Re: [PLUG] Backup drive fails suddenly
On Fri, 31 Dec 2021, Paul Mullen wrote: The problem might not be with the hard drive. USB enclosures have a mixed reliabilty record, in my experience. Do you have another enclosure you can use to test the drive, or a SATA-to-USB cable? Hi Paul, I may have such a cable; it's likely that I do. In the meantime I'll set up the Mediasonic because it has more capacity (for everything, not just backups) and there'll be one less item on the desktop occupying an electrical outlet. Thanks for the suggestion, Rich
Re: [PLUG] Switch ISP to CenturyLink
On Wed, 29 Dec 2021, a...@clueserver.org wrote: IPv6 is supported. I did a short write-up of getting IPv6 working for me on CenturyLink. The first part of the article is general setup on the company-provided Zyxel C3000 router, while the second part is specific to FreeBSD: https://www.madboa.com/blog/2020/08/29/freebsd-ipv6/ -- Paul Heinlein heinl...@madboa.com 45.38° N, 122.59° W
Re: [PLUG] Backup drive fails suddenly
On Fri, Dec 31, 2021 at 06:43:25AM -0800, Rich Shepard wrote: > Today's logs reported that dirvish could not find the config files on the > external USB backup drive. Trying to mount it, root cannot find it: > # mount /mnt/backup > mount: can't find UUID=6e95864b-6291-4148-acd3-627542c8318f > > Is there any way to recover from this or do I buy a new drive and set it up > for dirvish? If the latter I'm open to recommendations. The problem might not be with the hard drive. USB enclosures have a mixed reliabilty record, in my experience. Do you have another enclosure you can use to test the drive, or a SATA-to-USB cable? (A SATA-to-USB adapter cable comes in really handy in this sort of situation: https://www.pchcables.com/usb30tycto2s.html) -- Paul
Re: [PLUG] Backup drive fails suddenly
On Fri, 31 Dec 2021, John Jason Jordan wrote: Some computers and external drive bays have RAID capability built into their BIOS, commonly referred to as 'hardware RAID.' The alternative, 'software RAID,' is accomplished with mdadm at the command line. John, I'll use software. I currently have two Synology enclosures and one Mediasonic, each with two Western Digital spinny disks, and they work flawlessly. The one with the problem is an enclosure that holds two PCI cards, each of which has two 8TB nvme drives, with the enclosure connected to the computer via Thunderbolt 3. All are RAID0 with mdadm. This is my week for new, distracting issues; two vehicular and two computer. So I need to learn how to fix the sudden inability to paste highlighted text into a PLUG message to get the Mediasonic probox working as backup. It now has a virtual volume for all 4 drives, sdc, sdd, sde, and sdf. When I can paste the outputs from lspci, lsblk, and vgdisplay folks here can teach me how to make two virtual groups (bays 1,2 and 3,4) get the UUID for the latter so it can be entered into /etc/fstab and mounted. Then I can install dirvish on it and start making backups again. Hope 2022 keeps you healthy, safe, and satisfied, Rich
Re: [PLUG] Backup exclusions?
On Thu, Dec 30, 2021 at 04:15:50PM -0800, Russell Senior wrote: > It seems slightly weird to me to be excluding files literally (and I > mean "literally" literally, not figuratively) intended as backups from > backups. Dirvish has exclude lists; it is safer to specify which drives to backup or not backup in the config file, rather than add complicated extra code to figure out which drive(s) or partition(s) to exclude. I make daily incrementals to one machine, weekly incrementals to another, and make an occasional backup drive copy for a safety deposit box at my bank. Except not lately, during COVID I avoid the bank, and all other airspaces that may contain shouting maskless morons. Note for anyone using VERY LARGE hard drives for dirvish in this way: format the drive with a shit-ton of extra inodes, or you will use those up long before you run out of data sectors. Perhaps there are file system types that can reconfigure data space into extra inodes, and also reconfigure around emerging patches of failed disk; this would be handy to fill a large backup drive chock full. Second note: Solid state drives seem attractive for backups, but they haven't been around long enough for all the very-long-term failure modes to be discovered. Using both magnetic and solid-state backup media may be safest for the wealthy and ultra-paranoid. Third note: I liked dirvish so much that I hosted it for more than a decade. Last year, I completed arrangements for a new SABDFL in New Zealand. Backup your backup software in a different hemisphere, in a nation that takes pandemics seriously. Keith -- Keith Lofstrom kei...@keithl.com
Re: [PLUG] Backup drive fails suddenly
On Fri, 31 Dec 2021 08:22:35 -0800 (PST) Rich Shepard dijo: >I've not before used any RAID so please suggest a version and I'll >search the Web for how to implement it on the Mediasonic's bays 3 and >4. Some computers and external drive bays have RAID capability built into their BIOS, commonly referred to as 'hardware RAID.' The alternative, 'software RAID,' is accomplished with mdadm at the command line. The mdadm tool has been around for ages and I've personally been using it for at least ten years. But one of my current RAID setups appears to have a bug because suddenly it will disappear. Maybe the bug is an incompatibility with the OS (Xubuntu 20.04). It happens only two or three times a year, and it fixes itself on rebooting. I currently have two Synology enclosures and one Mediasonic, each with two Western Digital spinny disks, and they work flawlessly. The one with the problem is an enclosure that holds two PCI cards, each of which has two 8TB nvme drives, with the enclosure connected to the computer via Thunderbolt 3. All are RAID0 with mdadm.
