Re: Western Digital HD
I have three WD drives internally apart from the Apple one in my machine and resently purchased a MyBook 1.5TB The MyBook has been working perfectly for about 2 weeks and has now lost the firewire controller. Took it back to PLE who confirmed the Firewire controller seems dead. The drives themselves still have data on them fine which was a relief but I only have USB1 on my work machine. So this has been my first hiccup with the WB brand and the drives themselves are still fine. I have no idea what happened to the controlled. The warranty will only cover the drive as a unit not the case which means how I have to find room to return the data to my machine and before I erase the drive and get it swapped for a new one. This does make me wonder how useful this is going to be as a backup drive as a full 1.5 TB with any dead controller is going to be absoultely useless as I won't have the room to return the data WEZ! -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml Guidelines - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml Unsubscribe - mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Western Digital HD
For those in the IT business, the concept of the Grandfather, Father Son backup is the most TRUSTED form of traditional backup. A single backup copy is really no backup at all for the reasons described below - it is also insecure as when you do your next backup, you write over your only existing backup and if anything fails in the process, you risk losing it all. Therefore you always need at least twice the backup space (grandfather and father copies) for the device you want to backup (the son). You only ever backup to the grandfather device, which you then rename the father, with the current father device being renamed as the grandfather. (...and keep them in separate physical places) I recently purchased 2 x 500GB WD mechanisms from Austin Computers for $139 each, so you can't really complain about the price! BTW - best to have two similar cases, preferably screwless, but easy entry with internal power supply (Sarotech brand have been good for me) and just exchange the mechanisms as needed. (Most of the time my backup cases never have the tops on as I am changing the mechanisms regularly...) Better to spend a bit more on a couple of good quality cases and then you're only up for the mechanisms which are dirt cheap. Regards, BRett On 12/12/2007, at 8:44 PM, Wez wrote: I have three WD drives internally apart from the Apple one in my machine and resently purchased a MyBook 1.5TB The MyBook has been working perfectly for about 2 weeks and has now lost the firewire controller. Took it back to PLE who confirmed the Firewire controller seems dead. The drives themselves still have data on them fine which was a relief but I only have USB1 on my work machine. So this has been my first hiccup with the WB brand and the drives themselves are still fine. I have no idea what happened to the controlled. The warranty will only cover the drive as a unit not the case which means how I have to find room to return the data to my machine and before I erase the drive and get it swapped for a new one. This does make me wonder how useful this is going to be as a backup drive as a full 1.5 TB with any dead controller is going to be absoultely useless as I won't have the room to return the data WEZ! -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml Guidelines - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml Unsubscribe - mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml Guidelines - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml Unsubscribe - mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
backups Re: Western Digital HD
How we work (in theory though not always in practice): 1: master image for machine - initial machine setup is backed up to allow system restore. This image is stored in our remote management system to allow the machine to be reimaged (or for new identical machines to be imaged exactly the same way.) this is kept until the machine (or all similar machines) are disposed of at the end of their life, new, additional, images are built for major system updates. For home users this not so critical a restore from CD/DVD is acceptable but most machines here are default setup rather than highly customised like our users, what I would do instead as a home mac user though is after the machine is setup and configured, all applications are installed (or migrated from old computer) and user data is migrated from old computer I'd take a external drive, install a bootable OS of a version identical to the new machine and then use the setup migrate to make this system a full recovery/restore volume so that in the event of internal hard disk failure you can recover your OS, applications and data up to this point, then take this disk and store it off line (and preferably off site). Probably each year you should buy a new hard disk and repeat this process. 