Should I have spare PC in case of failure

Pennywise

I've had a policy of switching between two PCs for several years, one in use, the other in storage. Every six months or so, I switch them, copying data across and also updating any programs. It has proved valuable a couple of times when I've had a computer crash as I can just get the earlier PC out of the cupboard, restore the data from the latest backup (done daily) and I can continue to work with minimal distruption. Then I can clean and restore the failed computer at my leisure and carry on the six monthly swap-over. If there's no computer program, I just dust off the old one, update it's programs at my leisure and then restore the data, so minimum down time.

It's fine having data backups, but it can take a looong time to restore all your programs and settings, which can really be a problem if you need to keep working, i.e. if you're running a small business.

Savvy_Sue

I'm another one who would periodically switch the desktop on and go for 'belt and braces' backups.

supermonkey

Thanks everyone.

My current thoughts are to keep up the cloud storage & also set up the local mirroring (so files saved to my laptop will be mirrored to a second internal hard drive). This means I've got files backed up locally & remotely. I could even part with the external HDD although I doubt it's worth much!

I think I'll keep the unused PC, but I may as well as move it to the office & just turn it on every now & then. I'm watching a few similar machines on ebay so I'll see what the end up. If they go for a decent amount I may have a re-think.

I'm thinking of removing all my files from this PC & removing the cloud syncing software. As it's rarely used, the files are all out of date & as a result, the sync doesn't always work correctly & takes forever. (eg files I had intentionally deleted or moved on my main PC should be replicated, but instead the files re-appear or are duplicated on my main pc).

sequence

I have a spare PC (laptop) and a spare 3G dongle just in case, pc might not be much use if you phone line goes down for some reason. So if we lose power and phone I might still be able to work for a while. I'm a bit paranoid though. Plus many backups.

Percy1983

I will say I built a spare PC for my business but in my case its dual purpose.

As I do video work it gets used as a rendering mule, but its good to know if mt PC died I would have a second still good enough for the job (weaker but possible).

It really depends how much you could get for the old PC, in general terms people don't want to pay much for them.

Also how much of a problem would it cause, my work is very seasonal so if it went down at a peak time I can't afford any down time so a spae is essential.

As for Backups, I store everything on both PCs and an external hard drive.

bob_a_builder

Actually, I just remembered my laptop has two internal hard drives

Unlikely ? - it may well have one physical hard but spilt into two drive letters.

If disk fails you will still lose both drives !

Stereophonics

I have 2 PC's for this reason, fear of failure.

I've had it happen to a laptop before and it could take a few days for me to get everything up and running with a brand new computer, so I won't risk it. Each computer is set up the same as the other, so each has a machine and printer attached to it.

I never used to be paranoid but I guess I don't want to lose my income and hard work for the sake of a forward planning!

Savvy_Sue

For the same reason, I've always had duplication of printers / copiers at work ...

We now have two big ones which do everything except fax, in separate buildings. In the main building, we have two small ones which do everything, including fax. I'd never rely on just one machine, and before we had two big machines I did once have the main one go wrong, the fax machine (which also copied) run out of toner, and was reduced to making urgent copies on a very slow inkjet.

Percy1983

Going back to how much its worth, in my case of building a second PC I did it over time with the help of ebay bargains which meant it was much cheaper than buying a new one in an emergency from PC or such.

Like wise for you how much could you get for it and how much would a quick replacement cost.

supermonkey

Thanks again for all the replies.

I'm watching a few similar PCs on ebay, but from what I can see it's not worth much. The peace of mind of having a PC read in case of emergecny is worth more to me, plus, I could probably save whatver money I've lost by not selling it through having time to shop around & purchase at my leisure.

Although I do go through quite periods, there are times where downtime would be a complete disaster so this definately seems a sensible precaution.

And yes, my main work laptop has 2x320Gb HDD internally - They are not partitioned.

Interesting that printers have been mentioned - these are not quite so essential to me, but I never have much luck with them anyway!

So current decision/solution is:
-Keep 2nd PC with the software I need installed & turn on occasionally to ensure if remains fully working
-Will probably remove files from the PC as current ones are so out of date anyway.
-Keep Cloud storage service
-Set up local mirroring so that files are replicated to the 2nd hard drive in main PC.
-By a USB HDD caddy so I can easily remove the HDD from the laptop if needed & plug into another PC.