Whino needs a new Storage Solution

[Rhino]

Rebit sounds interesting, not sure about its $50 price tag thou but not too bad.

regarding the SSD, use it as the OS drive and scratch drive and build a HDD array for storage.

Is it really a good idea to be using the SSD as a scratch drive (for PS I take it you mean)?

Its what I have been doing but I think it might be one of the things I shouldn't have really been doing to keep my SSD in top notch...

Some of these softwares I suggested would allow you to create two levels of backup archives, so you could say, keep your 5 most recent backups on the SSD, when you make a 6th backup, the oldest backup would be moved to the hddin a asynchronous file transfer. This would give you the speed you are looking for and the IF(version change)THEN(backup) feature.

Why would I keep any backups on the SSD other than the main file I was working on?

Cheers!


EDIT: looking at this reviewof Rebit 5, it looks a bit too simplified for what I need. Seems to only allow you to backup entire HDDs rather than just files/folders.

It dose however suggest this backup software which I'm looking into now: http://www.acronis.co.uk/homecomputing/ ... trueimage/
Slightly more expensive but I think it has the key features I need? Although so far only that review of Rebit 5 says True Image can backup on modified file?
Not sure its really right for my requirements thou.

[MaSSive]

Rhino;1724163']Rebit sounds interesting, not sure about its $50 price tag thou but not too bad.



Is it really a good idea to be using the SSD as a scratch drive (for PS I take it you mean)?

Its what I have been doing but I think it might be one of the things I shouldn't have really been doing to keep my SSD in top notch...



Why would I keep any backups on the SSD other than the main file I was working on?

Cheers!


EDIT: looking at this reviewof Rebit 5, it looks a bit too simplified for what I need. Seems to only allow you to backup entire HDDs rather than just files/folders.

It dose however suggest this backup software which I'm looking into now: Complete hard disk drive copy, cloning and image backup software: computer files and disk copying
Slightly more expensive but I think it has the key features I need? Although so far only that review of Rebit 5 says True Image can backup on modified file?

No, its not a good idea to place PS scratch on your system drive. It may improve PS performance to some exempt but it will slow down system and wear out SSD much quicker, so its not worth that few percent of speed. Keep it on separate drive ( other physical hdd not partition )

As for backup software, I though you wanted freebies damn it! I know of Acronis True Image a long time, and have used it. It has a feature to work like a system restore, as it can make complete images of drives you choose, monitoring changes and updating images constantly. Now on the file level, Im not sure. I used it in the era of XP SP1 so its quite long ago, but they should have Win7 supported by now. Ill look better in it to see if it has these features you need, but I dont have XP now, to install it and test it. Will see with VMware.

[Rhino]

I would much prefer a freebie yes

[MaSSive]

I would much prefer a freebie yes

Lol who wouldnt. Well I used the Google, and heres what Ive found.

Make Real-Time Backup Of File Changes In Multiple Folders [Mirroring]

Home

Sounds much like what you need and looks free? If it works for you remember it saved you 50 quids Id donate

Here is more...not free

• AJC Active Backup, instantly backup files and keep multiple versions to undo - tour
• Versomatic Active Backup of File Changes - Acertant

[Rhino]

MaSSive;1724201']Lol who wouldnt. Well I used the Google, and heres what Ive found.

Make Real-Time Backup Of File Changes In Multiple Folders [Mirroring]

Home

Cheers, while that has excatly what I'm looking in the real-time backup and other elements I've been looking for, it doesn't have increments features I really need at the same time

Sounds much like what you need and looks free? If it works for you remember it saved you 50 quids Id donate

Think I might do enough for PR to justify not also donating to it and instead putting that money towards new backup HDDs

MaSSive;1724201']Here is more...not free

• AJC Active Backup, instantly backup files and keep multiple versions to undo - tour
• Versomatic Active Backup of File Changes - Acertant

AJC Active Backup sounds pretty good, although not 100% on the way it backs up but my main concern is, can it backup to a totally different HDD? Can't see anything on it being able to do that?

