[Gb-ccb] An external CCB USB connector?

[John Ford]

I think the best solution for this is to figure out how to back it up over
the network.  I don't want to modify the hardware, particularly the
packaging, at this point.

John


> While writing up the backup/restore procedure for the CCB, it occurs
> to me that backing up the CCB and restoring it to other CCBs could be
> a significant headache in the future, as things stand currently. In
> all cases, to do this one currently has to undo all of the bolts
> around the top of the CCB, and then either backup in-place, over the
> net, by plugging in a USB CDROM drive with a live-CD, and performing a
> dump of the microdrive over the network to a remote computer, or
> alternatively temporarily dissasemble the computer card-stack, remove
> the microdrive and place it in a workstation flash-card reader to
> perform the backup/update.
>
> I'm thus wondering if it might be worthwhile to add a small access
> plate with a USB socket behind it, to the front panel of the CCB. The
> access plate would be bolted in place, for shielding, when the CCB was
> on the telescope. To backup or update a given CCB, we would then
> remove the few bolts holding this plate in place, in order to plug in
> a CDROM drive with a live-CD in it. One would then boot the CCB from
> the live-CD, and use its dump program to backup or update the
> microdrive to/from a disk on another computer. This could probably be
> done on the telescope, during maintenance sessions.
>
> In addition to easing the logistics of backups, this would presumably
> reduce wear and tear on the bolts and gaskets of the lids of the CCBs.
>
> Note that I'm not anticipating frequent changes that need to be backed
> up. So it may not be that important.
>
> Martin
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