I can't help with the clock; I just adjust the settings on the default clock applet and it displays how I like...
For an EXT hard drive for backup, there are a couple of options:
1) low-cost USB drive from the likes of Western Digital, Seagate, or similar.
a) Cheap ($100/TB or less).
b) Slow and you have to remember to connect/disconnect properly.
2) eSATA enclosure.
a) A bit more costly (around $150/TB)
b) Fast and you can leave it connected from boot-to-shutdown on desktops all the time.
Either way, I'd recommend a single large partition (EXT4 or XFS, XFS is far more stable, but EXT4 has newer features).
For backup, you can rsync to a directory named for the date under a main backup directory (e.g. /media/backup_disk/MyBackups/20110716T190000/).
This has several advantages over using a lot of small partitions:
1) Using different directories on a single partition makes it easier to manage all the data (plus you don't hit the limits on the number of partitions permitted on a device).
2) It avoids the problem of figuring out which partition to mount for a backup without mounting them all and searching through the contents.
3) It makes rotation simpler (just delete anything more than X days old after a backup if the disk is getting more than Y% full).
4) With the right directory names (like the example above) you can find the most recent backup easily as well.
a) just list them (ls -lh), the last one listed will always be the most recent if you use a format that sorts correctly.
As far as what drive to buy, I'd get one of the following (in no particular order):
*) Western Digital MyBook Essential 3TB (on sale this week and next at Costco and BestBuy for $129)
*) Western Digital MyBook Essential 2TB ($99 at BestBuy)
*) Western Digital Elements 2TB ($99 at BestBuy)
*) Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk 2TB ($102 at BestBuy)
*) Toshiba 2TB External USB 3.0 ($110 at Best Buy)
*) Toshiba 1TB External USB 2.0/eSATA ($80 at BestBuy)
You might also consider the (Buffalo Technology LinkStation Live 1TB) as a cost-effective NAS alternative (it's $130 at BestBuy).
That would allow you to keep your backups elsewhere in the house (anywhere your LAN cables, no wireless, reach).
You'd have to mount the network share from the NAS to a directory on your desktop, and just rsync to a subdirectory under that; no muss/no fuss.
It's not lightning fast to do things that way, but it's relatively simple and easy to set-and-forget.
On 07/16/2011 07:21 PM, betty wrote:
> Looking for a nice digital clock, can be time and date or just time; to reside in the panel. Don't see that 'time and date' that come with ubuntu make anything readable on a glance. Also looked at wmtime and aclock. Not impressed; any suggestions?
>
> Looking to get a new ext hdd for backup. (currently using an old 5 1/4 wd hdd in a box w/fan) looking at 1 TB or 0.5 TB. My whole home folder is only 32 GB. I use rsync to back up. (please don't suggest something else because i am old and i am comfortable with this; think - 'mom' . So the question is, how to partition the hdd.(and what is a good one to get) should i make a bunch of little (50GB) partitions that i just rotate as i do backups? Since that seems like the most obvious and easiest to me, i know it must not be correct. :)
>
> Thanks once again for all the help. Virtual cookies and ice cream to all !!
>
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