Re: IOMEGA Rev intermittent failures


Just a couple of comments on two paragraphs - wjv.

In article <200607131602.MAA04241@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
D. Thomas Podnar <tom@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Enrique Arredondo <atk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> said...


I think BackupEdge is crap with REV drives (too many bad experiences)....
Get LoneTar instead. It's flawless with REV drives. Download a trial
version and you'll see what I mean. Also technical support is more user
friendly, you talk to the main programmer the first time you talk to
someone. Don't need to escalate to the next level. Just my 2 cents.

Mr. Arredondo.

I normally ignore this kind of stuff. Responding properly requires pointing out
to a potential client that they might be wrong about something, and to talk
about someone else's product in a less-than glowing fasion. Neither are my
favorite things to do.

.....

BackupEDGE actually ASKS THE MEDIA how many raw blocks are available, applies
the appropriate mmc-recommended formula, and calculates a reliable volume size. It does this on a PER-MEDIA basis during a backup.

This is even more important when using CD/DVD media, where
BackupEDGE detects media type, write strategy, preparation
strategy and volume size on a per media basis. A multi-volume
backup can actually have a DVD+R dual layer as volume 1, CD-RW
as volume 2, DVD+RW as volume 3, and an 8cm 200MB CD-R as volume
4, or any other combination of supported media. It will get
everything right, including preparing and finishing the media (if
necessary) and setting each volume size to the maximum usable
space. No least-common denominators that waste space, and no
knowledge on the part of the end-user required.

Now that is SLICK. So many things - not just computers - get
lockked in on what the first media is.

1) The BackupEDGE data format includes full-file error
checksumming, not just header checksumming like Lone-Tar. This is
incredibly important when switching from tape drives, which have
built in error checking, to other media types and network backups
which do not.

I have the few remainging sites I do work for running BackupEdge
and Lone-Tar.

I just double checked the Lone-Tar - version 4.1.5 - and the
default is bit-level-verify - which has parens after it that
says (recommended). The check-sum verify is the second option
on the verify menu. I also had a failed bit-level verify last
night and I checked and it pointed to where the byte vefify failed.
It identifes the failure with a message of "bytes differ at
kilobyte 269213". I'd prefer finer-grained reporting, but at
least it does bit-level.

Or did you mean something else when you said "full-file error
checksumming" ? If so, my apologies.

And even with devices that have built-in error checking I'd still
always go for a bit-level. I can envision some starnge happening
where the date becomes courrupt from the time it is read from the
disk and before it hits the tape drive. Then the tape-drive
will perform error checking against the corrupt data. This
could/should be extrememly rare. And the reverse should also be
true on a restore. Run a bit level to make sure the restored
data matches what is on the tape.

The only time I had probelms with any backup program was
a version of Ctar which was disabled after running a year.

I called Ctar and talked with (probably) Steve, and he said that
was done because the dealer who installed that was suspected of
bootlegging material. Now THAT was true, but about the only piece
that was not bootlegged was the CTAR. At that point the owner
decided the competitive upgrade to BackupEdge was the best way to
go. That was on a Xenix system back in 1990. They have been
upgrading it through changes from Xenix thru a couple of SCO
versions to their current Suse platform - and also have a support
contract in case they can't get in touch with me to fix a problem.

That's 16 years from a very happy customer. They just keep getting
bigger, and have now outgrown their second main building.

With data you can't be too sure if you business depends upon it.

Bill
--
Bill Vermillion - bv @ wjv . com
.

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