xxmikexx
09-10-2008, 02:04 PM
Folks,
I run both FSX and FS2004 at 10 fps. I often take a lot of heat for doing so but really, I'm not a cheapskate, it's that my spending priorities necessarily are different from those of most people. As I noted on one of the forums recently, economics is about choices, not absolutes. I would rather have 10 fps + system protection than 30 fps with no protection.
The post below is my answer in the X-Plane forum to a question put to me by Bernt/bstolle when I mentioned that I had on the order of $850 invested in the combination of computer protection hardware/software, meaning that I could have spent 600+850 on FSX performance instead of 600. Actually, as I write this introductory paragraph I realize that I had forgotten to include the pair of addon HDDs. So we're really talking about a $1,100 investment that most people would find somewhere between unnecessary and ludicrous.
Bernt wondered why I couldn't get by with just the occasional backup CD. Here's why ...
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Bernt/bstolle,
The population of computers on my LAN fluctuates between three and five. (Never mind why.) To replace these machines would cost $600 each at a minimum, so $850 is cheap insurance, especially because this insurance policy covers 45 GB of important data as well as the machines themselves..
You see, unlike the wonderfully clean ConEd power in NYC, out here west of Denver we’re in an area of very dirty and frequently interrupted electrical power. Worse, during the summer we have frequent nearby lightning strikes. Having once lost a whole computer to a lightning strike, it is never going to happen to me again.
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As for protecting my data files, twice in my 45-year career I was totally wiped out. The first time was when I lost, in the confusion of the 1965 eastern seaboard power blackout, a not-backed-up tray of 7,000 punch cards representing more than a year’s work on a pioneering graphics software system. This taught me the importance of maintaining a backup data set in the office as opposed to having only one set of data, with that being at a customer site.
The second time was when a Bellanca on short final crashed into the second floor of a two-story suburban office building I was working in, not fifty feet from my desk. Nobody was injured, believe it or not, not even the pilot! But the building burned to the ground, taking all my files with it. (Along with several million 1967 dollars worth of computers owned by the company – with even more data lost forever, though this was other peoples’ data.) This incident taught me the importance of maintaining offsite backups.
As with GA pilots and gear up landings, there are two kinds of non-professional computer users in the world – those who have been wiped out, and those who are going to be. I’m a professional, I’m never going to be wiped out again, not even by fire.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Now let’s talk about why a CD or two for backup isn’t enough for me. As you will see below there are several categories of data that are very important to me, far more important than my always-rebuildable multiple installation of various versions of FS. So if 1-2 CDs won’t cut it, what do I do instead? Let’s look at it …
I used to put the critical subset of my data out to duplicate sets of CDs in zip form. Even then it took 12 CDs per set until I wised up and bought a pair of duplicate removable 500 GB HDDs. Now I maintain a rolling history of complete backup sets, and I pump the critical 6-10 GB subset upstairs to the Great FTP Site In The Sky, the FS Open Components website, which I own. (Along with two other websites.) You might think this is foolish but most data loss is due to operator error, and twice during the past year I’ve had to reach back into the rolling history to fetch certain items in their unmodified form.
Now … What is it that I’m protecting?
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First, family photos. These are priceless because they can’t be replaced. There are tons of other photos – original photography of western USA landscapes, townscapes, cityscapes and so on – but the important shots could be recreated with relative ease were there ever to be a need. However, it’s easy to back these up too, so I do. I forget the numbers but my photography is something like 10 GB, maybe more.
Second, the AirBoss (TM) source code. For a variety of reasons I maintain a history of the most recent 250 versions, in source code form. Each archived version package is 50 MB, and each time I produce a new archive version (I’m on number 765), I send it up to the ftp site. Also in this category are various course materials I have under development for the FS Flight Training venture between my PC Game Controls company and FlightSim.com. This also is important business data and I’m not going to put it at risk.
Third, my writing. I have all my published articles saved, plus several dozen potential future articles in various stages of completion. In addition, in the form of scattered emails to various friends, I have in written form all the material needed to write a book about the various colorful/interesting computer industry people I’ve known since starting in the business in 1963.
Fourth, downloaded payware. I haven’t counted it all up but I’ll guess that I have at least $3,000 in downloads, this again being stuff I would not care to have to replace. (I have at least another $1500 in boxed payware but there's nothing I can do to protect this stuff. In fact, it’s at least $4500 in physical payware CDs because included in there is a Microsoft developer/consultant software subscription package that set me back $3,000.)
Fifth, the fsOC 727-200 panel C code and the airframe Gmax sources, along with my FDE modifications. Here too I maintain a version history archive. Some day I will be releasing the project to the FlightSim.com file library. In the meantime, I don't want to put the archive at risk.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
There’s more, but you get the idea. For me FS is as much a business as it is a hobby, and I’m just not interested in spending for FSX performance when I have so many other issues to deal with.
