Automatic Duplication of Files

The way I protect my files from hard drive failure is using an automatic duplication system.

Instead of a storing my active files on a single hard drive, I use a solution that couples hardware or software with multiple hard drives. When I save a file on a “volume”, I see one volume on my computer, but that volume is actually two or more hard drives that my duplication system controls and presents to the computer as a single volume. And when I write a file to it that volume, it automatically writes it to at least two separate hard drives.

This is the first...and most important layer in protecting my photographs. Hard drives all fail eventually, and this is the most likely disaster I’ll encounter.

With a good automatic duplication system, when a single hard drive fails, I won’t lose any files because an exact copy (including my directory structure) is on a separate hard drive. And if I’ve chosen a good automatic duplication system, it should be easy to install a new drive and tell the system to use that drive in place of the old drive. A new duplicate of my files will be made automatically, and I can keep using my files with minimal down time.

Some examples of an automatic duplication system are RAID 1, RAID 5, and the drobo.

From the poll answers, I’m guessing few of you are using one of these solutions. The far more common approach is to only have one hard drive with a copy of the active files, then do a “backup” using a hard drive, CD, DVD, or online backup solutions. If that’s what you are doing, you are exposing yourself to a lot of risk, and I’ll explain how.


Risk One - Out-Of-Date Duplicate

Since your duplicate copy is not automatic, it is always out of date. The more out-of-date it is, the more data you lose when your hard drive fails.

Basically you’re being a human RAID 1, which is a boring job description...you’re not going to be as good at it as a computer, and the pay is horrible.

Seriously, how diligent are you about making a copy of every file you work on to your hard drive, CD, or DVD duplicate? How many times have you had only one copy of a file for days, weeks, or months? How much will you lose if your hard drive crashes right now?

Sure, you could make a copy of your hard dive every night, but the larger your hard drive gets, the longer that takes, and the less likely you are to do it. Basically you’re back to being a human RAID 1, doing what you should be automating.

Risk Two - Restoring

Let’s say you are very diligent about making duplicate copies of your files. The next challenge is restoring a copy of your hard drive from all of those files, recreating the directory structure, and making sure you have the most current file (while possibly weeding out dozens of older files). In a worst case scenario, you MIGHT be able to do it, but why put yourself in that situation?

I had to do this once, back in 1998 with a 8.6 GB hard drive, and I NEVER want to have to do that again. Trust me, you don’t either....and you’ll never find ALL of the pieces.

Doing anything other than a complete copy of your hard drive is a Humpty Dumpty backup. When the hard drive fails, all the kings horses and all the kings men are going to have a lot of pieces to try to fit back together. Even if you have all the pieces, it’s going to be hard...but you will lose some pieces.

The reality is that without an automatic duplication system, 99.9% of you are at a high risk of losing some or all of your files. Read that again and let it sink in.

All hard drives fail, and there is no way to predict when it will be. It will usually be at the worst possible moment.

The best protection is an automatic file duplication system. I wouldn’t store my files without one. In the next installment, we’ll look at some systems you can buy, and evaluate strengths and weaknesses that will show you which solution to purchase.