[mythtv-users] warning for anyone with western digital green drives

[Mike Perkins]

On 16/02/12 17:45, PJR wrote:
> Jeff, I really want a totally self contained backup system, ie one that
> runs on the FE/BE server not on another machine. I also need the backup
> to be scheduled by waking up on RTC alarm (as is the FE/BE server for
> recordings). As I said I thought RAID was a 'simple' answer to my
> requirements but it seems it isn't.
>
Of course, if you run your backup process on the same system that you're backing 
up, you're leaving yourself open to failures which affect the box, aren't you? 
Unless you have access to a tape system which can hold your Terabytes of video, 
that's going to leave you in a similar position to no backup at all, or at least 
make it very difficult to recover.

Suppose your motherboard blows, or the fan in your PSU catches fire? Don't 
laugh, it *does* happen. A proper backup ought to be in another box at least, 
over the network. (If you're paranoid, it ought to be in another room, or on a 
separate UPS system, or in a basement cupboard with a sign saying "beware of the 
leopard" on it... just joking.) (Even then, your disks/tapes should be stored 
off-site.)

Consider what kind of failure modes you might get, and plan accordingly. If you 
don't, then you might just as well have no backup at all.

-- 

Mike Perkins