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Salty · Sep 2, 2006, 05:56 AM

OK, ever have those days when you wish OS X.whatever is done because there's new features you'd really like? How many already have wished TimeMachine was here? Well I came very close to losing a months' worth of stuff (Or rather some PSDs of my best graphics work to date some new music I bought and some poetry I wrote) when my PowerBook stopped liking USB, stopped liking networking of any kind, and at first refused to boot into target mode!
Well thankfully I got it into target and I'm safely backing everything up onto my external drive through the Mac mini I bought my mom (I love having another Mac in the house!) And then I'll be doing a system restore from the mini to the PowerBook. But needless to say I'm pretty stressed tonight, I don't know if once I do the software restore my machine is going to even still work properly. Add to that I've got a sinus headache with nothing to take for it. So... remember kids... BACK UP YOUR DATA!

DeathToWindows · Sep 2, 2006, 09:25 AM

I'll second that.

I've got two personal boxes (G5 + MBP) which generally have fully redundant copies of all my work.
Anything that is either a work in progress (e.g. photo work, papers, code) or mission critical (funding applications, accounting) is on my 1Gb flash drive.

turtle777 · Sep 2, 2006, 09:57 AM

I have 26 GB of space on my domain. All my important documents are incrementally backed up online, as well as to a external HD. Even if my house burns down, I'm still good.

-t

DeathToWindows · Sep 2, 2006, 10:19 AM

yeah, I'd love to be able to have that as a backup...

Mastrap · Sep 2, 2006, 11:11 AM

Same here. My dreamhost deal gives me 80GB of space, growing by .5 GB a week. So all of the really important stuff is there, as well as one copy at my office, one at home.

Obi Wan's Ghost · Sep 2, 2006, 11:20 AM

I don't know about Time Machine. I need disk space and that thing is going to eat lots of it.

turtle777 · Sep 2, 2006, 11:21 AM

Yeah, I have Dreamhost, too. The space they give you rules. Mine grows by 0.2 GB per week.

Unfortunately, their reliability has been a bad as of recently...

-t

alligator · Sep 2, 2006, 11:30 AM

I've been looking for 20+ GB of backup space to backup EVERYTHING. What do people here recommend?

turtle777 · Sep 2, 2006, 12:13 PM

Dreamhost has 20 GB for $ 7.95 per month.
The space grows every week (about 0.2 GB) at no extra charge.

Promocode TURTLE777 gives you $ 30-$50 off, and feeds some homeless turtles

[/shameless_plug]

-t

Mastrap · Sep 2, 2006, 12:17 PM

Originally Posted by what_the_heck

Yeah, I have Dreamhost, too. The space they give you rules. Mine grows by 0.2 GB per week.

Unfortunately, their reliability has been a bad as of recently...

-t

For some strange reason almost all of the bad stuff completely bypassed me. I think I had one or two mornings of unstable mail, but all of my domains were completely unaffected. Lucky!

It looks as if they're getting things back under control too. They sure had one bad summer.

Obi Wan's Ghost · Sep 2, 2006, 12:18 PM

Originally Posted by what_the_heck

Dreamhost has 20 GB for $ 7.95 per month.
The space grows every week (about 0.2 GB) at no extra charge.
-t

Everyone I know uses Dreamhost or Bluehost. Bluehost has 30 gigs for $7.95 I think. Their bandwidth has grown by 500 gigs in the last six months and keeps rising. I'm going for that when I finally think of something to blog about. By then it will be 2 terabytes a month and I will host HD videos of dancing girls

turtle777 · Sep 2, 2006, 01:09 PM

Originally Posted by Mastrap

For some strange reason almost all of the bad stuff completely bypassed me. I think I had one or two mornings of unstable mail, but all of my domains were completely unaffected. Lucky!

Two main issues I had with Dreamhost:

1) SMTP servers are unstable. Sending mail fails often.
2) Unstable MX servers rendered my Spamassassin installation useless, causing a lot of spam to slip through. That was just plain annoying.

