Need help choosing a file sync program

hi guys. being a full disk imaging enthusiast, i have never really needed/researched file backup programs so some help would be appreciated here.

the situation is this. the family PC has 3 hard drives, 1 drive for OS and the second 2 were in a software raid1 (windows 7) which contained family videos etc. this worked fine until i found out that there is no notification system in windows 7 for a raid fail!! so instead of a raid system i have split the raid into individual drives.

i need a file sync program which is reliable and copies/verifies files one way. i need it to detect changes on for example drive X and then copy over modified/new files over to drive Z with built in email alerts for failed transfers. another function it needs to have is to keep the file/folder permission properties when it transfers them to the second hard drive.

thank you in advance.

oh and a motherboard raid is out of the question as if the motherboard goes kaput then you cant retrieve the data off the raid until you get a motherboard with the same raid controller (not alot of people realise this).

 

If you are using RAID1 of NTFS disks they should be readable independently if you need to break the RAID.

Regarding your software RAID, which chipset is in your motherboard? For example, Intel software RAID has a utility (RST) that will run in Windows and let you know the condition of your RAID.

If you'd like to look at Sync programs, my favorite is Syncback SE or Pro. Its fast, feature rich and reliable. Been using it for years.

 

yes i already broke the raid successfully.

software raid is just that, software, chipsets dont come into it. i think you are referring to a motherboard raid which i spoke about at the end of my original post. i am using a software raid, not a motherboard raid or a hardware raid.
yes using the motherboard raid would let me use 3rd party programs which keep me updated on the status of the raid but like i said in the origianl post, not alot of people know that their data would NOT be retrievable in the event of a motherboard failure, the only way you can get your data back in that case is to buy a new motherboard with the same raid controller.

thank you, i will add that to the list of programs to test, does it keep the file/folder permissions during transfer?

 

What are you talking about?
RAID 1 on entire disks (not software raid on partition level or hybrid raids 0+1) does not matter if it is software, hardware or firmware, will be seen as normal disks when you load them on a normal sata/ide/scsi configuration.

Where did you get the idea that you cannot retrieve data from firmware based raid 1?

Panagiotis

 

tree,

I use Second Copy 8 which has the functions you desire.

http://www.centered.com/download.html

 

what are YOU talking about, please read my post again as i think you have misunderstood it.

i did not once say that you cant load them on a normal "sata/ide/scsi configuration" but rather that you cant load them via different controllers (dont confuse controllers with interface). i should know as we sell/use them at work (hardware raids) and we only sell raid cards 2 at a time as you need the same controller to break the raid so the client will be saved from headaches by having another controller by the same maker should the original go faulty.

are you using motherboard raid? on an intel board? if so try switching it to an AMD board and tell me if it works (vice verse if you have an AMD board), that way you will understand what i am talking about.

this is one example

 

cheers Brian, helpful as always

 

I know what I am talking about. I'm talking about loading a previous raid-1 disk to a not raid controller and mounting its file system.
If it was a software raid or a firmware raid it usually works . With the hardware raid controllers it is more difficult but it can be done (especially if one had already a backup of the raids mbr/partition table).

One have to find the LBA where its mbr resides, copy/move it to LBA0 (count the difference between LBA0 and LBA where resided in the raid) and then modify the LBA positions of the partition start/end (initial LBA+ the differense found erlier).
to get an idea about recovering data from a raid-1 member disk...
http://www.unixwiz.net/techtips/recovering-failed-raid.html
http://community.wdc.com/t5/WD-Shar...-a-RAID-1-mirrored-drive-when-the/td-p/138448
http://www.dtidata.com/resourcecenter/2009/06/08/converting-raid-1-to-single-drive/
http://www.active-undelete.com/tools_raid.htm
http://www.diskinternals.com/raid-recovery/

Another tool for sync
http://www.syncovery.com/

Panagiotis

 

you have kind of proved my point. i agree with you that software raids always work, no fiddling required. although putting motherboard raid in the same boat as the software raid is wrong, motherboard raid is more akin to proper hardware raids. the reason why you found that motherboard raids "usually work" is probably because the raid controller on the motherboards were a close enough match.

not having the same raid card handy when you encounter the disaster turns data retrieval into a game of chance, i am not saying its impossible to get your data back, experience has taught me that its not a fair trade off in recovery percentage to persue hardware raids without having a spare raid card handy (especially if its a rare controller on the card).

we had an incident at work where a customer was using an ancient motherboard raid and his motherboard went faulty. we could not retrieve his data as the motherboard was not available to buy anywhere. so if 20 of my technicians/engineers could not retrieve the extremely important data due to controller unavailability then excuse me for disagreeing with you with regards to raid controllers.

anyway this is going off-topic, i like/respect the general high quality of your posts so please PM me to discuss this conversation further.

cheers for that

 

really appreciate the recommendations.

unfortunately Second Copy 8 does not run as a service on windows 7 (only on vista and XP).

Syncback Pro looks promising.

Syncovery seems like exactly what i need.

i will trial them both and choose accordingly.

cheers guys