Re: Verbatim 1TB external HDD
On Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:05:38 +0100 Lisi <lisi.reisz@gmail.com> wrote:
> I have been asked to set this HDD up as a backup device on a Lenny
> system. It will primarily be used for photographs and personal
> files.
>
> http://www.amazon.co.uk/Verbatim-Desktop-External-Hard-Drive/dp/B0017422EA
>
> It is currently formatted "To" and FAT32.
>
> What would people recommend in this situation? Reformat or use
> FAT32? And if reformat, to what? I think that his slightly aged
> computer would probably blow a gasket if asked to use ext4, so am
> wondering about ext3.
ext4 will work fine if you have a newer kernel (the default in lenny
won't support it, but if you're running backports it will).
Otherwise, use ext3 assuming that's what the rest of your system uses.
> As of now, I am intending to clone (dd? Clonezilla?) the internal
> HDD onto it
I wouldn't dd it. It isn't going to do what you want unless the two
hard drives are identical hardware. If you want to copy files from
one to another, just use tar, or even cp if you're comfortable with
it.
> and then show the user how to copy and paste new files
> onto it as he goes along, with me syncing the whole thing
> periodically. Since I will not be there most of the time, this
> strikes me as simple and workable. But anacron may also be a
> possibility.
If the goal is to use this thing for backup, use a backup utility
rather than just copying files, you will be happier.
--
Perry E. Metzger perry@piermont.com
Reply to: