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Old 14th June 2009
ocicat ocicat is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gosha View Post
Then bsd666fan warned me that if I format it with ppc I will not be able to mount the disk on another architecture, and in case of hardware (macmini) failure, I would be lost, since I don't have another ppc. So the ext2 thing was not to use it with other systems, but just in case not to "lose" my data.
One question you need to research is whether an ext2 MBR partition created on one architecture is accessible on another. You are posing further complications by asking whether multiple filesystems on the same disk can be recognized by multiple architectures.

I do not know the complete answer to your question, but I do know that the disklabel structure created can vary from one architecture to another -- possibly to the point of incompatibility. Whether you will run into this nit between the i386 & ppc ports is unknown to me. I suspect you need to simply set it up & test. The versions of OpenBSD used probably need to be very close as well. Your other choice is to post to misc@ & wait for an answer.
Quote:
I remember reading I think in the faq, that in case you have to use fsck, if you have a huge 1T partition it will take ages...
Section 14.7.
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Now, what would you do in my place?
<colloquialisms use="copious">

It sounds like you are putting all of your eggs into one basket by completely trusting this one external drive. Your goose will be cooked if this drive:
  • fails.
  • is lost due to theft, accident, natural disaster, etc.
</colloquialisms>



Therefore, I would suggest using multiple methods in disaster recovery:
  • Honestly decide what information is worth all of this effort.
  • Store old stuff that is really worth keeping on a drive or CD-R which is kept off site. Store it in a safety deposit box at a bank, grandma's house, etc. This is why I mentioned Amazon's S3 service before.
  • Periodically revisit the stability of these media choices. No one knows whether CD-R's can be read 50 years later because they haven't been around 50 years. The same argument applies to hard drives as well.
  • Store newer or more volatile stuff more locally.
  • Figure out how often you want to rotate newer stuff to more permanent storage & try to stick to this schedule.
  • Factor in the reality that you may or may not stick to this schedule & accept that some data may be lost.
A universal drive which is simply attached temporarily can be part of this solution, but I would not rely on it for the reasons you have already run up against. Again, consider dedicating a machine to serve as a front-end to soften architectural differences -- Samba or NFS -- but the same bullet points above need to be considered with these options as well. Relying on any one solution in disaster recovery makes the consequences very stark. Using multiple methods helps mitigate the risks.

Finally, you are implying that this information is vital. The more important it is, more sophisticated solutions are warranted. As an OpenBSD newbie, you are having to learn more sophisticated technologies which can aid in disaster recovery. Give yourself time to learn them & learn them well. I suspect the first things you need to do are:
  • Assess the true worth of your data.
  • Study the Sections 4 & 14 of the FAQ in earnest. Couple this with serious study of the related manpages.
  • Research the misc@ archives at http://marc.info/. Disaster recovery threads show up periodically. You can read what other people have suggested there.
  • Seriously study disaster recovery through books & Google.
Quote:
Isn't it better to separate partitions I know will be written very often from those that are written to only seldom?
Maybe. Personally, I would use worth & backup frequency as better metrics.

I think you will find in the misc@ archives where Nick Holland states that mistakes happen. Accept it, & factor it into your world view. The real test of preparedness is how quickly can you recover from a catastrophic event -- in whatever form it happens.
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