most of this article is about how to prevent data loss.

 

The very first thing I do is partition the primary hard drive into at least two partitions.

10 to 15 GB for the operating system (C:\) and the remainder for personal data (D:\)

 

If possible, use two hard drives instead of two partitions.

 

Most computer problems come about from corrupt data, conflicting settings, or misconfigurations in the operating system. As a result, most problems can be fixed by simply reformating the hard drive and reinstalling the operating system. The down side is all of the lost data. So I place my data and as many settings away from the OS partition. This way if I reinstall the OS on the OS partition, only the data in the OS partition will be destroyed.

 

I use Netscape and Netscape allows you to specify where your settings and data is stored. I specified D:\mynetscapedata\

 

Here all of my mail, history, passwords, bookmarks, settings are stored. As the D:\ partition is not affected by reformating the C:\ partition, I don't lose my data.

 

With this setup, if I have to reinstall the OS, I keep my data but will need to reinstall all of my software. --> I keep downloaded install files on the D:\ partition.

 

To save me the trouble of having to reinstall all of that software and having to call Microsoft to reactivate WinXP again, after I got a basic setup of my computer with all of my software installed, I made a backup of my C:\ partition. This way, I just reinstall my basic setup instead of just the OS and each application.

I use Symantec's Norton Ghost for backups and recovery. There are many backup options availible so look around.

 

The next step to data security is to make system back ups on a regular basis. At least twice a year. More like once a month is reasonable. This way if something happens, you'll minimize the data loss. I suggest using optical media like CD-ROM or DVD-ROM for storage as it is compact and durable. Water won't destoy the media, stands up slightly better in fire than magnetic media, and is not effected by electrical fields.

 

Additionally, I highly recommend the real time data backup feature provided by a mirrored RAID configuration. Basically, your computer writes to two identical hard drives at the same time with the exact same data. If one drive has a mechanical failure, the other one just takes over until the bad drive is replaced. Using a mirrored disk array like this only protects your data in the event of a random hard drive failure of a single drive. Natural disataters such as fire which may destroy or severly damage both drives will negate the benefits of a mirrored disk array.

RAID won't protect your data from user errors such as "accidentally" reformating the hard drive.

 

So if you follow all of thesteps I've taken thus far, you'll probably never need the following information.

 

In the event that you have lost ALL of your data, including a quick reformat, you can get that data back for the most part. Deleteing and quick reformating only tell your OS that that area of the hard drive is availible if needed. Unless you have defragmented the hard drive or completely filled the drive up, your data may still be 100% intact. In fact sometimes even then, your data can be recovered from a working hard drive. There are several data recovery applications availible at a reasonable price. Some are availible as a free trial. If you need it a second time, then perhapes computers aren't really for you.

R-Studio Data Recovery Software - Recommended

These few precautions will give you the protection you need. Let me know what methods you use.

 

Happy computing,

vujsa

[szupie 0]

Wow, that's what I do too! I use C: to install Windows, and D: to put files and programs. But if Windows crashes and C: is reset, I'll still have to reinstall most of the programs to make the links and short-cuts. So, the programs part isn't all that good, except for big downloaded programs.

[rapco 0]

ok, the two hd partitions work fine!!!, that's true.I'm going to give a personal experience advice... DON'T USE NFTS FORMTAING!!!!!, the fat32 it's better when restoring lost data...so.1. Use a Fat32 format in your hd's2. Use c:\ for win and software setup. D:\ for personal data3. Use preventing software like spinrite now and then to be extra careful with you hd4. Make periodical backups5. ehhh, keep a copy of ULTRA IMPORTANT documents on the internet (gmail users can use "gdrive" for it, or autosending themselves the data)6. Keep it simple!!!!

[the empty calorie 0]

I have been utilising the twin hard drive setup since the introduction of Windows 98 (And I was bummed because I asked for OS/2). Now, even after the switch to UNIX, the tradition still continues. Only, the only thing I keep in there is movies, documents, and music, as I like to perform clean installs whenever I feeling switching to a different UNIX or Linux distro.Most of my more important (as in harder to replace, not critical data), yet smaller files, like pictures, stay online in more places than one, as well as on other people's computers.Of course, difference being my "media" drive is ext2, rather than Fat32 or NTFS.Oh, and also a good additional tip: When purchasing a hard drive, only purchase reputable ones. This doesn't neccessarily mean the most expensive. From my experience, I've had bad luck with Maxtor drives and a few Western Digital drives, but I've always had good expereinces with IBM and Seagate drives. I still have my 20M Seagate 5.25" hard drive from my XT. It still works too!Oh yes, I was also a boy scout too. :DSo many valuable lessons were learned...

[rapco 0]

"the empty calorie"... all i can say is: I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND I THING U SAID!!!!!

