[labnetwork] Tool PC backups / PC redundancy

[Thomas Lohman]

>> Over the past year our lab has seen quite a few new tool installations
>> and as a result we now have over thirty tools (microscopes, EBL,
>> deposition/etch systems, etc…) that have some sort of interface with a
>> personal computer.  Many of these personal computers are
>> run-of-the-mill consumer grade PCs and I think that running this many
>> computers over a many-year timescale will mean that failures are
>> virtually guaranteed.  I’m very interested in knowing how larger labs
>> with many computers (with many different port configurations, hardware
>> requirements, and operating systems) prepare for and deal with this
>> problem.

Just to mirror pretty much what most others have said, if the tool PC is 
on the network than we back it up with our backup software as well as 
hopefully make a drive image and stored that on a file server which is 
also backed up.  If it's an older OS and/or not networked then we'll do 
just the latter.  For example, with the official retirement of XP, we 
have had to remove a number of lab or private research group tool PCs 
from the network.  As for non-hard drive failures, I don't believe we do 
anything official but usually old PC parts are "hoarded" :) in case of 
an emergency.


--tom