SOHO Backups?

[Ben Scott]

On 11/18/05, aluminumsulfate at earthlink.net
<aluminumsulfate at earthlink.net> wrote:
> For the record, I would *not* advise hot-swapping IDE drives on a 2.4
> kernel.

  For the record, I would advise against hot-swapping parallel ATA *AT
ALL*.   My understanding is that the spec does not support it, never
has, and never will.  In particular, the bus electronics were never
intended to be energized during a disconnect/connect, and it's
perfectly valid for things to fry if you try.

  I've read of expensive specialized hardware that tries to make
hot-swap parallel ATA work, but if you're gonna spend the money on
special hardware, you might as well buy SCA SCSI (or SATA, these days)
and get something that's designed for it.  You usually get better
performance while you're at it.

> I tried this (using the bays from aforementioned shop in
> Manchester, specifically marked hot-swappable on the box)
                       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

  All those $20 PATA trays I've seen (and I include KingWin) are made
by companies of dubious reputation, contain little to no actual
electronics, and come with a 3x5 card of "Engrish" for documentation. 
One should not put blind trust in such a product.  In particular, that
claim is a flat out lie.  Again, one should not be surprised.  :)

  Don't get me wrong, those trays are fine for what they are -- a
cheap way to easily swap IDE or ATA drives without having to
disassemble half the computer.  I have used KingWin myself for this
and am reasonably happy with them.  But I make sure the power is off
before I swap them.  :)

-- Ben "Caveat Emptor" Scott