aadm@ecsvax.uncecs.edu (Atkins D. Michael) (06/27/91)
we have been using FASTBACK to transfer data between 20-30 sites across the state for sometime. we actually have about 130 sites, but the rest have not been pushed to purchase fastback and therefore we have been using pkarc and dos backup. i am looking at data that may reach 30 to 60 meg and will not fit onto 1 diskette hence pkarc alone won't work. needless to say, not everyone uses the same version of dos (3.3 in most, 4.01 in some with >300 meg drives). we need to have everyone using the same consistant backup method (because of a new shell menu that we are creating), but fastback has come out with several incompatible versions over the last few months (yet none seem to have corrected at least one very serious bug/oversight). it is a nightmare trying to get everyone upgraded (all sites are independent school districts with their own levels of red tape) and this is only a few sites. by the time everyone has upgraded, anotherversion is out - another site has decided to get fastback, receive the new one and everyone is off to the races again trying to get to the HIGHEST common denominator. (by the way, i have talked to the high mucky-mucks at fifth generation and while they are sympathetic to the problem, i need a cure, not a promise.) now for my question - i would like to find a vanilla fastback-like procedure. maybe a shell that would work with pkarc/pkzip/et. that would allow consecutive disks for backup and that i could share with all sites reguardless of dos version. and leads/suggestions/recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
dougmc@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Doug McLaren, esquire.) (06/30/91)
In article <1991Jun26.205629.27694@ecsvax.uncecs.edu> aadm@ecsvax.uncecs.edu (Atkins D. Michael) writes: >now for my question - i would like to find a vanilla fastback-like >procedure. maybe a shell that would work with pkarc/pkzip/et. that >would allow consecutive disks for backup and that i could share >with all sites reguardless of dos version. > >and leads/suggestions/recommendations would be greatly >appreciated. My suggestion: ARJ210.EXE. It allows you to make multiple disk archives, and has perhaps the best compression ratios. It isn't terrible quick (at least not on my 286-12) but it's better than using six zillion disks (swap disk ... swap disk .. swap disk ...) Now if you really want to get slick, and you have enough space on hard disk to do this, this is what you do: You tell it to make a big archive of all your files on your HD, broken up into 1.2 meg or 1.44 meg files, depending on your floppies. Instead of sending these files to the floppy, save them to the hard disk. (Only works on HD that are less than about 65% full (depends on exactly what type of files you have, on how much it can compress them ...) Or you can send the output to another HD. You get it started. Then go to bed, or go get something to eat, or go out, or something. Because depending on how big your HD is, and how fast your computer is, you may have to wait a while. ((To back up 40 megs on my 286-12 took up like three hours (If I remember right ...)) Then when it's done, you just start copying these files to floppies and delete them. Works for me ... It's good if using few disks is more important than speed. Doug McLaren ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Everyone should get a Rabbit Diesel before they get their first car!" - Me