[Sussex] Additional "storage" ?

[John D.]

On Sunday 27 August 2006 11:41, Dave Chapman wrote:
> On Sun August 27 2006 09:27, John D. wrote:
> > Wotcha list,
> >
> > This last couple of weeks of "meddling" have thrown up some additional
> > questions.
> >
> > The main one currently, is how to make sure that I can preserve my /home
> > stuff so that if I get bored/impatient/whatever with kanotix, I don't end
> > up loosing all the music and other bits/bobs (like what happened when I
> > moved to kanotix from kubuntu).
> >
> > This means some additional storage (I think).
>
> You can have a completly seperate hard drive or partion mounted as /home
>
> Mine is a hard drive. Actualy /home/dave is a seperate HD and the rest of
> the family have a seperate HD as /home

Hum? well I was rather hoping that I wouldn't have to over complicate things, 
when the main requirement is that I don't loose any "stuff" when I get 
impatient.

>
> > Now I do have an additional plug available inside the PC so I could just
> > open it up and do minor surgery to add an additional hard drive - It's my
> > understanding that this is probably the fastest way to get at the data
>
> Yes indeedy
>

Ok, I did understand that right afterall. Excellent.

> > etc,
> > but speed isn't necessarily the main requirement (as any lengthy
> > copying/file transfers can be done overnight).
> >
> > I suspect that the best way is going to be the use of an external hard
> > drive. Now my system is still using USB 1.1 so I won't benefit from any
> > bonus that USB 2.0 might provide.
>
> You could gat a pci usb2 card.
> I bought a pci card to add USB2 and got USB2 Firewire and SATA all on one
> card.
>
> > A quick shufty at PC Worlds site tells me that there is a plethora of
> > such devices that might suit. I can sort of wade my way through some of
> > the spurious selling points e.g. "special" software that makes backups
> > etc "easy" it's the more general stuff that I'm not completely familiar
> > with.
>
> You can get an external case for a HD for about £15 and an 80Gb HD for £30
> at the BCF

OK, though it did occur to me that at least when I finally get round to 
replacing the system, I'd be better placed with an external one.

>
> > Ethernet connectivity would be best (I suspect that I could just plug it
> > into my hub and then tell the data where I want it to go - might be wrong
> > though).
> > http://www.scan.co.uk/products/productinfo.asp?WebProductID=461511
>
> This would be the more expensive option but you can add more storage and
> put it just about anywhere you like.
>

That makes sense. Limited space etc, as you know.

> > So whether the device blurb say linux or not, does it mean that I
> > should be able to connect an external HDD via USB and should be able to
> > mount/use it or is there any special abilities that I need to look out
> > for? Or is a USB HDD "the answer to my dreams" so that I can just do
> > complete backups of /home (which is the object of the exercise as it
> > takes a hell of a long time to re-rip 15 to 20 gigs of music, not too
> > mention any photos/images etc).
>
> Probably the best option as HD's are pretty cheap now.
> Plug it in back it up and remove to a safe place.
>
> A quick look at scan.co.uk
> http://www.scan.co.uk/products/productinfo.asp?WebProductID=461511


I was looking at the smaller version at the pcworld site, though the extra 
expense isn't so much of a problem - it does look like a possible candidate 
though - I'll have to put my mind to it i.e. whether I go for something 
so "grandiose" or not.

> > Any guidance you may have about this, is very much appreciated.
> >
> > regards
> >
> > John D.
> >
> > p.s. erm, as it's "moot day" this week (31st), does that mean that we
> > have BCF on Sunday (next) as well ??
>
> yes sir
> See you there?
Almost definitely. I think that my Aunt was hoping to visit though, so whether 
I'll still be there when you get there or not, is a bit of a ?

regards

John D.