[AccessD] apocalypse someday...

Jim Lawrence accessd at shaw.ca
Sun Mar 9 18:59:56 CDT 2014


Hi John:

In your case, doing a client's backup from start to finish across the web would be insanity. If the clients are producing one of two TB of data a day then it is also impossible. ...But seeding first, and then syncing across the web or if you are doing a network backup...I tend to setup something locally for the client and then sometimes I would monitor the latest day's invoicing. If you are using scary huge data you should be getting serious getting a real backup system: http://www.ixsystems.com/techsnap

One client had a IXSystem installed a little while ago: http://www.ixsystems.com/storage/freenas. Check out the FreeNAS Mini as the price does not seem excessive.

If you are creating huge amounts of data and need to back it up maybe you should have a NAS box setup? If you need absolute reliability maybe you should be looking at various RAID technologies. Here is a link a great RAID reliability calculator: 

http://www.servethehome.com/raid-calculator/raid-reliability-calculator-simple-mttdl-model

Note: If you are using RAID 6 or RAID Z3 (ZFS), the chances of losing data is zero or almost zero.

Jim  

----- Original Message -----
From: "John W Colby" <jwcolby at gmail.com>
To: "Access Developers discussion and problem solving" <accessd at databaseadvisors.com>
Sent: Sunday, March 9, 2014 3:27:31 PM
Subject: Re: [AccessD] apocalypse someday...

Yes but...

Try moving a hundred gig file up to the web over a 5 mbit up link (the speed my client purchased).  
And then try getting it back again if needed.

Yes I could see something like "my docs" where you have 10,000 files of a few kbytes each average.  
It would still take a long time to get up there (in total) but getting any individual file is quick 
and easy.

So you have to know what you are trying to do and think carefully about the implications.  In my 
case I wanted to store database backups, but each database is tens of gigs.  It just doesn't work.

