Software update procedure - one final question

baltwo wrote:

I'm digesting stil, but I'll tell you my druthers. First, I only use self-powered FireWire HDs. Second, I don't daisy chain them, preferring to connect them, power them up, and then update their clones individually. They all share the same FW connection, but have separate power supplies. IMO, there's no need for dc'ing FWHDs. Third, I never use USB connections, since their too slow for data transfering. USB 1 and 2 are for peripheral usage: mice, keyboards, and printers. HTH

Now, you know, my last and final question couldn't possibly be the conclusion to this scintillating discussion. 😉

Thanks, baltwo, for your continuing input to my unending questions.

I'm just trying to get your scheme into focus - you don’t use a hub, right?

“They all share the same FW connection, but have separate power supplies”

So you have ONE iMac FW port and keep plugging and unplugging into it with cables attached to each of the HD's?

OR you have one cable attached to the FW port on your iMac and you keep attaching and detaching it to the HDs?

OR are they plugged into each other as in a dc (wait, you said "Second, I don't daisy chain them" , but not accessed at the same time? Self powered you say - so you turn them each on and off daily and the FW passes through #1 to #2 even when #1 is off (if I understand what someone else said about my LaCies, this won’t work for them in dc, they all need to have power on)

My USB2 plan is as follows - tell me, please, if it’s nuts. Mr H uses the MBP at his desk. He saves important work to 2 flash drives and I have 3 backup clones of the MBP at my desk, I clone the MBP once a week depending on work load - and we keep one clone of the Macs plus install software and photo files in our safe deposit box on a 1 TB rikiki go. My scheme is to use our second rikiki go - a tiny 1 TB USB2 HD - to store all our photos for him to access and to have one partition for backup of the MBP. I know the initial cloning will take time, but once it’s done the incremental daily backups should be speedy. I can bring the rikiki go over to my desk to transfer the backup to the external HD clones of the MBP - rather than constantly bringing the MBP over here.

Byzantine or workable?

I will have to think on your scheme. Because I have always wondered if keeping the power bricks on and the HDs on and idling is more or less a strain on a HD than turning it on and off each day it seems attractive doing it this way as long as I can easily access the on/off switch - but my power bricks will stay plugged and connected - unplugging them daily too much to ask.

Mrs H

John.Kitzmiller wrote:

Honestly, if it were me, I'd just daisy chain all of the drives and leave them on for convenience. I've got a total of 4 FW drives connected to my main system, 2 for data and 2 for backup, and I just leave them all on and available so that I don't have to remember to turn them on for backups (since all of my backups are automated).

...You should have no problem doing this.

Thanks, John, for your suggestions and encouragement.

So power is on all the time and your drives are on all the time and idle when not accessed. (right now my brand new LaCie doesn’t sleep soundly, but I have to do a firmware up-date which LC tells me should fix that. It sleeps OK, but wakes up for no reason and cycles on and then goes back to sleep...)

As I said above, I have wondered if keeping the power bricks on and the HDs on and sleeping is more or less a strain on a HD than turning it on and off each day. And again, do I really want to reach behind the desk to turn on the HDs each day.

Any thoughts on my USB plan for Mr H’s MBP described above?

Will have to think on your plan.

baltwo wrote:

Mine are kept powered off and I only fire them up when I want to update the clones or use them in a testing mode. I don't like ext HDs that have any energy saving or sleep features, but that's just me.

HTH

I think you are right. The sleep setting on the new LaCies is apparently very buggy - but the firmware update should fix it.

The more I'm reading about external HDs the more it sounds like turning them on and off is better for their lifespan than leaving the always on even if sleeping. The USB plan - I'm still thinking. 😕

btw - do you leave your iMac on and sleeping when not in use?

I keep coming up with more questions the longer we talk.

Mrs H

baltwo wrote:

I only sleep their displays, not the computers or HDs. The G4's been running since 2000.

I wish we never had thunderstorms here. Then I never would have turned my G4 on and off and its power brick would not have died and I would still be using it...

Confused (again) so the ext HD is left OFF and you connect it FW'ly then you power it up and use it? So the HD's are not asleep above, means - for the HDs - that they are off?

Mrs H

baltwo wrote:

Mrs H wrote:

OR you have one cable attached to the FW port on your iMac and you keep attaching and detaching it to the HDs?

That's it.

Mine are kept powered off and I only fire them up when I want to update the clones or use them in a testing mode. I don't like ext HDs that have any energy saving or sleep features, but that's just me.

Just to finish this off and tell you my current plan:

I've had long conversations with LaCie who insist that daisy chaining and hubs are not the best connections and that data transfer can be compromised. You probably knew that all along, baltwo.

Since I only will be using these ext HDs for daily backups which take about 10 minutes, I'll just connect them to a surge protector power strip, which I'm connecting to my UPS. I'll kept the drives physically turned on, but connected to an OFF power supply on the surge protector. I will only power them up via the on/off switch on the surge/power strip when I actually want to use them. Seems like a plan - finally! No hub, no daisy chain - 1 FW connection, 2 USB2 connections and no having to plug and unplug daily as I do the multiple (some might say neurotic) backups.

Mrs H