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[The Headacher]

It's about PID controllers, but for this one we only have to do the PI part. When I finish this one I still have to write one about PID controllers as well.

[nightflier]

External hard drives are the way to go.

<opinion>
Unless the drives are USB powered, the power supplies become their Achilles heel. There is no consensus on voltage, polarity or plug design. Even between versions of the same drives, the manufacturer just cobble together something from whatever they have in the parts bin that was bought from the lowest bidder that day.

This disease permeates our society. Cell phones, computer accessories, small appliances, they use a myriad of non-marked plugin adapters that are not interchangeable or even re-usable in most cases. It is a horrible waste and they are an inconvenient, ugly mess!

There, I feel better now
</opinion>

[Triarius Fidelis]

IBMs dumb proprietary DIMM cards and slots come to mind.

[The Headacher]

My /home is just a directory on /. But I don't lose it if I'm reinstalling or destroying /. I just copy /home onto an external hard drive and everything is safely preserved and ready for reuse.

You folks have to get with the times.<g> External hard drives are the way to go. I have four of them totaling 760 gigs.
--GrannyGeek

Some tips on backups for everyone to enjoy. I learned the hard way after a massive error on my side resulting in the possible loss of weeks of work (I won't get too much into details as it's too embarrassing  ). So here's some important things that might prevent you from loosing files as well:

If you make a backup:

1) don't write it over the previous backup!
Just in case something goes wrong with this one.

2) Give it the time to write everything!
If unmounting, rebooting or turning off the computer takes a long while, wait patiently. Just because cp or the filemanager seems to be done and the files seem to be there doesn't mean the files are physically on the disk. Some of the files may still be cached. Do something useful in the meantime (or watch TV ). Better safe then sorry!

3) Don't remove the old files / backups unless you're sure the backup is successful!
Test some files in the backup if you can, preferably after a reboot so you're sure the files on the disk are actually correct!

4) write very important backups to a cd/dvd as well, in case of harddrive failure. Try to put all backups in the same cd/dvd folder in an orderly fashion so you know where to find the latest ones. Try to put a short but clear description on the disc with what's on it, like :

Backup 'shared' partition Aug 22 2007

Well, that's about it for now. Hope you people never end up with backups full of corrupted files...

[lagagnon]

Re Backups: I agree with all said above. Another point re external hard drives - they should last a LONG time because they are rarely in use, unlike a computer's internal drive which is spinning most of the time. External drives need to be treated gently however as their portability means they are moved around frequently. They are delicate, don't forget!

Secondly, I often back up really important files (ie long documents being written, program code, maps I am CADing, etc, but not multimedia stuff) to GMail, as well as to a normal hard drive or CDROM backup. That way I have offsite storage in case the house burns down or something equally unlikely. 

[Vxt]

Nightflier
 I heartily agree ESP Re the cell-phones & voltages used
You forgot to mention:
For a tiny embedded system, the "BOOT" delay on some is attrocious !

But maybe all that is symptomatic to the "disposable" attitudes of
'I  NEED latest bells/whistles' buying public ?

Knowing that, doesn't make me feel better -
I WANT a new LCD monitor - but my 9 Yr old Viewsonic
refuses to  stop being  - "just_as_good_as_new"   

[MikeCindi]

I WANT a new LCD monitor - but my 9 Yr old Viewsonic
refuses to  stop being  - "just_as_good_as_new"   

I had that problem with a Techmedia monitor. I finally had to give it away so I could justify an upgrade.

[Triarius Fidelis]

2) Give it the time to write everything!
If unmounting, rebooting or turning off the computer takes a long while, wait patiently. Just because cp or the filemanager seems to be done and the files seem to be there doesn't mean the files are physically on the disk. Some of the files may still be cached. Do something useful in the meantime (or watch TV ). Better safe then sorry!

Do a 'sync' afterwards.

[wcs]

That way I have offsite storage in case the house burns down or something equally unlikely

That's what I thought. At first I had my PhD work in a single computer, which was obviously dangerous. As the data started growing I put it in a DVD. These days I have it in two computers and 1 dvd disc, all at home.

BUT what if the house collapses? 4 years of work wasted...
So, I also store it in the University server, and because they do backups every night I should be pretty safe...

BUT what if there's an attack on this little town where I live?! Like a bomb, or something to the same effect??
After all, I just live something like 60 miles from London, UK!

So, in addition I'm storing it in a server in Switzerland, which is quite a peaceful country...

Now, only if the whole continent burns down will I lose my work! 
(in which case, I'm sure I'll have more to worry about than the bloody PhD...)

[rbistolfi]

So, in addition I'm storing it in a server in Switzerland, which is quite a peaceful country...

Indeed, it is a paceful country, but that could be some kind of strategy. 

Now, only if the whole continent burns down will I lose my work! 
(in which case, I'm sure I'll have more to worry about than the bloody PhD...)

Send me a copy, Southamerica has internal problems only, and who wants to steal a PhD? hmm may be one person from the college, he could become a doctor with no effort...

[metvas]

Actually, if the continent burned down you would have nothing to worry about, and the work who would be there to take advantage of it?
Stop worrying so much, you are making me nervous. Nothing at all is 100% secure !
Take care
Darrell

[nightflier]

So, in addition I'm storing it in a server in Switzerland, which is quite a peaceful country...

I think that is an excellent idea. The more I learn about computers, the less I trust them (and the operators). While visiting my brother in Norway I offered to make him a server out of his old P3, where he could store his pictures and music. One condition was that I got to open an obscure port for SSH access.

I keep a server that he can access from his Windows box using Putty and WinSCP but that proved to be too complicated. Reversing the roles worked a lot better. Now he has a local server that streams his music and that he can access as a network folder. I can easily get in using Linux. If it needs maintenance I can do it remotely. Sharing files is a snap, and we get mutual backups.

[wcs]

Well, admittedly this is a bit extreme... It's just that you never know. 
Mostly I think it helps with access, like nightflier pointed out. I know that by having my work in two different servers I can access it at any time, using any protocol, from any operating system.

Send me a copy, Southamerica has internal problems only

Hmm... is this an attempt at social engineering? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_engineering_%28security%29
How would I know that you're not in on it, too? I know "they" are after me, and who knows if you are one of "them"? 

[exeterdad]

I know "they" are after me, and who knows if you are one of "them"?

For a over educated white collar guy...  You're all right wcs. 

[wcs]

For a over educated white collar guy...  You're all right wcs.  Cheesy

 
Desperately trying to be a part-time blue collar guy, though. Now that my scholarship is over, I've tried to get a job at telesales, newspaper stands, and restaurants. Still no luck...