-t

Salty · Sep 3, 2006, 02:09 AM

So it's weird, but I'm typing this on my PowerBook. That said the problem isn't software since I got the same problem right after I did the OS reload... my guess is that it just needs to overheat a bit and then it'll come down again.

Big Mac · Sep 3, 2006, 06:45 AM

It needs to overheat a bit?

turtle777 · Sep 3, 2006, 09:26 AM

Salty, you're not making any sense.

-t

besson3c · Sep 3, 2006, 11:14 AM

If your ISP is like mine, your upload speeds will be pretty slow, making backup of a large quantity/size of files (such as your Music folder) to an ISP like Dreamhost difficult or impractical.

If you are looking to be a little more economical and don't want to tether your machine to an external FW or USB drive, I suggest doing network backups to another machine of yours. You can build or obtain any old PC Desktop pretty cheaply/easily, get a large HD for the machine (pretty cheap these days), install Linux/Unix on it, and use software such as Deja Vu or rsync to backup to it. Your backups will run quite rapidly, and aside from electricity costs you won't have any monthly costs to contend with. If your machine is protected behind a router, you wouldn't really even have to worry about keeping your backup machine up-to-date, you could just think of it as a backup appliance.

Depending on how much money you have to put into the machine, this may even end up being the cheapest option for you either immediately, or in the long run.

Salty · Sep 3, 2006, 11:16 AM

Originally Posted by what_the_heck

Salty, you're not making any sense.

-t

Neither is my PowerBook! Which is now is behaving just fine... I still think my logic board is on it's way to the valley of the dead... but it seems to be gasping for air right now so it might be OK for school for a couple weeks. I imagine if I take it in Apple will say they won't repair it because they can't replicate the problem.

Daracle · Sep 3, 2006, 03:03 PM

I was just thinking about this this morning when I was realizing how much of my purchased iTunes music I lost when I had my PB drive crash.

indigoimac · Sep 3, 2006, 03:40 PM

I've had an automated backup system going for I believe 2 yrs now, I've been using ChronoSync and love it. Basically I have my 2 machines run a daily backup to an external harddrive on my iBook server it works very well and has gotten me out of a couple of jams. Though I'm sorta screwed if there's a fire or something, gonna have to work on that, tho I would likely grab the drive and run if there were such an incident.

Big Mac · Sep 3, 2006, 03:44 PM

Originally Posted by Daracle

I was just thinking about this this morning when I was realizing how much of my purchased iTunes music I lost when I had my PB drive crash.

Why couldn't you download it off iTunes again?

Mac Write · Sep 3, 2006, 10:40 PM

First iTunes doesn't allow re-downloading of purchased music.

As for dreamhost and that alike. They are doing something called over-selling. If everyone used that 80GB you get for $8/month they would go out of business. go to WebHostingTalk Forums - Web Hosting Discussion and see the hundreds of threads on these hosts. I guarantee you use anywhere close to that 80GB and they will close your account and delete the backups.

turtle777 · Sep 3, 2006, 10:45 PM

You don't get 80 GB for $ 8 a month at Dreamhost. Get your facts straight first.

I skimmed through the reviews you mentioned, and most are positive about Dreamhost. WTF did you get your info from ?

Links, please !

-t

imitchellg5 · Sep 3, 2006, 10:51 PM

[QUOTE=Mac Write]First iTunes doesn't allow re-downloading of purchased music.

[QUOTE]
yes it does. Advance>Check for purchased music

RAILhead · Sep 3, 2006, 11:17 PM

yes it does. Advance>Check for purchased music

No it doesn't.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93050

iTunes Music Store: Purchased songs can be downloaded only once

When you buy a song or album from the iTunes Music Store, you are entitled to download it only once.

When you buy a song or album from the iTunes Music Store, you are entitled to download it a single time. If you want to download it again, you must purchase it again. You can copy downloaded songs between authorized computers.

Important: Make a backup of the music files you download. In case of data loss, including hard drive failure or replacement, accidental deletion, and so forth, you'll be able to restore it from the backup. See "iTunes 4: How to Back Up Music" for instructions.

