Backup software for FLAC files

[Canetoad]

Hi,

I have my CD collection on an external HDD connected to my PC via USB. The other day I bought and connected a 2nd drive to back up all my files. I want the 2nd drive to be a mirror of the first in case of failure. Any advice on best software (preferably free) to use to keep the backup drive up to date?

Happy New Year my the way.:)

[The Vinyl Adventure]

I use syncback to do exactly that
I have not come across the limitations of the free version my self yet

http://www.2brightsparks.com/freeware/

If you choose it and get stuck, post back and I'll tell you the settings I use ...
There is a thing with the pc login password that gets a bit confusing, but if you set it to only back up when logged in it works fine ... You just have to leave our computer logged in for the scheduled back up times...

[Beechwoods]

Carbon Copy Cloner (http://www.bombich.com/) for OSX if you're running a Mac.

[Mark Grant]

I want the 2nd drive to be a mirror of the first in case of failure.

Be very careful with mirroring on backups as if you accidentally delete a file on the main drive the deletion may be 'mirrored' on the backup drive depending on the software you use. ( so you may loose your backup copy of the deleted file......)

I use microsoft synctoy ( free)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=c26efa36-98e0-4ee9-a7c5-98d0592d8c52

I set it up to ' contribute' from the main drive to backup so that data is never deleted from the backup drive, only 'contributed' to.

many other free programs available, I like it simple and to be in control of backups.

[Beechwoods]

One thing I like about Carbon Copy Cloner is that you can set it to archive any files not found when it 'mirrors' the first drive. The files aren't deleted, they're just quarantined into a separate directory so you can review them and delete them manually later...

[WAD62]

I do RAID1 mirroring of my Linux server drive, but that's just in case of drive crash, and to rebuild the server would be very tedious.

I also keep another backup of the FLAC library itself, but I do this simply by copying anything I rip to the server, and also to my backup drive, it's just a matter of process.

If you really want to use backup software then the best IMHO is Norton Ghost, about £30 (but it is OS specific so you need the correct version), incremental backups, scheduled tasks etc, one can also make 'Ghost' (or mirror) images of system drives for disaster recovery, or even just HD expansion.
:)

[Jac Hawk]

For a start modern HDD are very reliable and a sudden failure is highly unlikely, what usually happens is that your HDD will start to get errors (bad sectors) this is an indicator that your HDD may be on it's last legs, so at least you get a warning of the danger that may come.

If it's a case of just backing up your music, you can do this quite easily using Windows Media player, i don't think you can do a schedualed sync, as you add new music files it's a simple process to run a sync.
You will need a plug-in for WMP if you use flac files, but you can get that for free off the web. :cool:

[keiths]

If you really want to use backup software then the best IMHO is Norton Ghost, about £30 (but it is OS specific so you need the correct version), incremental backups, scheduled tasks etc, one can also make 'Ghost' (or mirror) images of system drives for disaster recovery, or even just HD expansion.
:)

I've had problems in the past getting Ghost to backup one USB connected drive to another USB connected drive.

Like Mark, I just use synctoy in 'contribute' mode to back up my music library.

[jbloggs]

As already mentioned there are quite a few of these (free) programs, another nice one is Corbian Backup (http://www.educ.umu.se/~cobian/cobianbackup.htm)

[Canetoad]

I am trying Synctoy and it seems to do the job. Nothing fancy and I figure a virus running on a virus operating system shouldn't give too many problems. :lol:

I'll probably try the others at some point too. Thanks guys. Happy New Year!:cool:

This is a stop-gap till I can get a NAS set up and running in the next couple of months.