Since computers became essential in most homes for communications through email and the web, and before antivirus became essential, we lost our operating system and data twice. Once to a virus, and once to a hard drive mechanical failure.

With our home computer now being used for social work involving government departments, we particularly needed to protect both the operating system and the data. The data for obvious reasons. The operating system because if one has prepared for an important meeting at 9 am, with all the information for the meeting on floppy or CD, and the system fails at 7 am, the result is total panic.

Although it is quite easy to back up data to removable media, with everything stored in the one "C" partition it is not easy to back up (image) the operating system; one partition being the standard for most computers. So, we partitioned our hard disk into C, D, E and F. With just the operating system in C partition, this could easily be "imaged" to CDs, or possibly one DVD. This left D for data, E for programs and F for video or anything else.

With everything safely backed up onto CD or DVD, we were covered with regards to security of information. Our whole computer was now safely tucked away on CD/DVD, together with programs and boot disks.

This looked great until we realised there is nowhere to put this, if ones hard disk has failed at 7 am, for a meeting at 9 am! Even so, a new HDD would need to be purchased and programmed.

The only real answer was to have two identical hard drives. Pull out the failed one, and plug in the clone! One is then instantly back on air! Even at the expense of pulling panels off, and swapping plugs, one could make that meeting on time.

With the stress of potentially losing our computer at a crucial time reduced, and the knowledge that we could quite quickly be up and running" without hotshot technical assistance, we were able to relax and think of how this could be achieved without having to get inside the computer.

The answer was Mobile HD Racks. These drawers enable you to install (or uninstall) your hard drive from the front of the computer. This is almost as easy as a CD-ROM drawer. So with identical drives, one can be back on air in just the time it takes to shutdown the computer, slide out one drive, slide in the other and restart the computer. Wonderful! We will now have no problem meeting deadlines when that Murphy strikes.

Hang on, we hear you say! How do we make the two drives identical, and how do we keep them that way. The
technical gurus will say, use "RAID 1" to keep the drives identical, Yes, well, maybe! But we just want it simple, and with the potential to go back when there is a problem! Surprise, surprise, this is more simple than you might think.

Let's start with the most basic. One computer and one hard drive. We then purchase, quite cheaply these days, a brand new identical size hard drive and two good quality "Mobile RD Racks". We say good quality because we have experienced problems with the plastic ones which are often under $30, but can be more. So beware!

With the racks installed, each connected to power and each to either SATA ports 0 and 1, or IDE ports 1 and 2, ones operational RD can be put in one of the racks, and the computer should work just as before.

Close down the computer, and put the new drive in the other rack. Restart the computer, and using "Acronis", or a similar imaging program, clone to the new HD) the complete operational MD. The computer should then run equally well from either drive, Having established it does, the back up drive can be put away safely until you need it in real time, or you have decided it is time to update the back up. Again, use "E'Acronis" to image the operational drive to the back up drive. For us, this takes about 10 minutes.

With both drives equal, we suggest you don't have both in, and running during normal operation, This is not only because the computer may boot from the back up drive, and you will then be unsure which is most current, but that if you make mistakes or something strange happens with the operational drive, there is a "clean one" handy to pop in, and from which to evaluate the situation.

At this point it is important to note that during the period between updating the back up drive, your data may be slightly out of date. Rapidly changing data needs to be backed up frequently to a CD or DVD. Otherwise, if the operational drive does fail, the data on the back-up drive will be out-of-date with no means to recover this from the defunct operational drive.

Nevertheless, being able to pop in a completely fresh operating system, data and programs is excellent for one's peace of mind. Even so, there is potential for other aspects of the computer to play up. The Power Supply, the motherboard or the RAM. So we guess the real ultimate back up is having another similar (same operating system) computer available?

In implementing this concept, we acknowledge the excellent support of the guru, North East Group convener, Mr Nigel Harris. Thank you Nigel.

Reprinted from the August 2006 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia

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