Hardware protection

As Wilders members,we try to protect our valuable data as good as we can against every available and future released piece of rubbish,classified as "malware".......but what do you peeps use to protect yourself against hardware failure?
We can have the best security setup on the planet,but that doesn't mean a thing when you hd suddenly dies.....
Most of us have a backup solution....Images,snapshots,plain data backups,but they also mostly reside on hd's or ssd,which are prone to failure.
That's why I use HD Sentinel Pro:
http://www.hdsentinel.com/
Which is a great tool to monitor and predict the health of you data storage medium,and even if there's no SMART support for usb sticks,you can still do a surface scan to see if there's something wrong.......it saved my bacon already a few times.
What do you use to prevent data loss ?

 

I have a Backups folder on my data partition that is used to hold backup files created by my backup programs (Areca Backup and Macrium Reflect). I use a sync program (FreeFileSync) to sync the files in the Backups folder to an external drive. I sometimes use a sync program (FreeFileSync) to compare the contents of the external drive with the Backups folder. I also burn DVDs of the files in the Backups folder, keeping some DVDs offsite. For the most important subset of my data, I use online backup (SpiderOak).

 

Backup my data regularly, create multiple backups, and put them on separated storage mediums.

 

+1. There's almost no chance that multiple HDDs would fail at the same time.

hqsec

 

UPS to protect my PC from dodgy mains power. Redundant hard drives. I also like to check my hardware priodically, RAM with memtest86+ and manufacturers diagnostics plus crystaldiskinfo for HDDs.

 

2x Backups Are King! The chance of two or three properly implemented and verified backups going bad simultaneously is almost nil. Image your system. File-Sync your personal data. Backups take precedence above all else.

My ultra mission critical systems get the royal treatment with the occasional memory test, SMART check, surface scan, internal component and fan inspection, and blast of cleaning air. A decent surge suppressor or UPS is a good thing too.

In reality, just getting people just to do backups is a major step forward in data protection.

 

While I can find myself in the case of multiple backups,it surprises me that people tend to care less about their hardware.....only 2 out of 5 replying members check their hardware periodically.....
C'mon guys,the gaming community does better in this than the security lovers.....

 

You can make that 3 because I use CrystalDiskInfo also.

 

The absolute BEST diagnostic for system hardware (RAM, HDD data, I/O paths, etc.) is the system itself. When one of those mentioned hardware areas starts to get flakey... you'll notice is very quickly as the OS and data sensitive apps blow up in your face.

 

There's a gang of folks on the Piriform message forum that's adamant about using a 3rd party file-copy utility (Windows Explorer drag-n-drop). All in the name of insuring accurate file copies.

It is my opinion (and supported by direct experience) that inaccurate file copies originate from bad ram or another similar system problem related to putting data on the bus.

These error checking copy utilities (Terracopy comes to mind) and enhanced explorers are band aids for systems that have already failed.

I've copied several hundred TB with no additional utilities and no issues.

 

Not sure how that's related to the thread, but I'd never use a 3rd party file copier without an undo feature. Funny that none of them have something so basic.

 

It was a direct comment regarding how software can cover-up a hardware fail. Especially an intermittent or latent developing failure.

Many people rely on utilities to do stuff like that instead of taking time to fix the hardware.

Should be obvious how its related to the thread.

And in direct response to the last sentence in the OP post, too many people use utilities with error checking to gloss over hardware issues. That's not protecting data!

 

Re: Hard Disk Sentinel

I have used Hard Disk Sentinel in the past, and on all my computers, even very old ones with old hard drives many years old, it always reported my disk health as being 100%.

Has anyone else ever found that?

 

Yep. SMART is a reading and interpretation of many disk factors. SMART readings look at rate of change and some direct numbers. Not all SMART prarameters are used by every disk. And not every interpretation (summary and digest) is built around the same furmula. Company A may use something different from Company B. And not all disks report the same feature-set. And the reported numbers can vary from mfg. to mfg. E.g. different scales and weights and ranges.

Older disks may have only a few monitor points or "features" diagnosed by SMART. Thus leaving many aspects of a disk not monitored. New disks have more thorough instrumentation, if you will..

 

Google's study on SMART: https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=1437869&postcount=8.

 

Daily incremental or differential backup on network drive.

 

I also use FileVerifier++ occasionally (maybe once a month) to audit my data for unwanted file content changes (whether by malware, hardware issues, or user error) as well as file additions and deletions.

 

Re: Hard Disk Sentinel

Not me,HD Sentinel warned me for a dying WD Raptor and shows a Maxtor as 93 % healthy because of a bad sector...

 

The goal of a good backup strategy is to make the hardware irrelevant and easily replaceable. The data is far more valuable than the hardware.

So I image my computers with differential backups daily to a network NAS that has two drives mirroring each other. In addition, the most important data is sync'd between all computers to the NAS and a computer at work so I'm also covered by off-site backup (just the data, though. No imaging).

The odds of something catastrophic to a level where all backup targets are destroyed is extremely remote.

 

I don't really trust hardware checks monitoring personally. And even if I do, I don't find them necessary for my needs.

 

Maybe not,but that opinion might change when the hardware monitoring program is able to backup your data automaticly to another location when a certain threshold is reached...that's where HDSentinel shines above all WinUtilities,TuneupUtilities,Cpuid's HW Monitor and dozens of other monitoring and hw checking programs....It CAN protect your data,by copying it when something starts to go wrong!

 

Then you're missing all the other kinds of catastrophes that have nothing to do with a harddrive reaching a threshold. I.e. a virus infection, a software update gone wrong, power failure in the middle of a Windows update, your cat walks on the keyboard and deletes a critical file, etc. I do daily imaging just for the "you never know".

 

Additionally, from the Google study referenced earlier in this thread, SMART gives no warning for a nontrivial percentage of hard disk failures.

 

I have AX64 Time Machine and do a weekly backup with Terabyte's ImageForWindows,but only on my system drive....
But how many harddisks or partitions do you backup daily?
I have another hd where my all my game folders are ported to:Steam,Uplay,GamesForWindows and whatever.This disc has more than 500 GB on redownloadable data.
Another 1 is filled with other stuff
And my 4th is used for backups.....
If I had to backup all of these on a daily base,there would be hardly any time left for computing..... .

 

All of them, but that's beside the point.

Differential or Incremental takes a few minutes, but that's beside the point again.