2: grandfather user data backup - User profile (all user data) is then backed up, the disk is removed from the system and stored off site for 1 year before being bought back and recycled (theoretically this should be on a different type of media [tape instead of disk] or at least a different brand of media [ie WD instead of seagate]) 3: Son user data backups - each week the user data is backed up to an online system (ie disk is left switched on and connected) 4: Father backups - each month the most recent user backup (ie the latest son backup) is taken off line and stored off line (unplugged from machine, powered down usually stored onsite, usually a different room, but from the computer) until it is due to be recycled one week later. I've not installed Leopard (10.5) yet so I've not had time to look at how time machine can be configured but at a guess I'd use it to use three external drives as backup disks, keep one for a year off site before recycling (or just buying a new disk for a new annual backup), keep another one off line for a month before recycling, and keep one permanently attached for rolling backups. For those in the IT business, the concept of the Grandfather, Father Son backup is the most TRUSTED form of traditional backup. A single backup copy is really no backup at all for the reasons described below - it is also insecure as when you do your next backup, you write over your only existing backup and if anything fails in the process, you risk losing it all. Therefore you always need at least twice the backup space (grandfather and father copies) for the device you want to backup (the son). You only ever backup to the grandfather device, which you then rename the father, with the current father device being renamed as the grandfather. (...and keep them in separate physical places) I recently purchased 2 x 500GB WD mechanisms from Austin Computers for $139 each, so you can't really complain about the price! BTW - best to have two similar cases, preferably screwless, but easy entry with internal power supply (Sarotech brand have been good for me) and just exchange the mechanisms as needed. (Most of the time my backup cases never have the tops on as I am changing the mechanisms regularly...) Better to spend a bit more on a couple of good quality cases and then you're only up for the mechanisms which are dirt cheap. Regards, BRett On 12/12/2007, at 8:44 PM, Wez wrote: I have three WD drives internally apart from the Apple one in my machine and resently purchased a MyBook 1.5TB The MyBook has been working perfectly for about 2 weeks and has now lost the firewire controller. Took it back to PLE who confirmed the Firewire controller seems dead. The drives themselves still have data on them fine which was a relief but I only have USB1 on my work machine. So this has been my first hiccup with the WB brand and the drives themselves are still fine. I have no idea what happened to the controlled. The warranty will only cover the drive as a unit not the case which means how I have to find room to return the data to my machine and before I erase the drive and get it swapped for a new one. This does make me wonder how useful this is going to be as a backup drive as a full 1.5 TB with any dead controller is going to be absoultely useless as I won't have the room to return the data WEZ! -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml Guidelines - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml Unsubscribe - mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives -
Western Digital HD
Hello WAMUG, I have seen a Western Digital MY Book Premium Edition 11 2TB HD in a shop. Do these HDs have a good reputation? Cheers, Bill -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml Guidelines - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml Unsubscribe - mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Western Digital HD
Hi Bill, Their pretty good But they do not beat won at You have built yourself In a good enclosure Such as Macpower M9 Mini or Icecube G2 you should be fine because the Western Digital comes with a three-year warranty on some of their new external Hard drives. I would make sure that the unit you are going to buy as three years warranty Western Digital is a very trusted brand Kyle On Dec 12, 2007 11:25 AM, William Crabb [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hello WAMUG, I have seen a Western Digital MY Book Premium Edition 11 2TB HD in a shop. Do these HDs have a good reputation? Cheers, Bill -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml Guidelines - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml Unsubscribe - mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml Guidelines - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml Unsubscribe - mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Western Digital HD