Re: [PLUG] Backup drive fails suddenly
On Fri, 31 Dec 2021, Bill Barry wrote: If you have multiple drives with ample storage a raid configuration is nice. It allows you to quickly recover when a drive fails. Bill, Of the 2.1T available 350G have been used for both the OS (on the SSD) and the user data on the hard drive. This suggests that I can assign the two WD Blue 1T drives for a RAID backup. I've not before used any RAID so please suggest a version and I'll search the Web for how to implement it on the Mediasonic's bays 3 and 4. Thanks again, Rich
Re: [PLUG] Backup drive fails suddenly
On Fri, Dec 31, 2021, 9:27 AM Rich Shepard wrote: > On Fri, 31 Dec 2021, Bill Barry wrote: > > > I would think that depends on budget and how critical the backup is. A > > remote backup is a very good idea to protect against fire etc. SSDs are > > really fast and reliable. Platters are cheaper. > > Bill, > > I don't need to buy anything new. I have a Mediasonic Probox with a couple > of Seagate Barracuda's 2T and a couple of WD Blue's 1T that I've not yet > needed. I can make one of these drives the backup and install dirvish on > it. > > Regards, > > Rich > If you have multiple drives with ample storage a raid configuration is nice. It allows you to quickly recover when a drive fails. Bill >
Re: [PLUG] Backup drive fails suddenly
On Fri, 31 Dec 2021, Bill Barry wrote: I would think that depends on budget and how critical the backup is. A remote backup is a very good idea to protect against fire etc. SSDs are really fast and reliable. Platters are cheaper. Bill, I don't need to buy anything new. I have a Mediasonic Probox with a couple of Seagate Barracuda's 2T and a couple of WD Blue's 1T that I've not yet needed. I can make one of these drives the backup and install dirvish on it. Regards, Rich
Re: [PLUG] Backup drive fails suddenly
On Fri, Dec 31, 2021, 9:05 AM Rich Shepard wrote: > On Fri, 31 Dec 2021, Bill Barry wrote: > > > You should first confirm that it is not the cable or the USB port. > > Bill, > > Good point, but I don't have another cable. The enclosure end is > square-ish, > not a USB type A or C. But, I moved the computer end from the hub to the > desktop and it still won't mount. > > The one desktop has a 100G SSB for the OS and a 2T hard drive for /home, > /opt, and /data. Dirvish does incremental daily backups so I assume that a > 2T hard drive would have plenty of capacity as I keep backups for only one > month. For a replacement: SSD or platters? > > > > Thanks, > > Rich. > I would think that depends on budget and how critical the backup is. A remote backup is a very good idea to protect against fire etc. SSDs are really fast and reliable. Platters are cheaper. Bill >
Re: [PLUG] Backup drive fails suddenly
On Fri, 31 Dec 2021, Bill Barry wrote: You should first confirm that it is not the cable or the USB port. Bill, Good point, but I don't have another cable. The enclosure end is square-ish, not a USB type A or C. But, I moved the computer end from the hub to the desktop and it still won't mount. The one desktop has a 100G SSB for the OS and a 2T hard drive for /home, /opt, and /data. Dirvish does incremental daily backups so I assume that a 2T hard drive would have plenty of capacity as I keep backups for only one month. For a replacement: SSD or platters? Thanks, Rich
Re: [PLUG] Backup drive fails suddenly
On Fri, Dec 31, 2021, 8:43 AM Rich Shepard wrote: > Today's logs reported that dirvish could not find the config files on the > external USB backup drive. Trying to mount it, root cannot find it: > # mount /mnt/backup > mount: can't find UUID=6e95864b-6291-4148-acd3-627542c8318f > > Is there any way to recover from this or do I buy a new drive and set it up > for dirvish? If the latter I'm open to recommendations. > > The existing drive has 2T capacity; I don't recall the brand. > > > > Rich. > You should first confirm that it is not the cable or the USB port. Bill > > >
[PLUG] Backup drive fails suddenly
Today's logs reported that dirvish could not find the config files on the external USB backup drive. Trying to mount it, root cannot find it: # mount /mnt/backup mount: can't find UUID=6e95864b-6291-4148-acd3-627542c8318f Is there any way to recover from this or do I buy a new drive and set it up for dirvish? If the latter I'm open to recommendations. The existing drive has 2T capacity; I don't recall the brand. Rich
