On Apr 21, 2011 4:41 PM, "Stan Hoeppner" <stan@hardwarefreak.com> wrote:
>
> prad put forth on 4/21/2011 2:14 PM:
> > Stan Hoeppner <stan@hardwarefreak.com> writes:
> >
> >> prad put forth on 4/20/2011 11:43 PM:
> >>
> >>> we want to run our servers through virtual box off usb drives which is a
> >>> total departure from what we've done over the years. so might as well
> >>> throw in a new fs too. :D
> >>
> >> Why USB?
> >>
> > since our volume is pretty small we only require around 10G.
> > the idea is to keep bkps on usb drives, so that if one fails, it's just
> > a simple plug-in to get things going again. we were thinking that we
> > avoid any possibility of hd failure/replacement this way and likely
> > reduce power requirements too.
> >
> > i've read that usb3 has faster write access than hd (though usb2
> > apparently didn't). read access though is apparently just as good with
> > usb2.
> >
> > we haven't evaluated the idea fully yet though and are just
> > contemplating the possibility as a sort of poorman's solid state drives.
>
> I'd steer clear of USB disk storage for a server environment. I've seen
> too many reports of USB links resetting spuriously for no apparent
> reason. If you have your root filesystem and swap on such a device and
> this happens, you're in trouble.
>
Usb is fine for cheap backups. As long as you do two and know what troubles to look for.
Points of interest here are:
Controller reset (stan is correct)
Disc integrity (noises and SMART errors)
Filesystem issues
Performance issues (usb uses a bit of processor so don't do this during prime time).
Discs don't handle vibration as well as tape, so this might not be good for off site.
Besides that, general backup maintenance policies should be adhered to.
.... actually, backups are a pain anyway so you're unlikely to follow this. Determined what I said. If you use discs for backup, you'll inevitably mess up. Here's your warning - DON'T!