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Unplugging Your Backups
Lucas123 writes "Computerworld has an article about how consumers, home offices and company branch offices can use microwave, free space optics, WiMax, and a new Wireless USB protocol to backup and access data over short and long distances. The story says that wireless USB can be used to transmit data from one to 10 feet from a PC or laptop at up to 480Mbps, while microwave and WiMax can be used to transmit data securely over miles. Steinbach Credit Union Inc., in Canada, has been using microwave and an IP network for years to backup data to a disaster recovery site 32 miles away, the story states."
How many of you saw "microwave" and "backups" and thought "data destruction?" :)
BTW, A minute ago: "Nothing for you to see here. Please move along." Damn those newfangled invisible wireless radio waves!
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
In theory, WiMax could be used to send backups to a remote storage facility "miles away" -- providing that there is a WiMax network that is actually in operation. But outside of select areas in select cities (like in Canada), where is this WiMax network of which the author speaks?
Why do we need wireless USB when we already have bluetooth? and vice versa? and beyond that, why do we need wireless HDMI?
Figure out a protocol and stick with it. That's why regular plug-in USB works so well.
The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
"to backup and access data over short and long distances"
But what about medium distances?
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Though can it cook popcorn correctly?
Screw that! I want high energy gamma ray frequencies so I can backup my data anywhere around the world! Although this might suck for those poor bastards who don't have lead suits.
I want wireless USB because then I can have a USB hub attached to it, and get rid of lots of unsightly wires. E.g. it would be nice to run the USB digital TV adapter over the other side of the room where the TV socket is. Or to put the printer in a more convenient location. Or even better, have the midi interface next to my disklavier in the living room, but receive the data upstairs in my studio. And no, there are no suitable bluetooth devices for most of these things.
Actually, this might be very cool. I'm sitting here downstairs on my laptop. I just backed up today's work on an SD card in the machine (Umm, that would be Drive F: because the elves at HP put in a @#$! partition they didn't tell me about.), and then on a USB drive connected to the machine (That would be Drive G:). It would be dandy if I could set up a simple wireless USB drive upstairs and zap this stuff up there to H:\HOME as well. No fuss remote backup, not quite off-site, but Hey! I'm retired; I don't get out much. I know I could "go thru the network" on a mapped network drive" but what if the other machines aren't on? Green power and all that. And I know it might be cool to send it to Mongolia or Google, but the fact is I don't quite trust my stuff in those places. So if it were cheap and simple, I'd buy it. At least the way I'm envisioning this (which may be entirely wrong), I could see its use.
How about a moderation of -1 pedantic.
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Bah! Once a week we burst 200GB to a site 2km away.
And I mean this literally - we use "sneakernet".
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Wow, I can't believe Steinbach Credit Union was mentioned on Slashdot. I live in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada...about an hour from Steinbach, Manitoba. The Steinbach Credit Union is so small, I think it only has like 3 branches in total. Steinbach itself only has a population of approximately 10,000. Further, Steinbach is located in rural Manitoba, known for its Hutterite colonies. Given all that... somehow they're on the bleeding edge of technology? Take that California!
But seriously, for anything offsite, no.
Consciousness is a myth. Trust me.
Steinbach Credit Union is my home bank, so it was interesting to hear how they set this up back in 2003.
SCU has a second branch located in Winnipeg. Data is constantly synchronized between the two sites providing a physical disaster recovery solution and a convenience for customers, as loan information, etc is always up-to-date so it doesn't matter which branch you visit. (People from Steinbach often visit Winnipeg for shopping and movies). As opposed to paying $70,000 per month for 3rd party leased lines, or $1 million to lay their own fibre, SCU found the cost-effective solution to create their own private wireless network. SCU also uses the direct link for email, VoIP, and streaming security cameras which provides additional bandwidth and long-distance savings.
The towers are full-duplex and shoot a narrow microwave beam which is almost impossible to intercept 100 feet above ground and data is encrypted "2^48 power" and apparently not affected by the weather. <<insert Canadian weather joke>>
SCU won the silver medal in the SearchStorage.com Spring 2003 Storage Innovator awards competition for their innovative wireless SAN setup.
Here are more article links with details and diagrams of the setup and equipment used.
Host localhost (127.0.0.1) appears to be up
User 956 Why do we need wireless USB when we already have bluetooth? and vice versa? and beyond that, why do we need wireless HDMI?
Starting out with HDMI, why does a DVD player have to be close to the TV? Why is is stacked on top of a TiVo a Satellite reciever next to a playstation and an XBox, wouldn't it be nice to have all that clutter sitting in one corner of the room and have the TV hanging on a wall somewhere else.
How many bluetooth printers and scanners are there?
I'm working on putting a scanner in the kitchen with idea that if I find a nice recipie in a magazine, I can just lob it in the scanner push the one touch scanning button and it automagically dumps the image on my archive server runs a quick OCR on the image and dumps it in a database. If I want the recipie back (OCR willing) I should be able to find it via a simple text search
Wireless USB would be great I could put the scanner almost anywhere I wanted without having to worry about running 40 ft of USB cable through the house. Equally having a wireless USB backup drive tucked away in a draw somewhere makes a great backup if my laptop gets stolen... I'd certainally worry about the security of data stored on a wireless USB drive but its no worse than having a WiFi dirve.
Figure out a protocol and stick with it. That's why regular plug-in USB works so well.
True up to a point, when did you last use a floppy disk? a protocol that does not move with the times risks extinction..