Looking for software to keep drives in sync

I just picked up another 500 GB external USB drive and want to keep the two drives synchronized. When I write to one I would like the data to be written to the other automatically.

What are some options for this? Free is best

 

What OS?

 

duh.. sorry. XP Pro

 

As a side note, Western Digital "My Book" 500GB USB 2.0 drives are on sale at Best Buy this week for $119

 

don't use software to do this
windows will crash and won't help any and corrupt data even worse

use a hardware hard drive controller

You want to create a RAID 1 (Mirror) set using two identical drives (at least same size).

Note: typically, you have to start fresh with two drives to create the RAID 1 mirror set and then install the OS. So, you may not be able to just "copy" your existing hard drive to create a Mirror.

Do you have a PATA (older HD) or newer SATA?

You can get a nice HD controller from Promise and pick the one you want.
You only need to do RAID 1 don't worry about RAID 5.

Assuming SATA, this will get the job done a FastTrak TX2300:
http://www.promise.com/product/product_detail_eng.asp?product_id=136

Newegg.com for $56
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...llers+/+RAID+Cards-_-Promise+Tech.-_-16102060

You can get it from ProVantage for $62.87 :up:
http://www.provantage.com/promise-fasttrak-tx2300~7PROM140.htm

 

to answer your question directly:
here ya go:
http://lifehacker.com/software/geek...omatically-back-up-your-hard-drive-147855.php

this method only creates copies of your data which is fine for backups; you can not boot off of your USB drive using this specific method above..so if your internal HD fails.. your system is down and you are getting a new hard drive and probably reinstalling the OS.

but, my first response using RAID 1... either one of the two drives can fail and you are still up and running - this is not considered a backup, but more of protection of hardware failure; you have identical copies of every file on both drives at any given instant

the best practice would be to use RAID 1 to cover the hardware failure and also use a backup to backup your data files like pictures, emails, tax info, etc.

 

Thanks man. I'm down with setting up RAID but these are external USB drives, not internal IDE or SCSI drives. I need a simple syncing solution to keep the drives the same as I plan on using one for transporting to the track to dump pictures and video and the other as the repository. I don't want to have to do this manually.

 

i've never had a problem with software raid other than performance at raid 5 or higher.

the free-est solution i can give you is to use xp's built in software raid functionality to build a mirrored volume.

hardware raid is a waste of money unless you're doing something complex like raid5 or 6.

 

http://www.heatsoft.com/has/HASindex.html

It's even light, intuitive, fast AND elegant...

 

Ah... that helps to know. I should have asked.. I made things a little over complicated.

Use this link to help you: :up:
http://lifehacker.com/software/geek...omatically-back-up-your-hard-drive-147855.php

 

throwing out there some more options for ya:

if you have internet access while at the track you can also sync over the Internet between your two computers using FolderShare. I've used it.
https://www.foldershare.com/

And another Free option Microsoft's SyncToy:
http://lifehacker.com/software/feat...ynchronize-folders-with-synctoy-20-326199.php

I've used both. SyncToy is a little confusing getting it set up.

 

At the command line:

"robocopy <sourcepath> <destinationpath> /s /copyall"

Example:

robocopy c:\temp i:\temp /s /copyall

This will copy the contents of c:\temp to i:\temp.

robocopy is a free download from Microsoft. They even have a GUI to configure jobs if the command line scares you.

You do not want to use controller based mirroring if you are going to be pulling the second drive out on a regular basis and adding stuff to it. Each time you bring the drive back the controller will rebuild the mirror (using the source drive).

The nice thing about robocopy is that it performs a file/directory comparison based on filename and attributes, so only changes get copied on subsequent runs. In addtion, the last modified version of the file is the one that wins.

If you put new stuff on the 'travel' drive and come back to home base, just run the robocopy job with the travel drive as the source and the home drive as the destination.

BTW - I use robocopy quite a bit at work to move data during migrations - I'm talking TBs of data, not measly GBs. There really is nothing better on the market (and it's free). If you need further tips, feel free to PM me.

***edited after reading your original post closely***

 

Cannoli wants a utility program that he can set up source and destination targets once and from there on it takes just one click of a button to backup everything new coming in from his USB drive. He can choose to change one or both targets at any time. That should leave him even more time to spend on here and just perhaps a little happier. But one very important question remain, that is, is he going to put up with one click of a button? From the sound of his requirements I am not so sure if he wants to have to do anything at all to achieve his goal! It a toughie, with tracks, kids, wife, mistresses, bbs, just don't have the time for them all. Poor guy must be stressing himself pretty bad. We feel your pains, Cannoli. We hear your cries here every day and we understand completely. Take care brother

 

+1 for synctoy.

and the guy complaining about windows crashing mid-backup should learn to manage his systems better.

 

This has to be, by far the most comprehensible post pouch boy has EVER posted!

 

I've used a freeware product called "Syncback". It's a backup program with an option to keep folders synchronized ... sounds like exactly what you need.

http://www.2brightsparks.com/syncback/

 

I installed that last night. It's seems to do the trick on scheduled intervals. Is there something that does this real time?

 

aha, as soon as you plug the USB drive the program automatically goes ahead with the sync process. Then such program can be in 'start up', listening for such an event.

 

I was just going to post this. Either that, or someone else is posting under his name

 

Let's face it, it is too painful for me having to compile a post that would conform to your standard and level of acceptance. So, typically I just couldn't be bothered with taking such extra ordinary measure, besides,it is much easier to just hope for the best.