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Question about recovery if system fails


chcguy88

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I am really liking Stablebit CloudDrive with google drive so far (Full drive encryption). I have one main issue that I do not have the answer for. Lets say that my computer bites the dust. All I have left are the cloud drive files stored on my google drive. Is there anyway to recover from that type of situation. Any way to recover files locally? 

 

This answer will help me confidently buy the software. Having used encryption systems in the past, I would like to know what are the plan b's built into this software. 

 

Thanks!

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It depends on a number of things. 

 

The the simplest solution is to install the software on another system, log in, mount the drive.  If it's encrypted, you'll need to encryption key that you created when setting up the drive. 

 

The problem comes in if you had a lot of data left to upload.  In this case, you may end up with corrupted data.

 

However, if the drive used for the cache is still good, make sure it's attached on the new system.  The software will find it and recover the cache, preserving the integrity of your data. 

 

 

But if you don't have your encryption key, there isn't anything that can be done. Without it, you data can't be decrypted, and we don't have a way to unlock it either (so make sure your key gets saved properly and in a safe space). 

 

 

 

 

 

Furthermore, we do have a fully featured 30 day trial period built into all of our software. So you can test this out yourself, if you want. 

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The problem comes in if you had a lot of data left to upload.  In this case, you may end up with corrupted data.

 

Could you elaborate on this? If the hard disk I'm writing/uploading files from dies with data left over on the cache, the data already stored on the cloud may be corrupted? I'm just trying to gauge how secure data that's been written to the cloud is in the event of hardware failure.

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I agree with "Sausages". I have been testing the system and it works well. I know without encryption keys, I am toast anyway. I just want to ensure that I completely understand how the system works to make sure my data stays uncorrupted. How much of a cache it too much to loose. Obviously best case scenario, I complete uploads to the drive, but I am interested in worse case scenario as this is a data backup solution. :) 

 

Thanks for the previous reply!

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http://community.covecube.com/index.php?/topic/1610-how-the-stablebit-clouddrive-cache-works/

 

 

It's how the cache works.  Changes and new data are stored in the cache first, and then upload. 

 

This is done so that writes are not limited to your upload speed. 

 

If the system crashes (such as due to catastrophic hardware failure) then you may have a partially uploaded cache, and the data isn't 100% accurate.  This can lead to data corruption.  

 

However, you should be able to run a CHKDSK pass on the mounted disk to repair it, depending on how bad it is. 

 

 

But as I said, if you still have access to the cache drive, then you can recover the cache and continue using and uploading it.

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Thanks for the response.

 

This can lead to data corruption.

 

That's the question though, what data is likely to be corrupted? Put it another way: if i'm uploading a batch of photos and my cache drive completely fails mid way, is it possible that photos I have already uploaded years ago sitting on the cloud server can be corrupted as well (i.e. the entire cloud drive and *all* cloud data is now lost)? I understand the rationale for having a cache and for the data being actively written to be lost in the event the cache drive fails, but data that has completely been uploaded should not be at risk - otherwise, what is the point of storing data in the cloud at all?

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Unfortuantely, that is hard to tell.

 

StableBit Clouddrive doesn't deal with files directly.  It deals with chunks of disk data. Period.  

 

Running a CHKDSK pass will actually check the file contents and look for "problems" (eg, where part of the data is allocated properly, and part isn't). 

 

 

 

Bu for the example, the data that would be at risk would be new data or modified data.  The data that is already on the cloud provider and hasn't been changed should be safe from corruption. 

 

 

Again, it's the "new" data that is the problem.

 

 

 

 

However, this issue is something that was considered (literally) from the ground up.  There are bunch of checks to help prevent corruption.  The unloaded data includes checksums to ensure the integrity.  

 

And that's why if the software finds the cache drive (even on a new system), it will attempt to use this to recover the data, rather than losing everything.  You'll need to re-authorize the drive and account, but as long as this cache is intact.... you should be able to avoid any potential corruption.

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