Versomatic Active Backup, same concerns as above really.

I would like a fairly basic backup system with just a straight file copy that I can manually access or even change any time I like which BlueFish dose, but not with increments

[MaSSive]

Oh shizz...Whino needs a custom script then

If you cant find a program that can do it for you write one or hire someone to do it?

I downloaded BlueFish, and will look at its possibilities. Do the same. Most of those not free have free trial that is fully functional. Try it out and see if it suits you.

[LITOralis.nMd]

That solves the problem but RAMDisks are unstable. I use RAMdisk on a work PC and DataRam Ramdisk hangs at least twice a month. Usual problem is it doesn't like sleep and hibernate mode at all.

DO we all know there is an autobackup feature in 3DStudioMax ? There is.
Max - Autobackup - YouTube

another option is viceversapro
ViceVersa Software: File Synchronization, File Replication, Windows Backup Software

ViceVersa can copy open files without closing the program you are working on. This includes Outlook PST files, Outlook Express, QuickBooks databases, Word and Excel documents, SQL databases.

[LITOralis.nMd]

The DataRam RAMdrive idea doesn't really solve the problem of the scratch drive's large file read speed transfer rate.

His work flow would require him to load the 3dsmax file onto the ramdrive, set the autosave location to another directory in the ramdrive, then use one of the above mentioned backup programs to move the backup directory to the HDD backup directory of choice.

It could work. That is prone to failure because his RAM isn't ECC server qualified RAM. If he can accept the fact he willl eventually and repeatedly lose 10 minutes of work due to RAMDrive hiccups, it's a good solution.

[LITOralis.nMd]

I use Dataram ramdisk to move around 128mb chunks of PDFs every week.
Dataram is not the fastest (but it's one of the better ones) or most reliable ramdisk software on the market.
Gilisoft RAMDisk has been a better solution for me for reliability.

Dataram ramdisk tends to freeze, lose it's mount, loses all the data from last restore point, and require a system reboot or restart of explorer to remount the previously saved image,

AFAIK 3dsMax doesn't require the pagefile.sys on a x64 system with enough RAM, nor when performing autobackups,
AFAIK, if the backup location (RAMDRIVE in our case) runs out of space, the max file gets corrupted and 3dsMax crashes. Every time that happens you lose 20 to 30 minutes of productivity.

If he wants to go this route of using a ramdisk, he might as well go all in and load his newest backup into the ramdisk before he opens 3dsmax and load that into 3dsmax.

My suggestion if using a Ramdisk:
OS, 3dsMax, and mydocuments/3dsmax/backups directory location on SSD.
Use areca, acronis, symantec ghost, rdiff or viceversapro to create incremental backups of the mydocuments/3dsmax/backups directory to the HDD.
Use areca, acronis, symantec ghost, rdiff or viceversapro to create mirror copy of the mydocuments/3dsmax/backups directory to the Ramdrive.
Start 3dsMax.
Remove older files from the mydocuments/3dsmax/backups directory on SSD.
Some of the programs above have integrated symlinks, for those that don't he can create a symlink with the mydocuments/3dsmax/backups directory as the source on the HDD, and the target on the SSD.







My suggestion as posted above without using a Ramdrive:
OS, 3dsMax, and mydocuments/3dsmax/backups directory location on SSD.
Use areca, acronis, symantec ghost, rdiff or viceversapro to create incremental backups of the mydocuments/3dsmax/backups directory.
Remove older files from the mydocuments/3dsmax/backups directory. Plenty of freeware programs can archive files based on date filters.
Some of the programs above have integrated symlinks, for those that don't he can create a symlink with the mydocuments/3dsmax/backups directory as the source on the HDD, and the target on the SSD.

[Rhino]

Sorry guys with the late reply, being trying to keep up with this thread but been doing other stuff at the same time as trying to keep up with you guys

BestSync?

BestSync: FTP Synchronization, WebDAV Synchronization, Amazon S3 Synchronization,File Synchronization, Continuous File Backup Tool

So this program should be able to do all that I need correct, and its free?

