Hi all, It's been a while since I've last asked a question here, but here goes. I'm an hobby-photographer and I'm looking for a reliable external storage system. I use a MacBook Pro (if that makes a difference) and it is a plus if the storage system looks stylish. My requirements - Raid 1 (mirror) - Gigabit Ethernet - Hot Swappable drives - Capacity: about 1TB in Raid 1 - As cheap as possible, preferable under 300euro. So basically a LaCie 2big Quadra 2TB but with Ethernet access or a LaCie Network Space MAX but with hot swappable drives. Thanks for your suggestions!
Nobody makes this? Lacie makes two that are almost perfect... one needs ethernet instead of USB/Firewire and the other just needs swappable drives... It's not that much to ask, is it? I'd really rather not go the DIY route...
Do you have a computer that's always on, and has a gigabit connection? Shlep the two drives into there, and voila.
MUST they be hot swappable? Personally, I don't see that it matters. It's not like drives fail every day, and the extra 5 minutes it may take to swap a drive over otherwise is nothing compared to the time it takes to rebuild the raid anyway. Why not just get any RAID1 NAS box?
Yeah I've been thinking about letting the hot-swappable requirement drop. I think I'll just go with Lacie's LaCie Network Space MAX 2TB for 280€.
Thanks for the feedback. I'm not worried about accidently deleting any pictures. The idea is to store all the pictures (that made it past first selection) on the Raid system. Right now I do it on a 1TB single-hdd external usb hard drive. All the great, processed, pictures end up on a DVD in a safe. The drive I use to store all the pictures is getting quite old and I use it quite often to transfer other data to work or to friends, so a lot of things could happen to that drive (somebody could drop it, it could crash, somebody could lose it somewhere). I don't want to take that risk with all my original pictures anymore so I want a more secure (raid 1) storage that will be used only for pictures and stay at home. Do you think the Lian-Li EX-20N would be a good NAS box? Where can I get on in Europe? All I would need to do is add 2x 1TB or 2x 2TB drives and plug it in? And no, I don't have any computer laying around, I've sold/gave away most of my old PC's by now and only use a MacBook Pro at home. Thanks!
Could you not accidentally erase them from the RAID? If you erase it from a RAID, it's still erased Hmm... I wouldn't class an optical disk as a back up. They have a limited shelf life, and are far more easily damaged than you imagine. RAID 1 is not really any more secure at all. It protects you from a disk failure, yes, but absolutely nothing else. Personally, I'd forget RAID. I'd just get 2 fast eSATA external drives, and mirror one to the other using a decent sync program. In your case, RAID is only offering redundancy, not back up. Yes, if a disk fails you can recover your data, but so can a decent back up. RAID is only important if you want zero downtime during a disk failure. As it's just storage for images, seriously... forget RAID. It offers nothing a decent back up wouldn't give you. Ideally I'd recommend RAID1 or 5 AND a back up system as well. The price may make you think twice about this however, and if it does... given a choice between a RAID1 system only, and a single disk system with robust back up, I;d go for the latter every time without fail. RAID offers NO back up whatsoever... just redundancy. Opticals don't cut it for me. It looks fine to me, but I can't find a UK listing for it anywhere. Pretty much, yes, but beware that not all may accept a 2TB drive so it's worth checking that. You'll have to log onto it's user interface, and perhaps set an IP address.. but not much more than that. There will be other options in there too, such as setting up a torrent server, or iTunes server etc.. They all vary a little. Mine had a default IP address that was in a different IP range than my home network, so I had to temporarily change the IP range of my router to log into it, change it, then put everything back as it was. There may be little quirks like that but it's pretty straight forward for most people who frequent this site I would think. Thecus do a decent range of NAS boxes too, as do Qnap. Cheaper RAID NAS boxes are never lightning fast however. I have a Thecus N3200 Pro... I have 2 of them actually, and in RAID5 they achieve around 30MB/s read, and a lowly 15MB/s write. In RAID1 it's faster, but not by a massive amount. This has nothing to do with disk speed either. It's the feeble processors they have for parity calculations. This is less of an issue for RAID1 as it's merely mirroring the drive from one to the other, but there is still a processing overhead, so don't expect anything dramatic from a low end NAS box in terms of speed.
Pookeyhead, Thanks for taking the time to answering each of my points. According to you, what would make a good back-up & storage system then? I keep my best images on my laptop, on DVD and on a external HDD. All my 'not so great' images are only stored on that same external HDD. That external HDD gets used for alot of other things atm, so if something would happen to it, all that data would be lost. This is why I'm looking into a seperate external storage system for my images only. The only thing that could happen then is a disk failure (hence raid 1) or my house could burn down (and then I'd have more pressing things to worry about). Write/Read speed is not such a huge issue for me. I would keep them on my CF card while processing, after everything is processed I copy them to the HDD... I don't wait around for it so it doesn't really matter if it takes 5 minutes more or less. Kind regards, Michiel. I can't connect eSata to my MBP (got USB, 1 firewire 400 and 1 firewire 800) and I would prefer not to have the hassle of two drives with mirroring.. Raid seemed simpler/easier/foolproof. Oh and I'm quite capable of setting things up.. but I've gotton fed up with tinkering and spending long nights looking for what the problem is and finally gave up and switched to Apple completely.. never looked back. So now, I prefer something thats pretty and literally plug&play.
