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Ask Slashdot: Simple Way To Backup 24TB of Data Onto USB HDDs ?
An anonymous reader writes "Hi there ! I'm looking for a simple solution to backup a big data set consisting of files between 3MB and 20GB, for a total of 24TB, onto multiple hard drives (usb, firewire, whatever) I am aware of many backup tools which split the backup onto multiple DVDs with the infamous 'insert disc N and press continue', but I haven't come across one that can do it with external hard drives (insert next USB device...). OS not relevant, but Linux (console) or MacOS (GUI) preferred... Did I miss something or is there no such thing already done, and am I doomed to code it myself ?"
RAID is a method of reducing the chances of a disk failure being fatal to the data. RAID is not a backup solution. Anyone who answers a question about backup with RAID is an IDIOT who doesn't deserve his oxygen quota and should be put down.
Disk failure is not the only reason for using backups. More often than not you run into an idiot user (who happens to be executive) that deleted stuff by mistake and you need it back.
Furthermore, disk failure can happen on all the disks at once. You have: fires, idiots, floods, more idiots, bad wiring, idiot admins, software bugs, and my personal favourite: tired admins.
Always have an off-line back and an off-site replica is my personal favourite.
UNIX was not designed to stop you from doing stupid things, because that would also stop you from doing clever ones.