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Do I really need two copies of every ripped CD - an archival and a working one?


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1) RAID is not backup -- I neglected to write that I *also* use rsync to intermittently copy changed files to a backup drive. This drive can be mounted and unmounted as desired.
When you first suggest "Mirror your drives." it suggests that RAID is an acceptable backup solution.

 

2) ZFS in particular most certainly DOES detect and protect against data corruption. Using snapshots you can most certainly protect against accidental/malicious changes to files in a very low cost fashion -- read about it.

True errors on one drive are NOT automatically propagated to the other drive -- the block checksums won't match. Since ZFS is copy on write, using frequent snapshots creates very very low overhead -- like an automatic time machine in OS X terms.

 

3) ZFS has been in use and has been long entrusted to data far more important than any audio you have on your system.

Yes, ZFS should be suitable for use today, and it should be relatively safe from corruption.

Snapshots are good, but I'd still be hesitant to rely on them alone, rather than use an external backup.

Setting up ZFS is not a trivial task for people that are not Linux-literate either.

 

Assuming you keep your source discs e.g. CD, you don't really need to also backup your audio. The most important data that I have are our family photos and videos. ZFS and intermittent rsync with a drive kept at an alternate location.
I completely disagree with this, regarding storing the original CDs.

Original CDs are a last resort for me.

 

For every TB of music, that is approximately 2000 CDs.

Even if it takes 6 minutes to rip every CD, that is 200 hours to re-rip all of those discs.

It's worth paying the cost of the extra drives rather than re-ripping my whole library again.

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For those interested in ZFS: BSD based systems such as FreeNAS is a good place to start...

 

Eloise

Eloise

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...in my opinion / experience...

While I agree "Everything may matter" working out what actually affects the sound is a trickier thing.

And I agree "Trust your ears" but equally don't allow them to fool you - trust them with a bit of skepticism.

keep your mind open... But mind your brain doesn't fall out.

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Thanks for everybody's input! Although I must admit this discussion strayed a bit off its initial course, it's always useful to get some general backup recommendations. And whilst on the topic of general recommendations, I'd like to hear your opinion on this simple strategy I cаme across on the internet:

 

David29 reviewed on 24 Feb 2014

This is BY FAR the most useful and cost-effective piece of software that any Mac User could buy. Period.

I have used Macs since the 128k Mac in 1984. I have helped hundreds of people set their Macs up. I have run ITs groups for entire companies. I've tried just about every piece of backup software there is and the is The best out there, by far.

I recommend to everyone who owns a Mac to buy an external hard drive with a capacity of at least 2x the capacity of their internal drive. Create two partitions on the external, one should be the same size as the internal drive, the other should use the rest of the disk. The first partition should be used by Super Duper for creating a full backup of their internal drive, and the second partition can be used for Time Machine.

This is just about the safest and most convenient setup you could have.

Why bother? A key distinction is that SuperDuper can create a fully bootable backup of your internal drive. (You cannot boot from a Time Machine disk.) If something goes wrong with your internal drive, you can simply boot up off the external backup made by Super Duper! I tell clients to let Time Machine run every hour, and set up Super Duper to perform a Smart Update (of the backup) maybe every few days, or a week. This system has worked flawlessly for everyone that has employed it.

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I recommend to everyone who owns a Mac to buy an external hard drive with a capacity of at least 2x the capacity of their internal drive. Create two partitions on the external, one should be the same size as the internal drive, the other should use the rest of the disk. The first partition should be used by Super Duper for creating a full backup of their internal drive, and the second partition can be used for Time Machine.

 

Why bother? A key distinction is that SuperDuper can create a fully bootable backup of your internal drive. (You cannot boot from a Time Machine disk.) If something goes wrong with your internal drive, you can simply boot up off the external backup made by Super Duper! I tell clients to let Time Machine run every hour, and set up Super Duper to perform a Smart Update (of the backup) maybe every few days, or a week. This system has worked flawlessly for everyone that has employed it.

 

 

That's certainly one smart way to go.

 

Note, too, that Carbon Copy Cloner is an alternative to SuperDuper. Over the years, both have nearly always been reviewed together, with one reviewer preferring one over the other, but always saying both apps are great.

 

For me, CCC has been rock solid, and I use it regularly for backing up my internal drives and external music drives. I like the option to make backups either time-sensitive -- every hour, every day, every week, etc. -- or manual, which is typically my choice.

 

If you have a Mac, get one of those apps. Yes!

 

Dave, who perhaps goes overboard by having three large external Thunderbolt connected hard disk drives with various backups connected to his work iMac at which he is typing right now

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Music is love, made audible.

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