EDIT: looking at it closer it seems the revision bit is only based on date/time from what I can see? I need a revision each time the file is modified.
EDIT: that bit might be incorrect in fact, not 100% yet.
EDIT: it appears to almost do what I need, but not quite. Main issue is that it detects the change 1/2 way or less from when the file has finished saving, so it make like a backup of the file that is only 1/2 way though being saved, and then after that makes another backup of the full save... In one case I ended up with 4 files being made for just one save, with 3 of them being totally useless since they where not fully saved when backed up
EDIT: If I can fix the issue of it backing up incomplete saved files, then I think this is what I've been looking for. I think the best way to solve it is to somehow add a delay on it backing up after it detects the file to be modified, so that it only backs up the complete file?


[quote=""'[R-COM"]LITOralis.nMd;1724440']DO we all know there is an autobackup feature in 3DStudioMax ? There is.
Max - Autobackup - YouTube[/quote]

[quote="Th3Exiled""]That would be what he is doing currently, the problem is the files take several seconds to write to disk and during that period he can't use the program.[/quote]

Its not what I'm actually currently doing, in fact I've deliberately turned it off for the reason Exiled stated, it takes ~30secs to save and there is nothing worse than when your 1/2 way though moving an object and then for max to suddenly freeze while it spends 30secs doing an auto backup before you can continue moving the object...

Instead what I'm doing currently is manual backups with the "File>Save Copy As..." feature which I've got setup on a hotkey which I press each time I want to make a revision, as well as "file>save" to the main file but as stated before, this process takes a long, long time...

The autobackup feature is also really bad as it only backs up based on time increments, so if I leave my PC for some time (which I normally do) it continues backing up, even thou I've done nothing, eventually overwriting any old backups if its set to do that too. Its simply something I wouldn't consider using, I much prefer my manual "Save copy As" backup method

LITOralis.nMd;1724440']another option is viceversapro
ViceVersa Software: File Synchronization, File Replication, Windows Backup Software

Dose that mean it can do revisions as I want? Its not very clear on that point.




As for the RAM Disk, tbh I don't think its really going to work for me. Its looks too unstable for me to work off of and simply presents more problems than its worth as far as I can see? But thanks for going into so much detail on it anyways



Also are these good deal on a HDD and which one is better?
1: http://www.ebuyer.com/237908-samsung-hd ... he-hd204ui
2: http://www.ebuyer.com/264274-wd-2tb-3-5 ... e-wd20earx


Cheers!

[MaSSive]

From those two hdds this one definetly.

WD 2TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s Caviar Green Hard.. | Ebuyer.com

2TB, sata III, 64mb cache ( sata III is backward compatible to sata II )

This one is practicly the same only it Seagate

Seagate 2TB BARRACUDA 3.5" SATA-III Hard Drive.. | Ebuyer.com

[Rhino]

Ye, what I thought, was trying to work out what the "50 squid off" was all about on it and if it had any hidden features that would justify that price?

Speaking of which, how come that WD drive is the same price, with 50 squid off to that Seagate one? Any real difference other than the make? Seems odd they are the same price and specs but one has a huge price cut
EDIT: looking at the manufacture specs, the Seagate one looks faster...

My mobo also supports SATA III so ye, should be good? How much performance difference is there between SATA II and SATA III out of intercaste if you have any stats as my current 1.5TB HDDs are SATA II

What I'm possibly thinking of is taking one of my 1.5TB SATA II drives out of my PC, putting all the files I need on it onto a new drive, formatting it then plugging it in one of the other PCs on my network and then using it as a network backup drive, but having a faster, bigger, newer drive in my PC

Still need to keep one of my 1.5TB SATA II drives in my PC thou

[BloodyDeed]

Ye, what I thought, was trying to work out what the "50 squid off" was all about on it and if it had any hidden features that would justify that price?

