Redundancy

[Texas_Signmaker]

Just wanted to get you all thinking.

I have a main production PC that runs my machines. When I bought that computer I bought TWO of the exact same model and specs. When I set one up, I mirrored the hard drive and put it on the second one. I have Google drive syncing all my production files between all 3 of my computers.

This week I've started having problems with the production computer and tried new USB cords and other things and thought to myself I may need to get a new computer because I've been burning up the USB ports on them and I'm down to my last one. Finally remembered, "I have a whole other computer" . I pulled it and hooked the machine up to the second one and blamo, back up and running. No down-time. It had all my files as of this morning and I'm back to work.

Now, I STILL need to figure out the problem, and might end up having to buy two NEW computers because both of these are pushing 5 years old... but at least I can do it in my time and not in the middle of a 100k order.

Just something to think about y'all...

 

[eahicks]

Want us to all run over and pat you on the back? Just kidding....smart idea. We at least have full backup to an external drive as well as cloud backup for all jobs and all of the main production PC. Now I just need to get more backup battery supply for all the PCs...had a short power outage this morning....such a pain restarting everything.

 

[kcollinsdesign]

I always have at least one fully functioning computer in the wings, waiting to be pressed into service. A few years ago, I needed to replace a hard drive on my main production computer; no downtime other than wasting a half a day trying to figure out what was wrong!

I also keep all my critical files on a cloud server so I can access them from anywhere.

I now outsource all my printing and most of my production, so my needs are different than many members here. Vinyl cutting is still done at the shop, and for that I have a 20 year old iMac running the cutting software. No wired network needed, I just load up the files on a thumb drive and use the tried-and-true "sneaker-net".

I buy USB ports and have them on hand for the plotters and the one printer I never use anymore. We got a "broken" 54" plotter from another shop; all it needed was a new USB port. Works fine. Never "burned up" a USB port on any of the Macs, but replaced a few on the old PCs. I think the biggest problem was tripping on the USB cords. Our guys could be tough on equipment! It's a good idea to have a meter and a soldering iron on hand. It's also a good idea to know how the USB bus allocates power to the ports, my Wacom tablet is a hog and needs to be on a seperate powered USB hub. The Macs do pretty well managing the devices, and the Windows "Device Manager" can help spot problems and help untangle "Error Code 10" issues on the PCs.

Also keep a can of compressed air handy. Amazing how much dust and crap can be sucked into the USB ports, especially in a shop environment!

 

[bannertime]

such a pain restarting everything.

We've had batter backups on our equipment, but never really paid much attention to them. I installed new ones and decided to actually connect them into the computers and run the software. They'll automatically save everything and shut the computers down safely before turning off battery power.

Also, for back up, I'd highly recommend looking into something like pCloud, Sync.com, or Tresorit. We went with Sync and plan on upgrading our external drives to a Synology NAS too. The redundant computer setup isn't as crucial because we already run our design software on multiple computers and can easily load the RIP onto one of them. With the cloud storage I can access the live files anywhere.

 

[iPrintStuff]

We always buy two pc’s, set one up, mirror it then copy it onto the spare. Then save another backup on an external drive.

As helpful as it is, everything is online nowadays so I could probably get myself
Up and running in about half an hour on a new pc. Just a pain remembering all the usernames and passwords!

 

[CanuckSigns]

We always buy two pc’s, set one up, mirror it then copy it onto the spare. Then save another backup on an external drive.

As helpful as it is, everything is online nowadays so I could probably get myself
Up and running in about half an hour on a new pc. Just a pain remembering all the usernames and passwords!

I've started using a program called KeePass which is a password vault, you only have to remember 1 password, and it is able to automatically generate very secure passwords for you and store them in the locked vault, when you need to use them just copy/paste

I don't even know what any of my passwords are anymore, and no 2 services use the same password.

 

[Johnny Best]

I use Dashlane to keep all my passwords and it uses face recognition to open it up on my IPhone.