suggest setup 4 external 1TB+ backup?

[pianoplayer88key]

My parents have told me they'd like to help me with getting my hard drives backed up. I think the best solution would be to get a hard drive in an external enclosure, and clone the drives and partitions.

Right now I have an 80GB HDD (which has a ~37GB XP partition with &lt;13GB free, a ~28GB W7 Beta partition with <20GB free, and the rest is Ubuntu Linux, which I can't see the capacity remaining from in Windows), a 250GB HDD with ~10GB free, and a 750GB HDD (with a 509GB partition with ~65GB free, a 127GB partition with ~66GB free, and a ~61GB partition with <5GB free).
The 61GB partition on the 750G drive is a backup made a couple months ago at my parents' request of the 127GB partition (and squeezed down so it didn't take more space on the drive than needed), so I probably don't need to back that up, unless you all think I should.
Also, I'm probably going to be needing to purchase a new hard drive (but I'll be paying for that myself) for main data storage in the not-too-distant future, as I'm starting to run a bit low on space on the drives I have. (When I do, I'll want to retire the 80GB drive, and move all its partitions onto the 250GB drive (and juggle other things around as necessary).
In the meantime, I'm hoping that a 1TB drive would be sufficient to back up the drives I now have (which is actually 1.08TB, but there's more than .08TB of available space). One thing though, while I'm willing to shrink partitions on the backup media as necessary, I'd rather not have to do that.

So.. after that long-winded rambling... what would you recommend for a backup solution? A drobo is NOT an option, due to being several times over our price range. Personally, I'd prefer to get an internal 1TB drive that's good quality (looking at the $90-110 price range) and mount it in a good quality external enclosure (would like to get one under $30). Or, would I be better off just getting an external drive that is sold as such, and if so, will I be able to swap out the drive for a larger one later as needed without voiding the warranty (assuming I do the swapping out myself, not taking it to someone else to do it)?
As for the interface, my computer has USB 2.0 and Firewire ports (mobo is a Gigabyte GA-MA69G-S3H), and I would consider adding an eSATA card. I really would like to keep the total price as low as is reasonably possible, but I don't want to get junk. (If the total price is $85, I'd be worried, but if it is upwards of $150, I think my parents would balk at buying it for me.)
As far as where to buy, I like NewEgg (yes I have to pay sales tax, but one of their distribution facilities is within 120 miles of here), but if you can recommend another vendor I'd be willing to consider it.

As far as the software for actually getting the data copied from my current drives onto the 1TB external setup, I'm thinking I would boot into Ubuntu from a live CD and use GParted to clone the partitions. Or, is there another way you would suggest doing it instead?

[xcorvis]

I'd get a USB 2.0 drive that has a decent number of reviews. Adding Firewire or eSATA adds a lot to the price. I'd also look for a 3 year warranty, but I know those are more rare. (If you want to swap the drive out later, you will void any warranty.) Alternately, buy an empty external case for cheap and a separate hard drive. If the case breaks, buy another, but if the HD dies you can use the manufacturer warranty. It's probably cheaper too.

The drive you get is going to be less important than the method you use to back up your system.

Do you want backups of your entire partitions, or do you just want the data? Personally I just back up the data, it's easier and I'm OK with reinstalling a system. Get something that does differential backups. A differential backup only copies files that have changed, so it is faster than something that copies everything. You can also usually schedule data backups within your OS, which I'd highly recommend since it takes the trouble of remembering (and finding time) out of your hands.

If you're taking whole partition images you should look at Free Ghost and similar programs (Partimage, CloneZilla), but pay attention to how they work - recovering multiple partitions can be tricky.

[pianoplayer88key]

I'd get a USB 2.0 drive that has a decent number of reviews. Adding Firewire or eSATA adds a lot to the price. I'd also look for a 3 year warranty, but I know those are more rare. (If you want to swap the drive out later, you will void any warranty.) Alternately, buy an empty external case for cheap and a separate hard drive. If the case breaks, buy another, but if the HD dies you can use the manufacturer warranty. It's probably cheaper too.

