[NLRS] WA2VOI DISASTER

[Ford Peterson]

> The only bad thing about a RAID array is simply this, its in the
computer...
> Can't count how many times someone thought they were safe with RAID and
the
> computer took a lightning hit destroying the drives they were depending on
> saving them.

OK, I'm a bit late getting to this discussion, but there is a second
problem with RAID. If you make a mistake, or get a virus, or do
anything that instructs the RAID to delete files, it will gladly
delete those files.

In real life and in computers, a mirror reflects what is there, not
what you want to see :-)

An (old in computer terms) saying: There are two kings of people.
Those who back up there data, and those who will.

- Jason
(Who sadly admits he is bad about doing backups)

[FP>] 
[FP>] 

Jason, and others,

As an accountant, I discuss these topics with clients on a daily basis.
When you talk about 'problems' with RAID drives, you confuse the matter by
choosing to illustrate issues that are irrelevant to the discussion.

RAID, which for any modern desktop computer costs about $125, is not
designed to replace backups.  And that errant lightning bolt from heaven is
the least of your worries.  Having witnessed dozens of catastrophic computer
failures, it is operating system corruption and sudden hard drive failures
that should keep you awake at night.  

RAID is also not designed to reduce your risk of virus infections.  It does
not eliminate the need for appropriate backup procedures with off-site
storage.  RAID should not be viewed as an insurance policy against laziness.
But what RAID does do is provide a work-around for about 85% - 95% of the
problems that can shut you down unexpectedly.

Do the math...  What's the cost of a hard drive failure?  That depends on
what failed and when.  Is it the data that needs protecting?  Calculate the
cost of replacing the data.  Or is it downtime?  For most business
applications, the hardware is a seemingly miniscule cost.  Even the data
becomes a simple issue of nuisance.  Restoring data only to last Monday can
take a few hours to re-enter a week's worth of paper documents.  But when it
takes 2 weeks to recover from a loss of productivity, the $125 insurance
policy seems inconsequential.

What is interesting about this discussion relates to the recovery path.
What is the path to recover from a failure?  The data is more-often-than-not
the least of your worries.  It's making all those 2 or 5 year old
applications (or even older) operate on a new machine (VISTA?) that will
take all the time.  I assure you it may not be humanly possible to make old
apps work on new machines.  For numerous reasons, no backup procedures will
replace what a RAID can do flawlessly and instantly in the vast majority of
restorations I witness.

So whatever "problems" you see with having a RAID, I can assure you there
are a thousand more pressing issues lurking without a RAID.

With all that being said, calculate the 'cost' of losing functionality of
your shack computer in the middle of a contest?  What happens to the log?
If protecting that log is your only concern, then RAID is likely going to do
little for you in the grand scheme of things.  Your only hope is to grab
another computer and keep working.  The only insurance policy I can identify
is either audio recording your Qs or working with a software application
like Writelog or N1MM where the log can be mirrored in real-time on another
machine.  In a pinch, that second machine can become the basis for
continuing the contest, and maintaining integrity of the logged Qs.  Then
again, the real "Cost" of losing your log is likely to be $Zero$, in which
case all the heroic measures are questionable anyway.

Ford-N0FP