Hi again Byron, Oh, I would say I know a little about RAID... ;) I don't ship a server without -at least- RAID 1 and the new replacement server does indeed have two Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 SATA 120GB drives in software RAID 1 but alas the server that dies was inherited and built on "budget" parts... I am also implementing a tape rotation on a new DDS4 drive where there is a tape for Mon-Thu then four Fri tapes to be rotated. Others have recommended the same scheme like you, and I have personally implemented this scheme for years and it works like a charm... I'll post an update in a sec... Madison Byron Sonne wrote:

...

Madison (who has passed the 24hours mark and wishes she could just get a break and then go home!!)

Please let us know how this all turns out. I'm quite interested in the ultimate resolution! Sounds like a text book case of the typical failed drive/bad tape nightmare scenario.

I've been through this kind of hell but it was when I was part of the dark side and had to restore MS boxen, or attempt to, from bad Veritas/BackupExec and/or Legato backups (though most of the time it worked). Part of the overall procedure (which mind you wasn't followed regularly for whatever reasons) was periodic restores to make sure everything would work when called upon. Nothing like having a shelf full of backups that turn out to be shitworthy in the end.

Oh; I would avoid CDs for backup... I've used numerous brands across multiple writers and I'm finding that they are just not trustworthy enough over time. Some people seem to have something against tape, but I'd be far more inclined to trust DLT over CD. And keep them drives clean! It does help.

My experience with using RAID (level 5 or similar levels of redundancy) is that it obviates the need for 90% of the restores I would have had to do in the past. Except, of course, people that want a restore done to get an old version of a file back. RAID is not a panacea, but who gives a shit about a busted drive or a 12 hour restore when you can just pop in a new drive with nary a hiccup? If you got the money, go RAID and complement it with a good backup system (I like DLT). Given a solid and well designed IT infrastructure, using good stuff, backups should be solid, reliable, and never, ever needed. Or for those with massive amounts of data, go SAN.

While I'm rambling on, make sure you have clean electrical power, preferably backed up with a UPS. Numerous restores I've done in the past would have been avoided if the machine didn't hiccup or crash due to a brownout or power failure. They don't have to keep your boxen running for days on end, just enough time to close open files and back down gracefully. They also help for restores and backups; rather annoying when a long, long restore craps out midway through due to a power glitch. Tapes will also be more reliable if your power is clean too, but I suppose that is conjecture.

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