Personally I'd prefer to go the external enclosure + internal HDD route. I'll want to get a good quality HDD. I've had good experiences with Western Digital (my 80GB drive is a WD800JB - got it sometime between 2002 and 2004 i think - can't remember exactly), so I'm inclined to go with one of them for my backup drive, but am willing to consider other manufacturers' drives.
What should I look for in a USB enclosure? I want a decent quality one - one in which the HDD won't run too hot (with a fan maybe), with good ventilation, etc.... Lack of shockproofability won't exactly be a deal breaker as I will be setting it on the floor next to the computer tower (or on the desk) which is about 3 feet off the floor (tower is on the floor) when it's in use, but if it's a good idea to get a shockproof case I might consider it as long as it doesn't jack the price up too much higher. I expect to only be using it when I'm actually backing up my data or restoring from a backup.

The drive you get is going to be less important than the method you use to back up your system.

Do you want backups of your entire partitions, or do you just want the data? Personally I just back up the data, it's easier and I'm OK with reinstalling a system. Get something that does differential backups. A differential backup only copies files that have changed, so it is faster than something that copies everything. You can also usually schedule data backups within your OS, which I'd highly recommend since it takes the trouble of remembering (and finding time) out of your hands.

If you're taking whole partition images you should look at Free Ghost and similar programs (Partimage, CloneZilla), but pay attention to how they work - recovering multiple partitions can be tricky.

I would like to do an entire disk image / whole partition backup for now. As far as doing incremental / differential backups, what media would you recommend for that, considering on some occasions I might have 10-20GB to back up at once? I would be willing to consider buying yet another HDD (probably a smaller one like a 750GB) for that, or would it be better to wait for Blu-Ray burners to come down to about $60-85 or less (I saw one for $170 on NewEgg) then get one of those? I'd prefer not to use DVD, because quite often I'd have to use multiple discs per incremental/differential backup, when I'd rather use 1, and dual layer & blu-ray are still too expensive per GB right now if I'm going the optical media route. I would want the best price/GB ratio, and have the entire backup (in this case differential/incremental (what's the difference?) fit on one physical media. (For the whole hard disk backup, that would be another HDD.)

For the whole partition backup, would booting Ubuntu off a live CD and using GParted work?


As far as what products to get...

I'm looking at getting a 1TB drive - don't want to pay more than $100-110 for the drive itself. As for the enclosure, I'd like to keep it down below $30, but could go a little higher if necessary to get something that's good quality.

What should I look for in an enclosure? I'd like eSATA support, but if it's not worth the price premium I won't worry about it (although I will require USB 2.0.) My mobo supports firewire as well, but preliminary research has revealed that 1394 support has a significant price premium.
Also, what would be good for making sure it doesn't run too hot? Should I go with an aluminum enclosure, one with a fan, one with vents on the case, or combo or what?
Also a few I've seen on newegg come with backup software, and a few that have eSATA support come with SATA to eSATA brackets (which would use one of the 4 SATA ports on my mobo. (I have 1 SATA drive in there right now, and hope to purchase a 2nd (separate from this backup solution) (1.5TB or 2TB) internal SATA drive (plus another of equal size to back THAT up) within the next few months or so.) If it didn't come with an eSATA bracket, then I'd have to either use USB (or 1394 if it supported it but those are a bit pricey I think), or spend $15-25 on an add-on card with an eSATA port.

Some of the products I'm looking at:
internal HDDs - 1 TB (1-2) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2000150014%20103530090%201035313496&StoreType=-1&CompareItemList=N82E16822136317%2cN82E16822136284&bop=And)
enclosures: (1) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182115), (2) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817437001), (3) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817332022), (4 - reg $49.99, $20 off w/promo code through 4-29) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817173042), (5) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817159098), (6) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182155), (7-10) (http://tinyurl.com/ddzgr4)
(if necessary - i.e. if I get an eSATA enclosure that doesn't come with an eSATA bracket):
eSATA brackets: (1-4) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=40000353&Description=eSATA%20bracket&bop=And&CompareItemList=N82E16812104063%2CN82E16812816069% 2CN82E16812186052%2CN82E16812119021), (5-6) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=40000001&Description=eSATA%20bracket&bop=And&Order=PRICE)
add-on controllers (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2000150410%201193218488%201193515356&StoreType=-1&CompareItemList=N82E16816104009%2cN82E16816132011% 2cN82E16816124004%2cN82E16816132020&bop=And)
In each above category, I'd only buy one item, and don't want to buy more than I need (for example if an enclosure comes with an eSATA bracket, I won't be buying a separate add-on bracket or card).