[Houdini 0]

I just have one problem with relying on a hard drive or RAID or assembley of dirves or partitioning of a hard drive...hard drives fail and can do it at any time, I have had three hard drive failures, one gave a warning on an XP box the others just quit. The best thing to do is get your self a DVD burner and save you important files on DVD for less than $10.00 you can back up at least an entire operating system and all dorts of programs files. I experiment with programs and push the envelope of the machine all the time and download things without much worry, if bad comes to worse, a virus, or an experiment that totaled out my system, I just reinstall from the DVD's that I have ready made just for that purpose. Unless you set fire to them or sit on them or do some crazy things with the DVDs the data stays there forever, and unlike a hard disk all you need is a DVD rom drive to read the data back into your system and you are up and running.I used to do upgrades on the SMART system for WalMart and Sams Clubs in the eastern United States, and they made daily backups using tape drives. If the SMART system goes down the store is dead in the water, there registers don't work and customers start leaving with all their stuff just sitting wherever it was when the failure occured part of the upgrades was installing UPS's and balancing the current load on the servers that were supplied by a dedicated panel and after hooking the servers and periperials up as per WatMart specifications each of 5 circuits pulled within 10% the identical current level.Any scheme that depends on a hard drive alone is bound to fail.

[Midnight Martyr 0]

Hmm... preventing data loss. Well, I agree with some of what was said overall here.Yes, hard drives alone, combined with even the redudancy of RAID 1 and above, are not enough. CDs are good to have as well, but I suggest even more. USB is probably one of my favorites, and I'd recommend to first get a little USB card reader, 7 in 1, and choose what you want from there - 128 through 1GB are all very affordable, either in sticks or cards. The transfer speed of data with these devices, reliability, and the ability to hot-swap, is amazing. And my inevitable next suggestion is that you also pick up a USB HD if you can - for your movies or music. If you want to make sure nothing happens to this data, all you have to do is plug it in when you want, and unplug it when you're done.Floppys still aren't dead, either, I don't see them being replaced anytime soon... though I only use them for keeping documents, like a resume or addresses.

[vujsa 0]

Of course offsite storage and other external storage systems are always a good idea. I don't think that USB pen driveds are really a good option for large scale data backup.. They are great for data sharing and transporting but the cost per megabyte for the storage is still too high not to netion the number of pen drives needed to backup most systems even if the data heavily compressed.I also don't think that floppy drives are a viable backup solution for any major backups. Your average harddrive is much more reliable than a floppy disk for various reasons.Again floppy drives are best used for small documant transportation or sharing.It looks as thought the best solution for data backup is on rewritable DVD. With data compression, it is possible to get nearly 10 GB on a single DVD or nearly 20 GB on a dual layer DVD depending on data type and native compression.As mentioned before, online storage accounts can be usefull for some data types. Irreplaceable data such as photos and emails would be good canidates for online storage. Keep in mind, the data you store on someone elses system is backed up but particularly secure. While the original privacy policy or service aggreement says that you data will not be shared or manipulated, if the ownership of the system changes, then the policies may change. Tape drives are a very good way to backup data but is pretty expensive in the cost per megabyte department. With multi-gigabyte tapes availible, many users can back up their entire system with a single tape. As far as the unreliability of hard drives, that would be the point of the topic. Three hard drive failures may seem like a lot but it isn't really. I've had that many but the difference is that after the first one I changed the way I store data. All of my data is stored in multiple places. As mentioned before, my first line of defence is how I partition my drives.Having a system partition and a data partition seperates OS failers from hardware failures. With an OS failure, all I need to replace is the system files, the data partition is protected.My second line of defence is having the RAID installed. This won't protect from OS failures as the same corrupt data is written to both drives but if one hard drive fails, I still have the data on the backup drive. I can just shut the system off until I replace the faulty drive and duplicate the good drive.It is unlikely that I'll have multiple hard drive failures or both a hardware and OS failure at the same time but in the unlikely event that the unlikely occurs, I backup my data regularly onto DVD. Just encrypt them, zip them up, and give to a friend or family member for offsite storage. A small bank saftey deposit box can hold a lot of DVD's. A good fire safe or fire box at home would be a good alternative to offsite storage but many can fully protect data storage media.While this sytem may not be for everyone, it does work. I haven't lost any irreplaceble data since I implemented this system on my computers. One further suggestion, select the leave message on server under you email client options panel. Also select delete on server when deleted locally. You'll need to keep a close eye on your email account to ensure that you don't exceed the maximum stoarge on you account. If you run out of room, you will not receive any new emails until your account is cleaned out.Hope this helps. :(vujsa

[Midnight Martyr 0]

Online data storage... well, that one is new to me, but I think I must have heard it somewhere before. I think I'm going to seriously start signing up for some of that right away, until I can get a DVD burner.