Mac Write · Sep 4, 2006, 12:27 AM

Originally Posted by what_the_heck

You don't get 80 GB for $ 8 a month at Dreamhost. Get your facts straight first.

I skimmed through the reviews you mentioned, and most are positive about Dreamhost. WTF did you get your info from ?

Links, please !

-t

even at 20GB/month for $8, that's still seriously overselling and I guarantee if you use that (or even 25-50%) they will shut you down for some T.O.S. violations. Search Web Hosting Talk for Overselling. Dreamhost is a serious over-seller.

Daracle · Sep 4, 2006, 01:30 AM

Yeah, As much as I wish I could, my music is gone.

turtle777 · Sep 4, 2006, 01:57 AM

Originally Posted by Mac Write

even at 20GB/month for $8, that's still seriously overselling and I guarantee if you use that (or even 25-50%) they will shut you down for some T.O.S. violations. Search Web Hosting Talk for Overselling. Dreamhost is a serious over-seller.

Idiot.

I'm using more than 50%, and they haven't shut me down.

So, give some proof, some links, or STFU !

-t

Mac Write · Sep 4, 2006, 02:11 AM

Originally Posted by what_the_heck

Idiot.

I'm using more than 50%, and they haven't shut me down.

So, give some proof, some links, or STFU !

-t

I am just stating facts. According to this thread they have been going down hill over the last 6 months. I've been really following hosting over the last six months this is due to there insane 1TB+bandwidth plans. DreamHost is known for overselling and is considered a budget host. I myself have 20GB/200GB but pay $50/month for it. I am just trying to help and am stating facts.

For Backup use .Mac and the 4GB option which is an extra $99/yr so for $20/month use .Mac with 4GB space and service that should be more reliable for backup then a budget host (.Mac is not perfect of course and has problems but for 100% reliable on-line backup expect to pay in the thousands/month).

turtle777 · Sep 4, 2006, 02:25 AM

Dude, you either can't read, of have serious comprehension issues.

There is only one (ONE, 1 !!!) customer who reports that dreamhost deleted his content. That moron probably hosted pron or warez, I wouldn't be shocked. Everyone else has either mixed or good experience, the latter is the majority.

The link to Dreamhost Sucks - A community and blog of current and former disgruntled Dreamhost customers is really great.
There are 4 (in words: FOUR) horror stories of former dreamhost customers. To me, that's a compliment. If you have only 4 pissed of customers, you are obvisouly doing something right.

Again, do you have any clue what you are talking about ?
Probably not, you are just justifying yourself being an idiot paying $ 50 per month for 20 GB, LOL

-t

Mac Write · Sep 4, 2006, 04:51 AM

I am not an idiot. I want reliable hosting and that's why I rent a pricy server. I am just stating what I have read over the last while and that you can't expect a $8/month host to actually let you use 20GB/500GB/month continuously. It would cost them allot to provide that. That's a dedicated 512KB/sec uplink. if just 10 people used that on server, that's 5mb uplink needed and I can tell you the uplink not counting the other overhead would be far more then $80/month that Dreamhost would be charging those 10 clients.

Bottom line don't expect to be about to use all that space/bandwidth they are advertising for that price. They are for profit and aren't going to make any one someone who actually uses the resources they are saying they offer for the prices they charge. They are a budget host and just don't expect the world from them if it's misison critical stuff (like backups) I wouldn't rely on a $8 budget host to use as a backup server (I don't think I would even use my VPS which uses RAID+nightly backups as a off-site backup that I can fully trust).

turtle777 · Sep 4, 2006, 07:25 AM

Blabla, it's a mixed calculation. Of course they don't expect everybody to use all of it, but they are not going to sack you for it either. You are making this up. Get off your anti-Dreamhost trip. Find other ways to feel good about wasting your money.

-t

Mastrap · Sep 4, 2006, 08:10 AM

Originally Posted by Mac Write

even at 20GB/month for $8, that's still seriously overselling and I guarantee if you use that (or even 25-50%) they will shut you down for some T.O.S. violations. Search Web Hosting Talk for Overselling. Dreamhost is a serious over-seller.