[pianoplayer88key]

Another thing (since I'm past the edit time window)
Most of the enclosures say they support up to 1 TB, or up to 1.5 TB. Was that only because that was the largest hard drives available at the time they tested it, or will it actually NOT support HDDs larger than that? I don't want to have to get a new enclosure later when it comes time to get a 2TB, 2.5TB, 3TB, etc HDD.

I've narrowed down my choice of enclosures to this one (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817173042). It's a USB 2.0 & eSATA enclosure with good ventilation, a fan, and is on sale until Wednesday (4-29) for $30 (normally $50). If I miss out on that deal, I'd be looking at either these two eSATA + USB 2.0 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2000090092%201053807123%201054107131%20105420713 7&StoreType=-1&CompareItemList=N82E16817159095%2cN82E16817106098&bop=And) or this USB 2.0 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817159098) enclosure. As for the two with eSATA, they don't come with the eSATA bracket, so I'd be looking at getting one of these (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=40000353&Description=eSATA%20bracket&bop=And&CompareItemList=N82E16812104063%2CN82E16812816069% 2CN82E16812186052%2CN82E16812119021) or these (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=40000001&Description=eSATA%20bracket&bop=And&CompareItemList=N82E16812226006%2CN82E16812201015) .

I've decided not to get a separate add-on controller card at this time, as it appears that my mobo supports hot swap SATA.

As for the hard drive itself... I'm thinking that this Western Digital WD1001FALS - $105 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284) would be fine, or do you think this WD WD10EADS - $95 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136317) is good enough?

Or... am I looking at all the wrong things? I'd like to keep the prices similar to the items linked above, but if someone could give me a good reason to get a more expensive solution, I'd consider it.

[xcorvis]

If you're worried about heat, get a case with a fan. I like aluminum ones too, since they dissipate heat better. Alternately, get an "open" dock-style enclosure. There are a few different brands that make them. http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/26/uniteks-sata-hdd-dock-throws-in-multicard-reader-one-touch-bac/

You probably don't have enough space to do both partition images and separate data backups. By incremental I mean that only changed files are re-copied to the drive (overwriting the old versions), not that you take a full backup and then a separate backup of the different files. Rsync is the canonical example of this and there are tons of programs out there that can do similar things like Delta Copy and SyncToy.

I don't have much experience with GParted so I don't know it's capabilities, but using a boot CD so you can capture images is a good idea. You might also make an ubuntu boot flash drive and put a different imaging tool on that.

[dark_shroud]

Go with the 1TB Western Digital Green Drive. They use a lot less power and generate much lower heat that a normal drive.

As for the transfer method. Before you buy a bracket make sure you have a way to connect it to your mobo. When it comes to the cases do not pay over $30 for one, $35 at the max. Research how they would perform "one touch backup" if they have this feature.

[pianoplayer88key]

Ok I'm almost ready to pull the trigger... here's what I'm looking at:

Hard drive: Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EADS 1TB SATA 3.5" (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136317) - $94.99 + tax (NewEgg - I'm in Calif) (free shipping)
Enclosure: Rosewill RX-358-S BLK SATA to USB2.0 & eSATA w/80mm fan (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817173042) - $29.99 + tax & shipping (with promo code good through tomorrow, otherwise $49.99)

Are there better ones for the same (or lower) price, or should I go for that setup? I was just in leo laporte's chat and someone there said that was a good solution, i'm just asking for a "second opinion". :)

Speaking of the card reader + dock-style one that someone linked from engadget... I do also need to get another card reader, as the multiformat one I have will only allow access to one slot at a time (you have to insert the card BEFORE you plug the reader into the computer). I was looking at this AFT PRO-35U All-in-one USB 2.0 Card Reader (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820176015), but although it's advertised as internal AND external capable, it's $38.99. Alternately, I could get either this nMEDIAPC ZE-C128 Black Aluminum Panel 5.25"All-in-one USB x 3 / IEEE 1394 / eSATA / HD (or AC97) Audio Internal Card Reader (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820132021) for $24.99 or this SABRENT CRW-UINB 68-in-1 USB 2.0 Internal Card Reader w/ USB 2.0 Port supports SDHC/VISTA (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820300608) for $12.99 (I'd prefer the former), and limp along with my current card reader for use when I'm not home, until it dies, then get another one.

