Backups and Redundancy (for professionals)

DJ Life & Community General Discussion
1

Backups and Redundancy (for professionals)

Hi Everyone,

I’m unfortunately very tough on electronics. I assume that a lot of these things break for reasons that are entirely my fault. I’m not entirely sure what behaviour causes this - I keep everything clean and covered with decksavers, invisible shields, and use common sense. (Some of you have seen my setup http://bit.ly/1adrar0 and pointed out that some of it’s close to water, but that isn’t what happened here).

I’m writing from my phone because my laptop (MacBook Pro, Retina, latest model, maximum options, latest OS, latest, legal copies of all software) absolutely died in the middle of a Traktor/turntablism routine on Thursday night. Apple evidently needs five days to repair the thing, and now I’m an electronic artist without a computer for the immediate future.

Luckily, I have a smartphone, analog vinyl records and turntables, analog, brass trumpets, pen and paper, and analog, real-life friends.

Eventually, I still need to be able to run Traktpr, Maschine, and Reaktor, though. I have at least three backups of everything, some of which are bootable, several trumpets, multiple stable versions of both commercial software and my own, and duplicates of most of my gear, but none of that helps here.

So, what is the solution to THIS problem? My best response is to purchase a second laptop. I think I’ll wait until the next rMBP update to do so, and just keep my current one. Really, I can’t think of too many other options, seeing as I rely on software. I could do a gig on CDJs, or on vinyl (though it sort of sucks the fun of of a DVS if you’re bringing all of your crates), or on Traktor DJ, but why about after the gig? Five or more days downtime is a huge deficit - it’ll put me behind in school and work for sure, and I’m bound to miss a deadline.

Do you guys run multiple computers? What is your solution, not just for a gig, but for a week without your system?

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Good question. Recently my old Mac died so I also bought a rMBP. After a month I’d already drop it to the extent of it probably needing new housing. It then hit me that if this one died as well I wouldn’t have the money to buy another one just yet..

To solve this I’m actually thinking about buying a cheap windows laptop or an used macbook to run Traktor during all gigs. Carrying around and using a €1730 rMBP for gigs that pay ±100 might not be worth it anymore while it wouldn’t really matter if something happens to a cheap workhorse. The problem is I’m gonna need to do a shitload of backing up and I’m not quite sure if I wanna do that.

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I got a white Macbook for £200 that runs Traktor fine. Any of the Unibody models from 2009 onwards should work.

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Apple laptops are consumer gear. Consider buying something a little more rugged. Like a Lenovo T or X series, a Panasonic Toughbook, or a Dell Latitude ATG. Needless to say, no OS X on those.

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Find yourself a Girlfriend/Boyfriend who has all mac gear as well - Redundancy Sorted ! :smiley:

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Oh god - that’s easier said than done.

Seriously, though, this a pretty good idea. I ran into a producer earlier today, who was working on his girlfriends Mbp because his own had a bad logic board.

Ableton makes it easy with their free trial, but NI apps are a little tougher.

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Carbon Copy Clone or Super Duper once a week and you can run your entire back up from an external USB drive or Firewire from any Mac :slight_smile:

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Learn how to fix stuff yourself. No waiting around for the Apple “geniuses” ('tards).

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Right! I do this already - have it covered - but I don’t have the girlfriend-with-a-mac part down.

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No way.

Your cheap-but-capable backup mac is a good idea, though, but I think it’s probably worth the investment to have next-gen hardware and top-of-the-line (what I was running) as a backup.

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I actually don’t have a backup computer… but I always bring enough CD’s with me to a gig that if my laptop ever went down I can always finish out the night on cd’s. If my laptop did die, I could pretty quickly get another, and everything is backed up in multiple locations so would be easy enough to restore. I run windows though, so a replacement laptop would be nowhere near as expensive as a mac.

/ot Nice to see another brass player here!!

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What makes mac next gen compared to a pc laptop? They are the same lmao.

I have a 600$ laptop that seems to be running better then your 2000$ MBP? Something seems wrong with your ideology. I personally own a mac now because I was sick of running gamebooster and a script to turn off background processses but besides that they work the exact same.

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That sucks man, but the second hand macbook option would be your best bet.

My backup is a 2010 Macbook i purchased from new incase my Macbook Pro 2009 dies (purchased second hand).

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You have (probably chosen to) misread my message there - when he mentioned windows, I just said “no way,” skipped a line, and started a new thought based on the rest of his very thoughtful response.

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CDs specifically really would not work for any of my work, but bringing my crates full of records (which need to have more doubles in them,) is always an option. There might be something to be said for going to analog as a backup - maybe I’ll press some more of my productions.

Yeah, I’ve been playing since I can remember. I’ve played in orchestras, British-style brass bands, for rock bands and for reggae, dub, and hip hop recordings and more…

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@Liambo Thanks for the response.

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I’m a mobile dj, so I’ve also got a backup mixer, if my CDJ’s go down I can just play from traktor using my MC6000, if my laptop goes down SC2900’s and CD’s or USB, and if all else fails I’ve got a load of tunes on my iPad that I could play from while I troubleshoot everything else!! I personally would not want to carry around a load of vinyl with me though…

I’ve been playing Baritone for about 20 years now, mainly in marching bands both over here and in the states!!

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Nice! I remember pming with someone on here who had played with Black Dyke (!) I’m sure I made a note of it somewhere, but alas, we’re only allowed so much storage space and I have to delete everyone’s pms, even the good stuff, every so often.

I like turntablism - that’s the primary reason I use Traktor Scratch pro and vinyl records.

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rMBP haswell update is coming 15th of October. I’m waiting for it haswell. (pun intended)

As mdc suggested, learn to fix stuff yourself, even if rMBPs are made so that even if, say, the wifi module fails, you have to replace the whole damn motherboard. So it’s easier said than done in this kind of products.
Nonetheless, it comes in handy. I resoldered my power jack to my laptop when for no apparent reason it started disconnecting, and it’s working flawlessly now.

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Having two identical laptops, is the easiest solution for hardware. If something on your main laptop dies, you simply pop your old hard drive in the backup laptop and you are back online in 15-20 mins. Then you can send off the failed laptop to get fixed, while you are running on your backup, and are only operating in a single-point-of-failure (SPOF) until you get your laptop back.

You have to weigh cost benefit analysis. How much is not having a laptop for a week worth to you, versus spending the initial expense to get a second laptop.

Owning two of anything obviously increases the cost, but if you are a professional, then there is no reason not to have backup hardware, since every expense is a tax write off.