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From: bb@reef.cis.ufl.edu (Brian Bartholomew)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: backup of hard disk
Message-ID: <25377@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU>
Date: 12 Nov 90 03:05:42 GMT
References: <13089@chaph.usc.edu>
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Organization: UF CIS Dept.
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In article <13089@chaph.usc.edu> kjh@aludra.usc.edu (Kenneth J. Hendrickson)
writes:

> How does one backup one's hard disk?  On floppies?  How long does it
> take?  If you have a station, I assume you can't put a tape drive in;
> is it possible to get an external SCSI tape drive?  Does such an
> animal exist?  Do the drivers exist in the kernnel?

Please see my earlier flame to Bruce Jasmer for details on specific
schemes for backing up disks under UNIX - there is no need to repeat
them here.

But first, some philosophy (Workstations 101):

A NeXTCube (and the original '030 cube) is designed such that it can
run as a stand-alone machine.  There is sufficient disk space to hold
all the software NeXT supplies, as well as some room for new software.
There is a disk device designed to hold the user's files (the
floptical), and because of its nature it could hold as much data as
the user generated by the extremely cheap operation of purchasing
another floptical.  The floptical is also of sufficient size to serve
as the system backup device, so that you can back up your hard drive
without swapping floppies 330 / 2.8 = 118 times.  This is good.

Then came the NeXTStation.  It is clearly designed to perform as a
part of a bigger network.  There is enough hard drive space to make it
boot (turn on, power up, and say hello) and swap (pretend that hard
disk space is really memory space) locally, two things necessary for
sanity and performance.  While it does not have a bus for connection
of a backup device, nor chassis space to expand the hard drive, it is
smaller and cuter, and costs a lot less than a NeXTCube.  If the
NeXTStation is configured as part of a network of NeXTs, it may NFS
mount (use files on another machine like they were its own, via the
network) the rest of the NeXT software distribution from a NeXTCube
machine, called a "server", that *does* have lots of disk space.  The
server also will have provisions like a floptical drive (or two or
three) for backing up each machine in the network, including the
NeXTStations.  This is great; the average price per user "seat" is a
lot less, necessities like backups are centralized, and hence more
likely to get done regularly, and the load of configuration management
for lots of machines is simpler.

A sufficiently knowledgeable user may make a standalone system for
himself out of a cheaper NeXTStation, and a third-party hard drive and
tape.  However, said user should not bug NeXT about providing backup
or bus options for the NeXTStation.  They already have.  I am sorry
that the price of a standalone system is not cheaper (oh, am I
sorry!), but right now that's the way it is.

I wish NeXT would produce some sort of literature promoting the price,
power, and connectivity gains of setting up products in a networked
fashion.  They have already created a fantastic tool to manage machine
configurations across the network (Netinfo).  It's a shame that it
can't be used to its full advantage when connecting a NeXT to
different brands of products, but at least the NeXT will work well
with the other protocols.


"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brian Bartholomew	UUCP:       ...gatech!uflorida!mathlab.math.ufl.edu!bb
University of Florida	Internet:   bb@math.ufl.edu
--
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brian Bartholomew	UUCP:       ...gatech!uflorida!mathlab.math.ufl.edu!bb
University of Florida	Internet:   bb@math.ufl.edu