KVR Audio

THE INTRANCER · Post by **THE INTRANCER** » Mon Jul 24, 2023 3:35 am

The past week, I've had to throw a lot of money into my computer setup to save data from one terrabyte hard disk which has gotten into a bad habit of dropping out at random times. My main external drive which was a backup of the first has been doing a few disappearing acts as well for some reason but is otherwise healthy.

My I7 920 desktop system is going on for 13 years old and in the process of upgrading it I've for the first time introduced USB3 PCI Express Card, an 8 Terrabyte Western Digital Hard Disk, an external SATA3 to USB3 Enclosure for SSD's and Hard Disks, a one Terabyte SSD (never used one till now) and also have a dual docking 3.0 drive bay system for hard disks and SSD's which I initially bought but is disappointing in read and write speeds.

There is more to add and some questions coming, but I have now managed to back up pretty much everything from the one TB drive. The drive has a bad sector and so I'm going to need to format it at a low level.

The dock I have even with a single SSD in it has a transfer speed of just 39MB's per second, the same SSD is over 300 MB's vie the enclosure. So many new things hardware-wise and stuff to learn and figure out.

Michael L · Post by **Michael L** » Mon Jul 24, 2023 3:56 am

I have a HDD for storage, a HDD for backup, and SSDs for libraries. Best to keep SSDs only 1/2 to 2/3 full because of the way they allocate space. To save wear on SSDs, I use a high speed Samsung USB drive just for downloads, demos, and other temp uses.

masterhiggins · Post by **masterhiggins** » Mon Jul 24, 2023 4:22 am

No one's more OCD about backing up than I:

1. Time Machine backing up Mac and Samsung QVO SSD on its own external HDD
2. Chronosync backing up Mac and Samsung QVO SSD on its own external HDD
3. Chronosync cloning up Mac boot drive on external SSD
4. Chronosync backing up Mac (not boot) onto pCloud storage
5. I burn important files (all session files/licenses) onto archival BDR M-Discs. They're expensive, but solid.
6. Lastly, when I get new hard drives I keep the old ones with all of the data untouched into their own waterproof storage cases.

Excessive? Eh.

Pictus · Post by **Pictus** » Mon Jul 24, 2023 4:37 am

Michael L wrote: Mon Jul 24, 2023 3:56 am I have a HDD for storage, a HDD for backup, and SSDs for libraries. Best to keep SSDs only 1/2 to 2/3 full because of the way they allocate space. To save wear on SSDs, I use a high speed Samsung USB drive just for downloads, demos, and other temp uses.

If it is for libraries(just reading) no problem to be full.

THE INTRANCER · Post by **THE INTRANCER** » Tue Jul 25, 2023 9:51 pm

So for those that back up to their backup hard drives, what format do you use and how big for instance are your zipped files? Currently, I'm in the process of backing up my 2TB external hard disk to the 8TB external one.

The 2TB still has 112 Gig of unused space which I'll probably do a clean out of to provide more space.

On the 8 TB drive, I plan to compress the folders and files into an alphabetical name convention thus increasing the overall storage space on the 8 TB drive. What the limits are in how big a zip file can be, I'm not entirely sure but I'd hope that I'd be able to extract it should I need it in the future.

I was able to back up all of my Iomega Drive, which is a 1TB drive to the 8TB drive. There is just one sector of the Iomega drive (a Seagate type) that can't be fixed vie the normal means vie Windows Fix Disk utility which makes me think it's a physical problem. There is just one program that I have yet to try but it needs to boot from a usb stick for example. It's supposed to mark out bad sectors so it's not seen, even if it's phyisical.

https://recoverhdd.com/blog/how-to-reco ... s.html#ch7

Shinizzle · Post by **Shinizzle** » Fri Jul 28, 2023 6:59 pm

Use a NAS and connect with Cat6 cable to the network, make sure everything is Cat6 too to get the 1Gbit speeds. If using RAID 5 or more you get the redundancy. Couple that with the NAS writing to a cloud account (OneDrive,Dropbox or whatever the nas supports ) and you have off-site as well.

soulata · Post by **soulata** » Mon Jul 31, 2023 12:49 pm

I'm probably a pretty bad backupist/backuper(?).

I have most of my projects backed up in two locations but whenever I tried to remix or reuse anything it did not prove to be of much worth.

Missing plugins, some audio tracks not exported properly...

One has to really check this stuff before backing it up for good. I, apparently, don't.

whyterabbyt · Post by **whyterabbyt** » Mon Jul 31, 2023 1:02 pm

THE INTRANCER wrote: Tue Jul 25, 2023 9:51 pm So for those that back up to their backup hard drives, what format do you use and how big for instance are your zipped files?