I run both FSX and FS2004 at 10 fps. I often take a lot of heat for doing so but really, I'm not a cheapskate, it's that my spending priorities necessarily are different from those of most people. As I noted on one of the forums recently, economics is about choices, not absolutes. I would rather have 10 fps + system protection than 30 fps with no protection.
The post below is my answer in the X-Plane forum to a question put to me by Bernt/bstolle when I mentioned that I had on the order of $850 invested in the combination of computer protection hardware/software, meaning that I could have spent 600+850 on FSX performance instead of 600. Actually, as I write this introductory paragraph I realize that I had forgotten to include the pair of addon HDDs. So we're really talking about a $1,100 investment that most people would find somewhere between unnecessary and ludicrous.
Bernt wondered why I couldn't get by with just the occasional backup CD. Here's why ...
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Bernt/bstolle,
The population of computers on my LAN fluctuates between three and five. (Never mind why.) To replace these machines would cost $600 each at a minimum, so $850 is cheap insurance, especially because this insurance policy covers 45 GB of important data as well as the machines themselves..
You see, unlike the wonderfully clean ConEd power in NYC, out here west of Denver we’re in an area of very dirty and frequently interrupted electrical power. Worse, during the summer we have frequent nearby lightning strikes. Having once lost a whole computer to a lightning strike, it is never going to happen to me again.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
As for protecting my data files, twice in my 45-year career I was totally wiped out. The first time was when I lost, in the confusion of the 1965 eastern seaboard power blackout, a not-backed-up tray of 7,000 punch cards representing more than a year’s work on a pioneering graphics software system. This taught me the importance of maintaining a backup data set in the office as opposed to having only one set of data, with that being at a customer site.
The second time was when a Bellanca on short final crashed into the second floor of a two-story suburban office building I was working in, not fifty feet from my desk. Nobody was injured, believe it or not, not even the pilot! But the building burned to the ground, taking all my files with it. (Along with several million 1967 dollars worth of computers owned by the company – with even more data lost forever, though this was other peoples’ data.) This incident taught me the importance of maintaining offsite backups.
As with GA pilots and gear up landings, there are two kinds of non-professional computer users in the world – those who have been wiped out, and those who are going to be. I’m a professional, I’m never going to be wiped out again, not even by fire.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Now let’s talk about why a CD or two for backup isn’t enough for me. As you will see below there are several categories of data that are very important to me, far more important than my always-rebuildable multiple installation of various versions of FS. So if 1-2 CDs won’t cut it, what do I do instead? Let’s look at it …
I used to put the critical subset of my data out to duplicate sets of CDs in zip form. Even then it took 12 CDs per set until I wised up and bought a pair of duplicate removable 500 GB HDDs. Now I maintain a rolling history of complete backup sets, and I pump the critical 6-10 GB subset upstairs to the Great FTP Site In The Sky, the FS Open Components website, which I own. (Along with two other websites.) You might think this is foolish but most data loss is due to operator error, and twice during the past year I’ve had to reach back into the rolling history to fetch certain items in their unmodified form.
Now … What is it that I’m protecting?
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
First, family photos. These are priceless because they can’t be replaced. There are tons of other photos – original photography of western USA landscapes, townscapes, cityscapes and so on – but the important shots could be recreated with relative ease were there ever to be a need. However, it’s easy to back these up too, so I do. I forget the numbers but my photography is something like 10 GB, maybe more.
Second, the AirBoss (TM) source code. For a variety of reasons I maintain a history of the most recent 250 versions, in source code form. Each archived version package is 50 MB, and each time I produce a new archive version (I’m on number 765), I send it up to the ftp site. Also in this category are various course materials I have under development for the FS Flight Training venture between my PC Game Controls company and FlightSim.com. This also is important business data and I’m not going to put it at risk.
Third, my writing. I have all my published articles saved, plus several dozen potential future articles in various stages of completion. In addition, in the form of scattered emails to various friends, I have in written form all the material needed to write a book about the various colorful/interesting computer industry people I’ve known since starting in the business in 1963.
Fourth, downloaded payware. I haven’t counted it all up but I’ll guess that I have at least $3,000 in downloads, this again being stuff I would not care to have to replace. (I have at least another $1500 in boxed payware but there's nothing I can do to protect this stuff. In fact, it’s at least $4500 in physical payware CDs because included in there is a Microsoft developer/consultant software subscription package that set me back $3,000.)
Fifth, the fsOC 727-200 panel C code and the airframe Gmax sources, along with my FDE modifications. Here too I maintain a version history archive. Some day I will be releasing the project to the FlightSim.com file library. In the meantime, I don't want to put the archive at risk.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
There’s more, but you get the idea. For me FS is as much a business as it is a hobby, and I’m just not interested in spending for FSX performance when I have so many other issues to deal with.