I've got a couple of the 500GB ones and quite happy with them, I only bought them because they were on special and actually quite a bit cheaper than buying disks and external case separately and building them my self. That said it looks like they are throw away cases as I can't see how to open (or more to the point re-seal) the cases once the hard drive dies so as to replace it. Also with the 2 TB version assume that it is 2x1TB disks and again I'd assume they are configured in RAID 0 configuration, unfortunately while this allows the user to conveniently treat the 2 drives as a single drive and increases access speed when using firewire 800 interface it also doubles the chance of drive failure over a single disk unit and the failure of one disk will kill the data on both drives. While I'd consider buying one for offline storage I'd also want to look at having enough single drives for actually backup duties. also dare I ask where did you see them and how much were they ? Hello WAMUG, I have seen a Western Digital MY Book Premium Edition 11 2TB HD in a shop. Do these HDs have a good reputation? Cheers, Bill -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml Guidelines - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml Unsubscribe - mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] -- ~ Mark Secker IT Labs Manager Computer Support Officer School of Business IT Services. ph# 61-8-6488 1855 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] University of Western Australia - CRICOS Provider No. 00126G ~ It takes an idiot to do cool things that's why it's cool - Haruhara Haruka (FLCL) http://www.pbase.com/marxz -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml Guidelines - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml Unsubscribe - mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Western Digital HD
As Mark says, the 2 TB version will be 2x1TB disks - I've got the 1TB Pro Edition II which also contains two drives (500Gb ea) but the case is not a throw-away and the manual gives you instructions on replacing a drive. Also it came with the software: My Book RAID Manager for Mac My Book RAID Manager is a tool designed to help you easily manage your RAID system, including changing the RAID configuration and formatting the device. Instructions say: Configuring RAID My Book Pro Edition II is preformatted for HFS+ (Journaled) and is preconfigured for RAID 0 (Striped) mode for maximum capacity and accelerated performance. This product also supports RAID 1 (Mirrored) mode for data protection which dedicates half the capacity to mirror the data in both drives A and B. I'm not sure if it would be possible to configure them as just two separate disks (JBOD) - others on the list may be able to advise here. One minor annoyance I've noticed is that although the drive only fires up the fan when required, and goes into standby mode when unmounted, if you put your mac to sleep then when you waken it up this seems to throw out this system and after a time the fan seems to fire up even when the drive isn't being used. Since I'm not real keen on keep plugging/unplugging the power, my workaround at present is to re-mount the disk with disk utility then eject it with finder - which seems to shut it up (until the next time I sleep wake my mac). This works fine but is a bit of a nuisance. Suggestions for a more elegant fix welcomed :) Cheers Neil -- Neil R. Houghton Albany, Western Australia Tel: +61 8 9841 6063 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on 12/12/07 11:50 AM, Mark Secker at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I've got a couple of the 500GB ones and quite happy with them, I only bought them because they were on special and actually quite a bit cheaper than buying disks and external case separately and building them my self. That said it looks like they are throw away cases as I can't see how to open (or more to the point re-seal) the cases once the hard drive dies so as to replace it. Also with the 2 TB version assume that it is 2x1TB disks and again I'd assume they are configured in RAID 0 configuration, unfortunately while this allows the user to conveniently treat the 2 drives as a single drive and increases access speed when using firewire 800 interface it also doubles the chance of drive failure over a single disk unit and the failure of one disk will kill the data on both drives. While I'd consider buying one for offline storage I'd also want to look at having enough single drives for actually backup duties. also dare I ask where did you see them and how much were they ? Hello WAMUG, I have seen a Western Digital MY Book Premium Edition 11 2TB HD in a shop. Do these HDs have a good reputation? Cheers, Bill -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml Guidelines - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml Unsubscribe - mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml Guidelines - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml Unsubscribe - mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Western Digital HD
I have been following this thread with interest, I followed this path for about 2 years buying external cases and putting bigger drives in when they became affordable! You can get the 1tb drives for about $360 and then buy what ever case you like. But: I decided to buy a raid this year. I purchased an intel 4 bay sata raid case and then put my drives into that, currently 2tb across 4 drives in raid 5 format. So my total usable space is just on 1.4tb. The case has 2 1000 ethernet ports. There are now many solutions available from other companies and cheaper than what I paid. I found this was ideal for my data security if one drive fails I just replace it and the data rebuilds automatically. Of course the upfront cost is higher but it depends on how important your data is. Hope this is of interest. Regards Roger -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml Guidelines - http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml Unsubscribe - mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