John W. Colby

Reality is what refuses to go away
when you do not believe in it

On 3/9/2014 1:23 PM, Jim Lawrence wrote:
> Hi John:
>
> The initial install of a set of directories is as always going to be slow as there is generally a lot of data to be moved. That is where, seeding the destination directory via portable drive or just allowing the destination storage to trickle fill will start everything from a knowing base.
>
> ...After that though the changes of a file or two ripple across the network quietly in the background.
>
> Jim
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "John W Colby" <jwcolby at gmail.com>
> To: "Access Developers discussion and problem solving" <accessd at databaseadvisors.com>
> Sent: Saturday, March 8, 2014 11:53:15 AM
> Subject: Re: [AccessD] apocalypse someday...
>
> And local is just fine, but up to the cloud will always be limited to your internet speed.
>
> John W. Colby
>
> Reality is what refuses to go away
> when you do not believe in it
>
> On 3/8/2014 2:32 PM, Jim Lawrence wrote:
>> Hi John and others
>>
>> I have been using BitTorrent Sync to encrypt and synchronize all my files. You just create or attach a directory on one machine and repeat it on another. It does not matter whether the directories are on the network, Cloud or somewhere across the internet.
>>
>> All that is needed is a "key" and that key can signify whether the directories are always synced, synced one-way or just synced for a 24 hour period. On both ends there is a hidden archive the saves a copy of changed or deleted files in case of a misadventure. The product is fully supported on all platforms and is very fast. If you are transferring files to a number of station simultaneously, it uses the resources of all the stations (standard BitTorrent) so syncing is limited only by the capabilities of the hardware...very fast. Of course it is absolutely secure; AES 256 encryption.
>>
>> http://labs.bittorrent.com/
>>
>> ...and...
>>
>> http://www.bittorrent.com/sync/downloads
>>
>> Jim
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "John W Colby" <jwcolby at gmail.com>
>> To: "Access Developers discussion and problem solving" <accessd at databaseadvisors.com>
>> Sent: Saturday, March 8, 2014 8:23:51 AM
>> Subject: Re: [AccessD] apocalypse someday...
>>
>> Boxcryptor creates an encrypted container in dropbox.  It then mounts that container as a drive so
>> that you can see the files contained in the encrypted file. Changes to files in the mounted drive
>> cause the boxcryptor container file in DropBox to change, and are therefore automatically synced by
>> Dropbox.  The biggest problem (there is no free lunch) is that it is the boxcryptor file that is
>> synced, not the individual files inside of the boxcryptor file.  Thus the overhead of the sync is
>> greater, i.e. one large file is synced (the boxcryptor container), not one small file (the document
>> you edited).
>>
>> However it is not intended for encrypting your music, pictures and videos, only business (sensitive)
>> information.
>>
>> Dropbox really needs to do a better job of syncing just changed parts of files.  ATM (AFAICT) they
>> resend the whole file, even if you just change a single character.
>>
>> John W. Colby
>>
>> Reality is what refuses to go away
>> when you do not believe in it
>>
>> On 3/8/2014 10:47 AM, Doug Steele wrote:
>>> Hi John:
>>>
>>> I had a look at BoxCryptor and their video.  That makes it sound like the
>>> BoxCryptor software doesn't track changes to files in the BoxCryptor drive.
>>>     They only mention copying files to BoxCryptor.  Does that mean that you
>>> lose real-time syncing of changes?  If you open a Word document that is
>>> stored in BoxCryptor, edit, then do a File/Save, does the new file version
>>> get re-encrypted automatically?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Sat, Mar 8, 2014 at 7:30 AM, John W Colby <jwcolby at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Another problem with Dropbox is security, the stored contents are not
>>>> encrypted.  I use BoxCryptor to encrypt sensitive files up on drop box.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> John W. Colby
>>>>
>>>> Reality is what refuses to go away
>>>> when you do not believe in it
>>>>
>>>> On 3/8/2014 10:24 AM, Doug Steele wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I have a desktop at home and use a laptop when I'm away.  I use Dropbox
>>>>> for
>>>>> syncing - all my working files are in my Dropbox folder.  That syncs
>>>>> continuously on any file changes when I'm connected to the Internet, and
>>>>> also means I have three identical copies of every file - one on each
>>>>> computer and one in the cloud.
>>>>>
>>>>> The only gotcha is if you open a file on the two computers simultaneously
>>>>> and make changes to both.  You end up with two copies of the file - one
>>>>> labelled 'Conflicted Copy'.  That's happened to me a few times when I've
>>>>> made changes at home, then forgotten to close the file and later made
>>>>> changes on the laptop away from home.
>>>>>
>>>>> Doug
>>>>>
>>>>> PS Speaking of backing up different hardware configurations, here's one
>>>>> distinct advantage to Macs, where Apple controls the hardware with an iron
>>>>> fist.  Both my computers are Macs (I run Windows on Parallels).  A full
>>>>> backup of either of my computers will restore to either machine just fine.
>>>>>      As well as the standard Time Capsule continuous backup that Apple
>>>>> provides, I use a program called Super Duper for regular, offline backups
>>>>> to USB drives.  The drives are fully bootable - this has saved my bacon a
>>>>> couple of times.  I had a hard drive failure recently, so all I did was
>>>>> plug in a backup drive, boot to it, recover the files I needed, install a
>>>>> new HD, restore the system with the last good Time Capsule backup, then
>>>>> copy my recovered files back.  The whole process took less than an hour,
>>>>> not counting the HD replacement.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Fri, Mar 7, 2014 at 10:33 PM, Bill Benson <bensonforums at gmail.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>     I use a DELL laptop with port replicator and dual monitors, external
>>>>>> kb/trackball... and this in general gives me all the look and feel and
>>>>>> performance of a desktop machine. However we developers need to build for
>>>>>> lesser performing client (customer) systems anyway, so that if a solution
>>>>>> is fast for us, we know it will be at least almost-fast for our customer,
>>>>>> and not the other way around. That said, there are some reasons to use a
>>>>>> desktop machine, and that is durability... If you are like me, you may
>>>>>> have
>>>>>> lost a laptop HD a time or two. Having a desktop running dual drives with
>>>>>> RAID 3 would have been nice at such times. Also, the faster spin and huge
>>>>>> capacities of desktop HDDs is a plus, as are the plethora of ports and
>>>>>> (generally) better ports. Laptops are, due to form factor and nature,
>>>>>> skimpy on ports.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> If I knew of a simple way to keep dual systems in synch in terms of
>>>>>> programs and OS and data, there is no way I would use a laptop as a home
>>>>>> system, I would use it only when moving around the house to "run" my
>>>>>> desktop remotely, if for no other reason than data protection. But the
>>>>>> time
>>>>>> cost of keeping everything I want in two places is prohibitive, and I
>>>>>> live
>>>>>> with the risk of data shock with everything on one system (laptop). I
>>>>>> compensate by regular full system backups, but if my laptop becomes
>>>>>> obsolete, that multi-partition backup probably will not be able to get
>>>>>> recovered to a new one. Happened just last year, my E6510 could not be
>>>>>> recovered to a E6530... although I have heard that with the 2014 edition
>>>>>> of
>>>>>> Acronis True Image one can recover from one hardware configuration to
>>>>>> another. I have my doubts.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Fri, Mar 7, 2014 at 11:31 PM, John W Colby <jwcolby at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     LOL, my HP laptop has the worst keyboard I have EVER run into.  I use a
>>>>>>> wireless keyboard and mouse.  The laptop is propped up against the wall
>>>>>>>
>>>>>> at
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> the edge of the table, completely out of the way.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> John W. Colby
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Reality is what refuses to go away
>>>>>>> when you do not believe in it
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On 3/7/2014 11:23 PM, Stuart McLachlan wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>     I'm the same.  I do all of my work on a laptop with external mouse
>>>>>>>> (wireless) and second
>>>>>>>> monitor attached   (the laptop primary screen is 15.6in - 1366 x 768).
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I don't bother with an external keyboard since the laptop has a full
>>>>>>>> keyboard with numeric
>>>>>>>> keypad.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
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