10/16/2008

At last, a file system for the paranoid

Don't know about you, but I'm totally paranoid about losing my data. I back it up on an external hard drive that I leave unplugged 99% of the time -- just in case of a power surge. I also back it up on an external drive that I keep in my safety deposit box. If that's not enough, I do regular backups on CDs and DVDs. And call me crazy, but I also keep a USB flash drive handy for interim backups. If I'm not already a belt-and-suspenders man, then I'm damn close.

I've always been like this, but I got worse after one of my hard drives went south 5 years ago. Most of my files (photos, mostly) were backed up, but it took a lot of personal time -- along with 50 bucks' worth of data recovery software -- to rebuild the few files that weren't.

So while I don't usually have the patience for web seminars, I just might catch the "Building reliable file systems for embedded devices" webinar that QNX is hosting on Wednesday, October 22.

From what I can gather, the presenters will talk about QNX's "fail-safe" file system, which is supposed to "eliminate the data corruption and long integrity checks that can result from sudden power failures."

My only regret is that the file system is QNX-only: it won't work on my Windows box (damn). Which makes me wonder whether I should build a QNX file server for some of my critical data. Decisions, decisions.

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