> From: Nick Arnett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On > > Behalf Of Kevin Tarr > > > > I have two seperate questions, the first may relate to Ronn's problems. > > 1. Over the last year my niece and nephew have gone through four hard > > drives. These were name brand, WD, store bought hard drives. Two of the > > failures were instantanious, two built up over weeks until it was obvious > > that something was wrong. Is there any notices about hard drive failures? > > The real question: what do you experts do to look ahead for > > problems? I know > > I can't get teenagers to do any weekly checks, but could these > > problems been > > avoided? > > RAID-1 isn't very expensive any more, so that's what I'm using for critical > backups and such. I have a Promise ATA-100 RAID-1 controller and a pair of > inexpensive 60 GB hard disks connected to it. I'm not sure what the total > cost is, but it certainly isn't anything like what it was just a few years > ago. And it gives me great peace of mind, knowing that my backups are > redundant. I've considered switching all my desktop machines to RAID-1, > although my database drive would require a very expensive controller, as > it's a top-end SCSI drive.
So what happens when lightning strikes your telephone line, fries your UPS, fries your surge protector, fries your computer, and the raid array? Or a fire? The _ONLY_ answer is off site hard-copy backups, (cd, tape, etc.) > > 2. From Alberto's message, I was wondering about something. From > > the little > > work I did with NT, it seemed like passwords were hidden. If a > > user lost or > > forgot his password, the only thing a sysadmin could do is reset the users > > system, the user had to input a new password. The sysadmin > > couldn't see what > > the actual password was. I take it that this is not true accross all > > systems? Obviously if I lost my password for Amazon.com, it could be > > e-mailed to me, but I just figured that some hidden mechanism was involved > > in this. My password was kept on the system but no person other than me > > could see it. Just wondering. > > The answer is "it depends." On most systems, passwords are stored encrypted > and so they can only be discovered with brute force. However, on-line > systems have to be able to either store them in the clear or include a > decryption mechanism when someone needs a to know their password. You > really have to assume that there is at least one sysadmin, probably more, > who has acess to your password for an on-line service, unless you see a > notice that if you lose your password, either you'll have to start over or > be issued a completely new one. Then *maybe* not. > > Speaking of such things, I cancelled an long-distance service that sent me > my password in e-mail every month, along with my billing notice. I liked > the idea of on-line bills (anything to reduce paper!), but these idiots > couldn't seem to understand why I didn't want them routinely e-mailing my > password in e-mail, which goes in the clear, not encrypted. After a couple > of efforts to convince them, I gave up and switched. > > Now, having said all that, I'll add that if you're the NSA, you can probably > crack anything... Nope. ROTFLMAOALALALALALAL. http://stats.distributed.net/rc5-64/