Ok... got distracted by... That should do it to be honest, so long as the external doesn't get used for anything else, or is something that does a lot of travelling around with you. If it does, then you're relying on the DVDs alone... which would scare me a little. Ahh.. then yeah... that's not really a decent back up for important data. Personally, if it was just backing up files, and you have no need to stream or transfer these files to other locations on the network, I'd get two large, single disk HDDs. One for your main storage drive off your laptop (laptops get broken... because they're portable), and a second HDD purely for back up that doesn't get used for anything else and is not really moved (except to store it offsite should you be away from any length of time). The reason I suggest this is because as it's merely storage, and you already have the images on your laptop. Should a drive break, you have your back up drive still, AND the images on your laptop. There's no need to have the redundancy RAID offers as you won't HAVE any down time should a drive fail. It's probably cheaper to get two external eSATA enclosures, and a couple of 1TB WD Green drives. Does the Macbook have eSATA? But if a disk fails, you'd also have them on the external, AND the back up drive, or the laptop (depending on whch drive fails). This would actually be faster than trying to use a degraded RAID array. You already have the files in tywo other locations. The point of RAID1 is redundancy, but also the ability to carry on working during a failure and consequent rebuild. This is only really important if it's a server being used by people at the time. If you were to have two externals (one for back up only), you'd just plug in your external and carry on. As the images are still on your laptop, AND your back up drive, you HAVE redundancy I really should read through a post before I start responding LOL Ok... I see your point, but the disadvantage is that while RAID1 IS mirroring, it's in the same device. Should anything happen to the drive such as physical damage, or theft, then RAID1 has achieved nothing. Having two separate drives that are mirrored avoids this. Also, despite a RAID1 device having two mirrored drives, they BEHAVE as one. If you accidentally erase a file, not realise, and empty your trash.... bye bye data (assuming it is not on your laptop as well). Do this with a two drive system, and you have a back up. It's up to you of course, but RAID1 is NOT foolproof at all. It's NOT back up. You, or anyone else could accidentally erase the drive. Someone could drop it one day. Someone could steal it one day. Your mirror is also lost in these scenarios. It's sole purpose is to allow continued working should a drive fail, not to act as back up. RAID isn't back up. This is why my RAID5 server, is backed up to another device as well. Well... if looks are more important than secure data.... then by all means get a RAID1 device. I'm not saying DON'T get RAID1.... I'm saying don't ONLY get RAID1. Get RAID1 by all means... but you'll still need to back it up. You COULD keep the back up drive elsewhere you know. In fact, that's the whole idea... separating the two data sources so whatever disaster befalls the first drive doesn't befall the second. All it would require is that as you are downloading stuff from the CF cards, copy them across to the two drives. You could then put one away so as to not ruin the aesthetics of your Macbook Two drives are just as plug & play... you'd just have to do it twice ... or if you have enough ports, both simultaneously. Seriously... RAID is not back up. Sounds to me like the external gets used often, as well as the laptop. I'd just be way happier if the important stuff is tucked away safely on a drive solely used for back up. Possibly cheaper too.
Ok, thanks for going through all that again with me. I would still be using the old drive for all the other things I need to share with friends/work and keep the new drive at home and only use it to store all the images. The great images are stored on at least two other locations as well. I will follow up on your suggestion and get two seperate HDD's that offer eSata, USB & Firewire 800. Firewire for right now as you can plug the second in the first, and eSata for future computer upgrades. I'm a bit biased to Lacie.. not sure if they deserve it.. so I'm looking at two 1TB LaCie d2 Quadra drives. They also offer "enterprise class" , but they are twice as expensive and probably not worth t. Thanks again.
Yeah, I thought you may be keeping your current hard drive, but as you said, it's been well used, and is very old. The Enterprise class is more than twice the price! Enterprise drives are only really needed in RAID arrays, and for storage use in a desktop environment, are a pure waste of money, especially as you'll have an identical drive with a back up on it. For the price of ONE of those drives, you can have 2 of the non enterprise versions and some change. Selling Enterprise drives as use as a single disk drive like this is just encouraging people that they don't need back ups. If you like LaCie stuff, then yeah, that's a decent solution, as it has eSATA, Firewire800, as USB. 2 of these will be good. One for main use, and one for back up only. You can then put the back up drive away somewhere. Should your place get broken into and robbed one day, they'll probably take your MBP and hard drive... but the back up you have hidden away in your sock drawer will save you