Also I'm constantly maxing out my available RAM (and my pagefile usage is often 2GB - my physical RAM is 2GB. Should I get another G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231098) for $27.99 + tax? That's the same as what I have in my comp right now, and I have 2 slots available. Or should I get 2 2GB sticks, and take out the 2 1GB sticks I have now? (I have XP Home SP3 32-bit right now so I'm aware of the <4GB limitation. I hope to upgrade (or clean install) to 64-bit Windows 7 when it's released (I have a beta installed but am not running it atm), but would be a little concerned about plugging in older hardware that doesn't have 64-bit driver support.)

[xcorvis]

Your external drive choices look good to me, seems perfectly reasonable.

Go ahead and get two 2 GB sticks if it's not too much more expensive. There shouldn't be any harm in having 6 GB in your system, even if Windows can't see it. You might want to put the 2 GB sticks in the first pair of memory slots, just in case. You should check your motherboard limitations tho - it may max out at 4 GB, or not like 2 GB sticks (but that's unlikely).

I think Ubuntu 32-bit may have the memory extension stuff built into the kernel, so it may recognize more than 4 GB of RAM.

[pianoplayer88key]

Well I just got the HDD and enclosure today. I've also ordered 2 extra 1GB sticks, but they'll probably be a little slower coming as the free shipping on those was the egg saver shipping.

In the meantime, I was checking to see if my mobo would support hot swap. Apparently, according to the mobo manufacturer, if I set SATA ACHI mode in the bios, it will support hot swap. However, when I do that, it won't see my 750GB SATA internal hard disk at all (not even the device, let alone the partitions on it) in windows, but it does see it when booting. (NOTE: I just now saw in the faq entry on gigabyte's website that I need to install the SATA2 RAID driver in XP.) I've set the bios setting back to what it was before (Native IDE) and everything's back to the way it was. When I change the setting back to AHCI and install the driver, is it likely to wipe my HDD, or should it not affect it at all? I won't be setting up a raid at this time.
I don't know if it would make any difference for installing the RAID drivers, but I don't have a floppy drive in this computer.

[pianoplayer88key]

BACKUP DONE!! :D
Ok, it was a few years time getting around to it, but it's done! :) Basically I booted off an Ubuntu 8.10 live CD, after installing the HDD in the encosure and plugging into an eSATA bracket which I also installed. I then used GParted to clone the partitions (in the same order which their drive letter assignments were in Windows (slotting the Linux & L-swap partitions in their respective places)), shrinking partitions that had a lot of free space. However when I came to the last one, I had to do it a little differently. I had about 165GB of unallocated space, with a 127GB partition to copy, and it said there wasn't enough space to do it, or something like that. However, it DID let me create a partition which used the rest of the free space, although I ended up using only 100GB or so (which still left me with a few dozen GB to spare), then used the Ubuntu file explorer to copy all the files & folders from the source to the backup partition.
Also, I have another ~65GB free of disk space. One of the partitions on there had been a backup made a few months ago of another partition, and we decided we didn't need a backup of a backup, so I wiped it, then added the extra free space to a main one I'm using for data storage. So... looks like I'll be able to wait a little while longer to get another HDD. Maybe hopefully by Aug/Sept or so the 2TB HDDs will be a comparable or better price/GB ratio to the 1TB or 1.5TB HDDs??

Now... thing is... what do I do incremental backups onto? (I'll need to get software though - any free suggestions?) Should I get another (smaller) HDD, and incrementally back up onto that, back up onto DVDs (my least preferred option, as I really would like to do more than one incremental backup per physical media, and often there'll be possibly 3-10GB or more of new data per time I need to back up (not sure if I'd do it every other day, once a week, or how often), or either splurge now and get a Blu-Ray burner, or wait till they're down to about $50-70?