better disk reliability on a desktop machine

[Norbert Koch]

> 1. RAID mirror filesystem questions:
> 
> 1a: should this be vinum?  I have read and can follow the handbook
>    instructions for a vinum root filesystem.
> 
> 1b: Will it help to upgrade to 5.x, to get this to go smoothly?


I'd suggest to buy an ata raid controller, as
hardware should be more easyly portable between operating
systems. And it should be some standard hardware, which
is known to work under FreeBSD*, e.g. Promise.

> 
> 2. taking backups offsite.  Seems to me that the best route is a
>    number of external firewire hard disks.  This machine doesn't have
>    motherboard firewire, so I'll need to get a PCI firewire board.
> 
> 2a: Recommendations for an affordable PCI firewire board?
> 
> 2b: Should I upgrade to 5.x for the better firewire hardware support?
> 

Yes. And the same is true for usb. (My experience)

Norbert