[Trojan 0]

Can you explain to me in better detail how to split your hard drive into two partitions?

[vujsa 0]

Always be prepared for losing all my data including a quick reformat, I can get that data back by ... ? I assume you just reupload your files... Gee I wonder how safe this site is...

54242[/snapback]

I'm not sure what you mean here but I'll answer what I think you asked.

 

I'm always prepared to quickly recover ALL data on my personal computer. As described above, all of my data is seperated, duplicated and backed up in various ways. - If I have a physical hard drive failure, my duplicate drive simply takes over the responsibilities until I replace the bad drive. No down time with that one.

- If I have a software failure on my OS due to virus or other random OS error, This usually will not harm my non-OS data such as photos, music, etc. This just requires me to reinstall the OS or copy a clean backup to that partition. Either way, back up and running in about an hour but some software may need to be reinstalled.

- If I lost all data on the entire disk (3 partitions) due to virus, accidental reformat, major OS error, stupidity, etc. I can reinstall the OS and then restore all of the data from my most recent data backup. Should be back up and running in less than a day.

- Multiple problems where there is data loss not only on the hard drives but on the back ups as well. I can use a data recovory tool such as the one described above to find MOST of the lost data from the hard drive. I the very unlikely event that you have this type of problem, getting MOST of your data back is probably good enough for you but there may still be good data on older back ups or even the corrupt back up to fill in nearly all of the holes left by the recovery tool. Could take a few days to get things working again depending on how long it takes to identify the problems etc...

 

Now, I keep a copy of most of my website on my hard drive as well just in case but I have never experienced a data loss on a server due to the built in protection most come with as well as the frequency of data back ups done on servers. In fact, most servers use a data loss prevention system similar to the one I've described. And most also employ a similar technique to recover data.

 

As far as wondering how safe this site is, in my opinion it is very safe. Like I said, I have never lost data here. The servers are well maintained and administered well. Please keep in mind that this is a free hosting service here so they aren't earning any income based on the hosting accounts so no guarantees will be made about the safety of your data.

 

Hope this helps.

 

vujsa

[delivi 0]

this information will be of great help, thanx for sharing it.Personally before I've lost huge amount of data due to my carelesness, and now I've learned to be extra careful and take preventive measures.

[mortalmatt 0]

That is a good guide for people who do not know about that approach to installing the operating system and keeping their personal files in a safe area. That is the method I do too. I used to also place the PageFile on the 2nd partition, but I have that it is not a good idea -- only place page file elsewhere if you have a second hard disk to place it on. I keep my c:\ at ~6GB, so whenever I need to reinstall I only need ~20 minutes.

[develCuy 0]

Nice tips vujsa!!!

Last week somebody in the office formatted my HD using Micro$oft fdisc. I recovered my partitions using TestDisk, is a wonderful tool.

My comments:

DON'T USE NTFS FORMTAING!!!!!, the fat32 it's better when restoring lost data...

Rapco, NTFS is much better that the old miss functional FAT32. Is good for large partitions, and file security. The same in Linux, Ext3 is the best Filesystem for Linux. I don't agree to recommend FAT32 "only" because "is better" for restore data. To keep back-ups and replication is a good practice.

Can you explain to me in better detail how to split your hard drive into two partitions?

Trojan, i seems that you have only a "C:" a one HD. A safest way is to use a live-cd, boot it, resize and create new partitions, reboot, format and enjoy. Get a Gui for parted in a booteable CD.
Linux allows Software RAID. 3 years ago I installed a Linux with a Raid 1(2 80GB HD Quantum+Samsung). Ask google

Blessings!

[informatech 0]

yes exactly. i follow most of these practices to make recovery of data streamlined. first of two partitions like described above. one thing that i do different is i have a personalized version of nlite and its set to install unattended so i can go eat meanwhile. second off once i have a fresh install of windows i install all my programs and adjust most of the programs settings to my prefrerences. then i use acronis back suite to make an image of my C drive. that way if i need ot install windows again i simply go from the image and not anything else.oh and ntfs is definitely better. first of fat32 can't handle any single file being bigger than 4gb. some movies and files pass that. ie iso rips, so on. also when you soemtimes have to manually shut off your computer sometimes the fat32 table can become corrupt and thus you get those pieces and parts. i've read an article somewhere and i dont remember where, but it clearly stated that NTFS was built to withstand file system corruptions like from that type of scenario. and over the years i've never lost a filesystem as ntfs.however the only good thing now that fat32 is used for is a common drive between linux and windows. this is because both natively can read AND write to them. although it seems linux is able to write to NTFS now. however fat32 is a sure fire file system for two OS's.