I am looking for a method to back up my entire G4 system, currently about 2.0 gigs. I back up my data daily and weekly on ZIP disks, but I want to back up my entire system in case of diaster. I would probably do this once a week.

--A second internal HD is not an option because it offers no protection from theft and fire.
--A CD-R does not hold enough on one disk, is slow and would waste a lot of CD's since it's write only once.
--An Orb MO drive is an option but I don't know if I can boot from a USB device.
--An external firewire HD is the fastest of these four. I could also put my home PB on the same disk

Booting from the device is important. Archival capability is not very important since I will be backing up about once a week. Also, I want to be able to run and alter data from the

Any opinions would be appreciated.

Originally posted by DentalMac:


I am looking for a method to back up my entire G4 system, currently about 2.0 gigs. I back up my data daily and weekly on ZIP disks, but I want to back up my entire system in case of diaster. I would probably do this once a week.

--A second internal HD is not an option because it offers no protection from theft and fire.
--A CD-R does not hold enough on one disk, is slow and would waste a lot of CD's since it's write only once.
--An Orb MO drive is an option but I don't know if I can boot from a USB device.
--An external firewire HD is the fastest of these four. I could also put my home PB on the same disk

Booting from the device is important. Archival capability is not very important since I will be backing up about once a week. Also, I want to be able to run and alter data from the

Any opinions would be appreciated.

OK, first....step away from the Zip drive....or as Mr.T would say 'I pity the fool...'

Zip drives are bad news in my opinion. For quick backup and file transfer, they are almost OK. I look at them like a big unreliable floppy disk. The drives go bad, the disks go bad...either seems to be able to cause the other, and when it happens, you'll probably kill several of your disks, and data, before you know whats going on.

Your dilemma is more in the archival / disaster recovery area. For this, the FireWire hard drive sounds like a good option. I also like MO and CD-R, if you can fit the data easily.

What you might want to consider, is doing daily backups on the Zip (cringe), and do a weekly or monthly to a CD-R or FW hard drive that you store off-site.

A tape drive is also not a bad idea for an automated backup (I prefer DDS or DAT type devices). But, I wouldn't use tape for archival.

There has been some word about low cost CD-R's going bad. All mine still work great, even from 1995 (earliest I've got), but to be cautious, buy a $2+ Kodak or Verbatim and burn at 4x or less.

That's about all I've got to say on the topic. Hope it helps.

-Steve
stevew@pdg-inc.com http://www.pdg-inc.com/~stevew/