Dont backup multiple files/folders to a zip file (or any other single-file archive format, especially a compressed one) unless you somehow think making your backups less safe than your original files is a good idea.

jamcat · Post by **jamcat** » Mon Jul 31, 2023 9:54 pm

The absolute worst thing to use is backup software that writes to a proprietary solid archive. That’s one way to ensure you won’t be able to actually retrieve your files again should your system go down.

The best solution is backup software that simply copies your data as-is to a separate hard drive.

Michael L · Post by **Michael L** » Mon Jul 31, 2023 10:42 pm

jamcat wrote: Mon Jul 31, 2023 9:54 pm The absolute worst thing to use is backup software that writes to a proprietary solid archive. That’s one way to ensure you won’t be able to actually retrieve your files again should your system go down. The best solution is backup software that simply copies your data as-is to a separate hard drive.

+1. I regularly retrieve files from backups due to software updates with bugs or incompatibilities, human error in deleting files, etc. so being able to quickly find a file is important. I use Time Machine that backs up only the latest changes, but shows a full system snapshot at every backup date.

vstdls · Post by **vstdls** » Mon Jul 31, 2023 11:18 pm

Individual hard drives will always die, just like you and me. Could be tomorrow, could be in 50+ years. (Or shorter in my case.)

I think TrueNas ($0) is probably the easiest and most affordable way to set yourself up with redundant storage in your home network. You will need a (can be very old) computer, a network cable, and a multiple of 2 drives of identical size. With HDD prices how they are, you are looking at alot of bang for your buck in regards to redundant storage.

Like RAID10, you lose half your capacity to redundancy, so 4x "8TB" drives will net you about "16TB" in storage space...but right now you can pick that up qty for about $400US.

https://www.truenas.com/truenas-core/

Might be a little bit of an initial outlay, but if you think through what other options look like (single drives via sata to USB) and cost (Synology NAS boxes), it's very a inexpensive and robust solution for backups, as well as giving you the ability to sync to cloud storage providers as well (for an offsite).

Gavincoolguy · Post by **Gavincoolguy** » Mon Jul 31, 2023 11:50 pm

I really think everyone should have the two terrabytes offered by Google with One for $100 a year. I'm more a computer guy really and I can't find a better deal. Bonus you get actual customer service from Google because you are now a customer which is huge of you also use Gmail. Pair google with a deep freeze backup where the cost comes mainly when exfiltrating data and as far as I'm concerned your remote backup is set. Keep your storage in your local machine and a external hard drive. If the external hard drive isn't in a case with a fan dont leave it plugged in heat kills drives faster than anything besides dropping it. Leave that external drive unplugged anyways because if you get a virus that encrypts your data there is a good chance it will reach your cloud storage but your fully offline unplugged drive will remain untouched. If you care at all about the longevity of your data these are the minimum steps. If you are exceeding 2tb in audio data that needs to be protected don't handle it yourself at all you are really a business and backups are now a business expense.

Gavincoolguy · Post by **Gavincoolguy** » Mon Jul 31, 2023 11:57 pm

soulata wrote: Mon Jul 31, 2023 12:49 pm I'm probably a pretty bad backupist/backuper(?).

I have most of my projects backed up in two locations but whenever I tried to remix or reuse anything it did not prove to be of much worth.

Missing plugins, some audio tracks not exported properly...

One has to really check this stuff before backing it up for good. I, apparently, don't.

I'd stop now and make a database of all the plugins I own, who made them, where to download them and login information. Download everything that isn't some online installer back those up any updates come out backup the new versions as well. Between licensing schemes, versioning problems, code rewrites etc etc you have to backup every single thing you use per song or it will def not work in 5 years and you probably can't track down the right combination of versions.

BONES · Post by **BONES** » Tue Aug 01, 2023 12:28 am

I thought this was going to be a poll. I'd have voted "die" because I hate backing up.

soulata · Post by **soulata** » Tue Aug 01, 2023 9:12 am

Gavincoolguy wrote: Mon Jul 31, 2023 11:57 pm
soulata wrote: Mon Jul 31, 2023 12:49 pm I'm probably a pretty bad backupist/backuper(?).

I have most of my projects backed up in two locations but whenever I tried to remix or reuse anything it did not prove to be of much worth.

Missing plugins, some audio tracks not exported properly...

One has to really check this stuff before backing it up for good. I, apparently, don't.
I'd stop now and make a database of all the plugins I own, who made them, where to download them and login information. Download everything that isn't some online installer back those up any updates come out backup the new versions as well. Between licensing schemes, versioning problems, code rewrites etc etc you have to backup every single thing you use per song or it will def not work in 5 years and you probably can't track down the right combination of versions.

Yes!

I'm in the process of making that list and getting rid of redundant plugins.

I'm not that worried about old sessions, really. Those songs are out and earned their money, I'm more concerned about making new stuff which I don't as much temporarily.

Which means less income.

Google drive is what I use, too. But not for audio related stuff.

Backup Or Die