Data mirroring....

[wpiman]

Not exactly HS related- but a good crew to run this by.

I have a laptop with an 80 gig drive- a main PC with a 250 Gig drive- a HS PC with a 160 Gig drive- and an external 160 gig drive hanging off the HS machine for backup (it is a Ximeta netdisk- which is supposed to be like NAS- but doesn't quite live up to the hype- so I just share it off of USB)

I try to mirror all my important files- such as pictures and MP3 on these machines. For HS backup- and what not- it is quite easy- since it is a one way transfer done inoften.

Anyways- I often find that I will purchase MP3s at work on my laptop- then do some more at home- and now I have a disconnect. To mirror my files-I have been going thru by hand and making sure everything is synched. The same with pictures- I sometimes download them to my laptop- other times to my PC. I then manually go thru and mirror them manually.

I know there is a whole host of mirroring software- but want to find out if anyone experiences the same issues- and what you use. What I would like to do is be able to download an MP3 to my laptop or PC- and then mirror it on the backup drive. Not necessarily the other way though. I dont need all my MP3s on my laptop- only select ones.

Thanks....

[mwaite]

For syncing MP3s and pictures, I use a program called Second Copy. I have been using it for years on all my computers to back up all my files from computer to computer and to/from my NAS devices. www.centered.com

It is very flexible and powerful, and always ensures my files are sync'd. I also use it to sync my work files from PC to laptop and back. I still use a mirroring program (Ghost) to make images of my boot partitons, but for everything else I use Second Copy.

[Stevech]

wpiman - what's the flaw with the Ximeta ethernet file server?
I've been thinking about buying someone's low cost net server.

I just bought a $29 external drive box for 3.5in drive with USB2. Works fine.

I guess I kinda sorta what a PC-less cheap NAS.

[Michael McSharry]

I also use second copy for daily computer to computer backup. I like the program, but a problem I have with it is that it will not backup any file that is open. This means, in particular, a database that is logging data does not get backed up and "data" is the most important thing to back up. I contacted them about this and they indicated that they did not want to copy a file that they could not assure was correctly copied.

[Phill]

Or if you like doing it yourself, you could always use "Robocopy" or "Xcopy" that come with windows XP. Both have options that enable you to only update files that have changed.

Phill

[msorby]

I just want to shime in on second copy.

I've been using for mirroring file repsoitories at load balanced webfarms for about 4 years now, without a glitch. Running it as a service.

//Morten

[smoothtlk]

I use filesync.exe works great.
http://www.fileware.com/products.htm

[wpiman]

Ximeta

Steve---
Ximeta isn't a true NAS device- but requires you to run an application on your machine in order to see the drive. They have an application for Macs, PCs and I believe Linux now. I have a Sun box- so I had to share the drive on the PC in order for the Sun to see the drive.

Also- they allow on machine write acess at a time. Their new application fixes this- but I have had issue with it. I somehow corrupted a whole bunch of files.

I believe the Buffalo LinkStation is a true NAS drive. You don't need to run any applications to see it- and it runs whatever the default windows filesharing is. ie. windows PCs, Macs just see it. I believe the Sun box will as well since I run Sharity.

I will probably get a Buffalo drive instead and use it to stores and mirror media.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone- I will check out this application.