Speaking of which, how come that WD drive is the same price, with 50 squid off to that Seagate one? Any real difference other than the make? Seems odd they are the same price and specs but one has a huge price cut

The WD is a "Green" variant which features less noise, less temperature and less power consumption.
But the price cut is a bit exorbitant. I think thats more for promotional reasons
I would go with WD, I'm using their HDDs for years and never had any problems/defects.

Rhino;1724829']
My mobo also supports SATA III so ye, should be good? How much performance difference is there between SATA II and SATA III out of intercaste if you have any stats as my current 1.5TB HDDs are SATA II
[...]

Sata2 has a bandwidth up to 300mb/sec which is by far enough for every conventional harddisc.
So you actually wont realize any difference.

[LITOralis.nMd]

I found viceversaPro by searching out your problem on 3dsMax user forums. A few people were lauding it's features.

IT is incredibly powerful and can do backups just about any way you can imagine,
on schedules, manually, on file change detection, etc.

ViceVersa Software Features: File Synchronization, File Replication, File Backup, File Comparison

[MaSSive]

Ye, what I thought, was trying to work out what the "50 squid off" was all about on it and if it had any hidden features that would justify that price?

Speaking of which, how come that WD drive is the same price, with 50 squid off to that Seagate one? Any real difference other than the make? Seems odd they are the same price and specs but one has a huge price cut
EDIT: looking at the manufacture specs, the Seagate one looks faster...

My mobo also supports SATA III so ye, should be good? How much performance difference is there between SATA II and SATA III out of intercaste if you have any stats as my current 1.5TB HDDs are SATA II

What I'm possibly thinking of is taking one of my 1.5TB SATA II drives out of my PC, putting all the files I need on it onto a new drive, formatting it then plugging it in one of the other PCs on my network and then using it as a network backup drive, but having a faster, bigger, newer drive in my PC

Still need to keep one of my 1.5TB SATA II drives in my PC thou

Did you read the comments on WD drive page?

price hike

review by:Anonymousoperating system:Windows 7
the price hike is the fact that 25% of production was out of taiwan which is flooded, also a further 80%+ of hdd component makers were based there also. wile production is being moved to other global facilities the big companies are buying up and reserving future batches of HDD production, this driving the prices up.

wile there are HDDs stockpiled and effectivly going through the distribution channells they will slowly dip wile the production is moved and ramped up, artifically inflating prices, wile the big companies can still secure there big orders for cheap HDDs to fulfill there production, it is invaribly the consumer like us who will see the price hike for the next 3-6 months, certainly wile middle companies such as ebuyer take a increased profit fromt eh currect HDD stock they have by charging a much higher price. i watched this disk price go from ?60 to ?215 in a matter of a week.

wish i brought the 4 i needed when i had the chance. jsut have to sit and wait.

WD 2TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s Caviar Green Hard.. | Ebuyer.com

^ That pretty much explains it. Its pure marketing nothing else.

There is no much difference as BD said between Sata2 and 3. That is also marketing. Neither of those will achieve full bandwidth of Sata2 standard not to speak about Sata3 600mb/s speeds. Only drives on market that can achieve almost full speed of Sata2 (300mb/s), are top notch, expensive SSDs with SF controllers, and sata2 not 3.

As the price on this site is quite the same for both standard drives, Id say get that WD Sata3 2Tbs. There is no real difference that you will notice in work, between WD and Seagate. All that writing in specs is again, guess what? ( marketing )

[Rhino]

LITOralis.nMd;1724856']I found viceversaPro by searching out your problem on 3dsMax user forums. A few people were lauding it's features.

IT is incredibly powerful and can do backups just about any way you can imagine,
on schedules, manually, on file change detection, etc.

ViceVersa Software Features: File Synchronization, File Replication, File Backup, File Comparison

Gave the free trial a go and tbh it didn't really have any options to it from what I could see unless they where hidden away somewhere I couldn't see? I could also only see manual backup ways and then no revision bit to it either?

So far the best bet looks like BestSync, just need to get it to backup only once the file is fully saved rather than before and then after...

Did you read the comments on WD drive page?

Interesting didn't know about that, cheers