Hi, Rod.

RS> Seems a bit pointless requoting all your backup needs.

Yes, except that this specific comment...

RS> FM> I invite your comments. And anyone else's.

... was particularly aimed at the immediately preceding paragraph,
which was...

4) Fuckup recovery. You write a 'C' program (or one in a real language),
   or update your accounting records, or whatever - and introduce an
   error which only becomes manifest some time down the track. (I just
   found a $5 error in my accounts from last July. Not material, but
   stuffs up subsequent balancing. God knows how it got through the
   end of year procedures.) Or you delete a file which you
   shouldn't have. Strategy: This is a hard one. You really want to
   keep N generations (say, 5) of everything. But that really means
   of *each* thing. IOW you can't just backup every data file with a 5
   generation cycle, because you'll make a change to X 5 times, which
   will wipe out the fuckup you made to Y last month.

... ie the backup *strategy* (not media, etc.) to handle that situation.

RS> The most elegant solution is a decent DAT tape drive at home
RS> and at work and just do a decent brute force backup when the

Doesn't solve all the problems, particularly 4) above.

RS> machine isnt in use when you are at the other machine etc. With
RS> an intelligent cycling of the actual tapes. Presumably with a

"Intelligent cycling" - that's the question I'm trying to get to! What
is an "intelligent" cycle which addresses each of those different needs
above, plus any I haven't thought of?

RS> quick backup of client stuff before you leave to take with you.

RS> Trouble is thats a rather expensive solution.

Well I don't really need to duplicate it on both. Everything on the work
machine is on the home machine, for when I work at home. The home
machine has extra stuff on, like compilers. So, I really only need one
"backup", once I've "mirrored" the work machine to home. And *my*
preferred solution to that step is just a modem on both. Then I don't
need floppies, and if there happens to be a file at home that I need at
work which is not part of the normal mirroring, I can just grab it.

Maybe I'll look at that too this week. I guess I'd get another Spirit,
although what would be nice to play with would be a full data/fax/voice
modem, and the Telephony API. Don't know how available they are here
though.

RS> Still, the tax man pays for a substantial chunk of it.

Some of it.

Regards, FIM.

 * * And the RESET button lets you re-run AUTOEXEC.BAT
@EOT:

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