Not true. I had a podcast up for a while that ate a serious chunk of my 500+GB monthly bandwidth allowance. Not once did dreamhost complain. Not once did they threaten to shut me down.

I have been with dreamhost for years with little problem. Even their meltdown earlier this year, which wasn't all their fault, only affected me for a couple of hours when my mail server was down. I couldn't wish for a better, more responsive host. When I need help they call me back at no cost. When they make a mistake they admit it and then fix it.

And while they had problems earlier this year, they aren't going downhill. They have fixed the issues that caused the problems where they could and working with their landlord on issues outside their control.

Mac Write · Sep 4, 2006, 04:13 PM

I choice my quality hosting wiselly and am proud of it. only 16 people share the server and I have full control of my virtual server. The price is well worth it. Static file downloads can push the limit more but CPU stuff and DB is were problems will happen with over sellers. Dreamhost at this point can handle it better the the smaller guys.

imitchellg5 · Sep 4, 2006, 04:41 PM

Originally Posted by RAILhead

No it doesn't.

iTunes Music Store: Purchased songs can be downloaded only once

iTunes Music Store: Purchased songs can be downloaded only once

When you buy a song or album from the iTunes Music Store, you are entitled to download it only once.

When you buy a song or album from the iTunes Music Store, you are entitled to download it a single time. If you want to download it again, you must purchase it again. You can copy downloaded songs between authorized computers.

Important: Make a backup of the music files you download. In case of data loss, including hard drive failure or replacement, accidental deletion, and so forth, you'll be able to restore it from the backup. See "iTunes 4: How to Back Up Music" for instructions.

Works for me. That is how I keep my PowerBook and iMac's music synced, and I don't pay a dime. And notice the date. iTunes has changed a lot since 2003.

RAILhead · Sep 5, 2006, 11:08 AM

Originally Posted by imitchellg5

Works for me. That is how I keep my PowerBook and iMac's music synced, and I don't pay a dime. And notice the date. iTunes has changed a lot since 2003.

Only your copy has, I guess. From my version (6.0.5 (20)):

Gossamer · Sep 5, 2006, 12:05 PM

I've been told on these forums that you can send a note to Apple tech support saying you lost your hard drive, and they'll let you redownload music.

RAILhead · Sep 5, 2006, 01:03 PM

Yes, they'll do that. However, if I'm at work and purchase and download music from iTunes, I cannot go home and download that same purchased music on my home system.

Gossamer · Sep 5, 2006, 01:08 PM

Originally Posted by RAILhead

Yes, they'll do that. However, if I'm at work and purchase and download music from iTunes, I cannot go home and download that same purchased music on my home system.

rsync baby. works for me.

RAILhead · Sep 5, 2006, 01:12 PM

Read the thread. The comments I'm making aren't about syncing files, the point I'm making is that you can't do what I said 2 posts above, which mitchell said you could.

Gossamer · Sep 5, 2006, 01:37 PM

Originally Posted by RAILhead

Read the thread. The comments I'm making aren't about syncing files, the point I'm making is that you can't do what I said 2 posts above, which mitchell said you could.

Oh I read the thread. And I completely understand what you meant, and I understand why Apple does that. It would be too easy to authorize a friend's computer, then 'Check for Purchases,' then jhymn the music, then deauthorize. And repeat.

Salty · Sep 15, 2006, 09:49 PM

Well looks like my logic board is on the dying, and apparently with all the dents my PowerBook would be two grand to repair. So the insurnace company is paying for a brand new one! Well a MacBook anyway, replacement value and all that, so I'll be paying for a few upgrades but all in all I'm excited about my new Mac.

imitchellg5 · Sep 17, 2006, 11:19 PM

Originally Posted by RAILhead

Read the thread. The comments I'm making aren't about syncing files, the point I'm making is that you can't do what I said 2 posts above, which mitchell said you could.

Tell Apple something broke and they will