Unless you’re very disciplined, you probably backup your system on a best effort basis. You may regularly archive critical files, such as Quickbook files, MP3 collections, email, and private correspondence, but how often do you perform a full system backup — a complete copy of all hard disks, including your operating system, applications, and all data? Chances are not often or never, because, admittedly, only enterprise shops have the expensive proprietary software and dedicated, high-speed backup hardware to make light of such labor- and time-intensive work.
For most of us then, a catastrophic failure translates to a weekend (or a week) re-building a system with the right operating system, applications, personalized settings, patches and updates, and important data. (If you’re not copying critical data to CDs and DVDs, woe on you when the hard disk Mean Time Between Failure fairy finally decides to pay you a visit.)
There is a better way to enshrine your bytes, and it doesn’t require expensive hardware and proprietary/expensive system imaging software, such as Symantec’s GHOST. All you need is a small amount of self-discipline, a bunch of cheap hard drives, and a nifty, CD-bootable Linux that has all the open source software tools required to save your valuable weekend and your behind.
The Hardware
First, let’s embark on a shopping trip to buy a whole bunch of cheap, high-capacity IDE/ATA or Serial ATA (SATA) hard disks. Depending on how comfortable and dedicated you want to be with…
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