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**sea2stars** · 19-02-2008, 09:07 AM

We were using a tape backup system on my machine ages ago, but now we use a RAID 5 system along with an auto backup to the main servers; I haven't noticed any issues.

Any old projects are backed up to DVD, a copy for me and one for offsite, and to another drive onsite and offsite.

**tct70** · 19-02-2008, 09:26 AM

I am also the lone CG guy in a large company. I keep all my files (including maps) on the file servers as they are backed up daily. I couldn't tell you what hardware we have for the servers etc, but personally I've had no issues to date.

I have however, just had some advice to have mirrored hard drives in my next workstation for the working drives (another for OS and programmes) and then move my files to the server once the job is completed for archive/backup.

I guess it's just a case of what will work best for you.

**phildlight** · 19-02-2008, 09:44 AM

thanks guys. I do have a raid machine, so at least I've got whole system redundancy. I think part of this is other people's access to my files also. Partly a communication thing. Partly being able to restore certain data if need be etc. More flexibility in backup solutions etc.

I'm currently looking for a backup/synch software to run on my machine to backup/synch with a location on the file server. Server/network hardware infrastructure would play a huge part in this decision/discussion, I realize. I'm trying to think how the network usage will look with the introduction of Revit on top of me running renders OTW...

I think the backup/synch software will work for now.

**mike_kennedy** · 19-02-2008, 06:32 PM

I work almost solely from the server due to the number of files i deal with each day, my HD would fill ups in days. We have a good back up system and RAID 5 as well, gigabit networking and good backup are a must though....
Cheers
Mike K

**phildlight** · 21-02-2008, 06:46 AM

for now, my solution is to maintain working locally. I've got a 500Gb on my machine and I'm not even scratching the surface of that space. I downloaded synctoy from Micro$oft and set it up to automagically echo my files up to the file server every night via windows scheduler. This allows me to cancel the operation if I have a render running. Seems to work well.

**andrewjohn81** · 21-02-2008, 11:21 AM

I recommend our setup here for the budget minded, and if you use this sort of setup, but still want a good backup solution to avoid accidents.

One computer acts as a server for the 4 of us. We work off a 320GB drive, which is enough for any current projects.
I've got a 500GB drive attached and I use Retrospect to backup. The new version, 7.5 currently, has a feature they call grooming. What that does is delete old, duplicate, or deleted files only when space is needed. Basically it allows us to have about 2-4 weeks of any data I've had on the 320GB drive at any time. That way I can go back and retrieve files that accidentally got corrupt by crashing/user error, or just plain got deleted as long as I notice it within that amount of time.

That's the real limitation. The company I work for isn't thrilled that we don't have a permenant backup solution for our working files as well, but it costs 50$ per gig per month to do the backups they want. Yeah, add that up. WOW. I think they are use to excel and powerpoint without much more. lol

Anyway, Retrospect has saved my butt many times. You really only need the Retrospect Disk-to-Disk also. Runs about 2-300 dollars AND you probably have a copy of Retrospect Express sitting around from some old DVD burner you bought. You can get the upgrade from that for 150.

The full version also allows you to gather data from client machines. So you could also backup each person's local data if you wish. Our IT guy also runs that to backup the designers working data folder. He's building a new machine to be able to keep up with that much data right now. They get alot of engineering data from ProE so we go through 2TB a month easy.

Hope that helps some of you guys. RAID redundancy is nice, but doesn't protect against user error. I recommend also using Retrospect or something of that fashion.

**instinct** · 21-02-2008, 11:42 AM

Originally posted by andrewjohn81 View Post

One computer acts as a server for the 4 of us. We work off a 320GB drive, which is enough for any current projects.
Basically it allows us to have about 2-4 weeks of any data I've had on the 320GB drive at any time.

It's hard to express how much i wish we'd have your space requirements :P

Seriously tho depending on the space requirements DVDs and external drives are not an option. Too cumbersome, too insecure (ever seen an external HD survive a drop ? and yes these things DO happen...ask Murphy :P )

Regards,
Thorsten

P.S. sorry for the slight OT :P

**andrewjohn81** · 21-02-2008, 11:49 AM

Well the same concept applies with more space. I don't actually back up to DVD. We backup to an external drive, simply because they are cheap.

If you've got a bit more dough and higher space requirements then I'd recommend getting something with more space like a RAID NAS. It still just looks like an external drive the computer, but it's actually a seperate Linux (usually) system running nothing but hard drives.

Also keep in mind that this is Not intended for permenant backup. It's merely to keep a couple weeks of ongoing backup just in case.

Dropping the hard drive really isn't a problem. Just don't pick it up. I actually have mine mounted to something so it can't be dropped.

**instinct** · 21-02-2008, 11:53 AM

well as said it depends on the requirements. And we also need a permanent solution. These HDs fill up a room pretty quick :P And we got several rather big file raids around. having them all redundand would be pretty expensive and still non permanent (= archiving).

Regards,
Thorsten

**andrewjohn81** · 21-02-2008, 12:04 PM

like I said, this isn't permanent. We only use this method for our working files. Never animations longer than 5min so most projects are 20GB or less for 4 people. 320GB pulls it off fine for our small group.

For larger groups I would also assume that you've got the money for permanent archiving using tape, but the costs involved in that is just too high to justify in my opinion.

We backup our projects to a hard drive (for easy access throughout the year) and also we use a few DVD's for each project as well. It's slow, but it's cheap and you can ship it off to storage. Just in case our hard drive fails we at least have second copies. If that drive ever fails though, it'll take forever to make another copy from the DVD backups. We'll have to hire an intern to do that if it ever happens.

The plan is to buy a 1-2TB drive every year for that.

Honestly I'd like a better solution, but I haven't found anything close for a similar price. We probably spend 800 dollars a year on backup in total. Our global IT want to change about 500K per year for their permanent solution. It's obviously better, but just way too much. I think if you pay more for backup the the accumulated total of the employees salaries the backup is for then it's probably not cost effective.

**instinct** · 21-02-2008, 12:07 PM

well 320GB would be approx half a project here currently. Of course this varies, but the last projects wouldnt have fit on a 500GB drive anymore..so it accumulates very very fast. with 20GB or less per project it's perfectly fine i'd say.

Kind Regards,
Thorsten

**muzzy** · 22-02-2008, 12:51 AM

I use second copy for backups, it is a $30 software and does all I need without paying alot

comes with 60 day trial

http://www.centered.com/index.html

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