This is probably the best 80 bucks I have spent in computing. Now I don't have any excuse not to back up at least weekly. Remember, there are only two kinds of people in computing: those who have lost data, and those who will lose data. I was a member of the former set, and am making it harder to be a member of the latter set.
I bought a Seagate external 80-gig drive. It patches through the USB port. It's big and not very sexy, but it gets the job done. I got it for a buck a gig, which was a great price at the time. Witht he cost of storage coming down so fast, Seagate doesn't even make this drive any more, but I know that they do good work (despite their quality fall-off of several years ago, I think they're poised for more accuracy and dependability).
So I run a little freeware backup program once a week, backing up just data files (well, and mp3s, too). I had great plans to take it to work and do the same thing there, but I'm working on another solution there, involving their network and the way I do work. Since my computer is still at USB 1.1, the transfer rate isn't exactly optimal, but I can live with it.
The way I look at it, I think I bought myself at least one more year with this machine. I was worried about the Sony hard drive dying or corrupting, and now I don't have to worry about such a thing. Oh, it still might do it, but I won't lose anything inportant, just a bunch of reinstalls.
8.07.2006
Hardware -- firewall/router
I'm running a very simple SMC Barricade 7004VBR firewall/router. Since I'm on cable, it just makes sense to keep all my ports protected. This little jobbie was about $25, and well worth twice the price. I've had some failure with it, as its four routing areas sometimes fail for no reason, but SMC's tech support is phenomenal. I've been on the phone to India several times, and every time they've resolved the issue. They don't treat you like an idiot, and when you tell them you've done something like cycled through a power-down, they don't make you do it again. A nice touch.
I have this firewall set to email me every time it stops an intrusion attempt. I probably get an average of four or five emails a week. Most of them are syn floods to host, which is an old attack, one that this little machine handles nicely.
I just read a report in one of the computer mags that hooked up a bare computer without firewall or router protection and turned it loose on the web. It was infected in 87 seconds. Don't be an idiot; keep protected. You need a hardware router or firewall, because relying on just software is dicey. When you rely on just software, you're actually allowing the malware or ice or whatever to enter your machine, even if it is automatically quarantined. I'd rather stop threats before they get to the machine, and find out later about them.
I have this firewall set to email me every time it stops an intrusion attempt. I probably get an average of four or five emails a week. Most of them are syn floods to host, which is an old attack, one that this little machine handles nicely.
I just read a report in one of the computer mags that hooked up a bare computer without firewall or router protection and turned it loose on the web. It was infected in 87 seconds. Don't be an idiot; keep protected. You need a hardware router or firewall, because relying on just software is dicey. When you rely on just software, you're actually allowing the malware or ice or whatever to enter your machine, even if it is automatically quarantined. I'd rather stop threats before they get to the machine, and find out later about them.
Hardware -- power
Let's start with something basic: the juice. Since I've burned through several motherboards due to dirty power, I'm now pretty paranoid about the quality of the electricity that runs my sole home machine.
The first thing in line from the outlet is an old APC UPS (thanks Wendell Wilson). APC doesn't make this particular model any more, the 520ES, but it's been a godsend. I don't actually use it for its intended purpose, to give me five minutes of battery power in case of a blackout, but I use it because it's a great power buffer.
The only thing I connect to the UPS is an APC surge protector. I use the PR08T2, which fits eight devices and seems to be as solid as a rock. I especially like the fact that APC's "Equipment Protection Policy" will reimburse me, should the product fail, for up to $10,000 in lost equipment. That's far more than what I've got hooked to it, so that's a good deal for me.
This may seem redundant, since you can get these devices joined together, and you can get them from other vendors (this isn't a commercial for APC, but a recognition that, for me, they do great work). But I've dealt with a wailing wife who lost months of work when a motherboard went belly-up due to power microfluctuations, and I've had to buy a new machine in a hurry and reconstruct a lot of data when earlier machines fried. So I'd rather be safe than sorry. Since I've been running this rig, I've had absolutely no problems.
The first thing in line from the outlet is an old APC UPS (thanks Wendell Wilson). APC doesn't make this particular model any more, the 520ES, but it's been a godsend. I don't actually use it for its intended purpose, to give me five minutes of battery power in case of a blackout, but I use it because it's a great power buffer.
The only thing I connect to the UPS is an APC surge protector. I use the PR08T2, which fits eight devices and seems to be as solid as a rock. I especially like the fact that APC's "Equipment Protection Policy" will reimburse me, should the product fail, for up to $10,000 in lost equipment. That's far more than what I've got hooked to it, so that's a good deal for me.
This may seem redundant, since you can get these devices joined together, and you can get them from other vendors (this isn't a commercial for APC, but a recognition that, for me, they do great work). But I've dealt with a wailing wife who lost months of work when a motherboard went belly-up due to power microfluctuations, and I've had to buy a new machine in a hurry and reconstruct a lot of data when earlier machines fried. So I'd rather be safe than sorry. Since I've been running this rig, I've had absolutely no problems.
Doing it my (easier?) way
This blog will be a compendium of hardware, software, workflow, and device ideas that I use. I've stolen them from so many people that I don't know where to begin in giving copyright and IP its due.
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