SSD Partitions and query about backups

Fruitbooter

Fruitbooter

Fruitbooter

Associate
Joined
14 Jun 2011
Posts
371
Location
Wolverhampton
Hi Guys

Looking for some advice on a new rig ive built.

I have a 256GB 840 Pro and a 3TB Green

I have just got to the point where I have installed Windows 7 and a few programms (all onto SSD) 3TB isnt plugged in yet.

Would it be benneficial to create a partition on the SSD and use one just for windows system files which gets backed up and the other partition for games?

I am also trying to understand the purpose of backing up windows files on a regular basis, if the OS dies then surley a re-install should be fine so why create backup images? Also we have system restore points which can be used. If anyone can expalin the benefiits this would be great.

Any tips or advice on how to set up this new system would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
the advantage of an os only partition is that efficient partition level backups of your build (sans data files) is much simpler.
Restoring to yesterdays build is a very simple activity as it only changes your os/program files and not your data.
the advantage of not partitioning is that you can most easily efficiently utilise all the disk without too much or too little space on the other partition.
the holy grail is a dedicated physical disk for the os/app (80-120gb)....even simpler to manage the backup/restore but also a bit more performance...
problem is smaller ssds usually have less nands/ channels so less performance...

so when push comes to shove...a balance of bang for buck/performance/ease of disk/partition level backup & restore..usually means partitioning the ssd.

macrium reflect is the new darling of imaging solutions since acronis shot itself in the foot with a succession of terrible versions..disk backup and restore is free..
 
So when you say data is not backed up during system restore only programs and OS this would mean that creating a backup image of everything is the only real way to protect yourself? This image is obviously going to be large and take up a lot of space on my 3TB.

What would people do if you had my newly set up system, how would you set it up and manage it (looking for an automatic process within windows or other easy to use reliable software).

Why do so many people talk about creating regular backups of the OS if it really doesn’t help you when you lose important personal data? I have already made a x64 Windows 7 bootable USB so if anything did corrupt with the OS I can re-install windows pretty simple.
 
reinstalling your build back to known good settings is quite useful for a tinkering enthusiast...but agreed in terms of volatile data loss there is little value..other than the time to reinstall all your apps and their settings...

backing up the build is not a substitute for your data files backup...this needs to be done as well.

an os partition backup of the last year of a dedicated os disk/partition is only 100GB (with compression and daily differentiation)...

if your my documents/data files are not massive...they could be included in that partition....but you would probably want them offsite in a cloud service as well
 
id be looking to backup the 3tb hdd rather than the ssd

you'll find that the ssd will be more reliable,can always add in a spare cheap hdd and clone the ssd to that to back it up,same for the storage hdd
 
wazza300 said:
id be looking to backup the 3tb hdd rather than the ssd

you'll find that the ssd will be more reliable,can always add in a spare cheap hdd and clone the ssd to that to back it up,same for the storage hdd
Click to expand...

i dont have a significant set of data points, but evidence amongst family and friends is that SSDs (1st/2nd gen at least) were less reliable in terms of failure rate within 1st 3 yrs....i dont trust ssds...well i do for performance but not reliability.
 
true,but the ops Samsung 840 pro will be far more reliable imo

as for general backing up its better to install a cheap hdd and to clone the whole ssd across to it,if anything happens to the ssd you can either boot from the hdd or re clone it back to a new ssd
 
I have 2 partitions on my main SSD. A 40GB one for OS/apps and the remaining 200GB as a Steam/game partition.

The OS/apps partition gets backed up with a daily Macrium image to a 2nd old small 60GB SSD drive. It includes all savegames etc. by default.

The other large partition is just game files that can easily be downloaded or installed again so do not need to be backed up daily. I also keep here anything else that does not need backing up such as my Google Drive folder and any other files that can be accessed again easily on the internet.

I also have an external USB 3.0 portable drive for long term backups, archives, game images, videos and anything else that I might only want very occasionally.

This way I have a quiet & fast booting SSD only system.
 
Fruitbooter.

If your SSD and HDD both died today, would you be put out by the data loss? If so, then you need a backup solution or maybe more than one.


This is what I use..

Macrium Reflect (in live boot CD mode)
Weekly backup of Operating System SSD.
Monthly backup of Steam/Games drive (not too bothered if this is lost, as it's easily re-attainable)

Robocopy commandline tool
Backs up my Video/Music/Pictures from my NAS to 2 other locations.

I keep a minimum of 3 copies of the above.

I only have read-only access to the NAS, to prevent accidental data loss / potential virus issues.

OneDrive
Documents are backed up automatically on OneDrive and 7zipped up daily onto my NAS (hidden share), stored by datename.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom