OK, so my current external hard drive has died (LaCie 500GB mini) and while I'm working on getting the data recovered, the other issue I'm faced with is - what replacement storage solution do I use now?

I've done some research on the 3 options: NAS, RAID and External drive but am at the point of too much information, or not enough deep information or understanding of the pros and cons of these 3 options.

I would prefer an out-of-the-box solution as I'm not able to get parts and build anything.

Needs:
Home network solution, so don't think I need a corporate-grade, gold-plated solution, but being reliable is important

Uses:
Need to back up data from G4 iMac (ethernet connection to router) and MacBookPro (wireless G to router)

400GB of current data to be stored, but currently doing a lot of digital and video editing so will need lots of space - looking at a 1TB solution.

Do I look at a single BIG storage option - and put all my eggs in the one basket again, or do I look at several smaller storage options, where losing one drive does not reduce me to zero again?

What suggestions would you make for me?

Howdy,
OK First up, have a read of these to understand RAID a little better
epowermac Knowledge Base System :: Understanding RAID
epowermac Knowledge Base System :: Which RAID System Do I Need?

Go for something that has RAID 1. (Which mirrors your data on 2 drives) 1 drive fails, you still have an exact copy on the other drive.

We sell a lot of the MacPower Taurus RAID's. They come in 2 versions.
1) A NAS (Network) drive with RAID 0 or 1. This would plug directly into your router.
a 1TB version is $499 (So in RAID 1 that would be 500GB of useable storage)

2) A FW800/USB2 Version to hang off your iMac G4. 1TB version $485 .(RAID 1 that would be 500GB of useable storage)

If you wanted 1.0TB of storage, in a RAID 1 configuration, you will need to get a 2TB version.

Working with large audio and video files having it plugged directly into the iMac is a better option. If you are OK with USB2, then option 1 above would give you the flexibility to move it from your iMac onto the network, at a later date, if required.

Hope this helps.


Robert
epowermac.com.au Online Store - Australia - Express Powermac Solutions

We were investigating it for work, and this seems to be the best home raid type config that allows for network setup:

2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure - DNS-323 by D-Link

It retails for about $250 excluding drives. It takes 3.5 SATA's which are hot swappable.

Plugs into a network so it can be added to your router. Transfer rates are quicker than the Western Digital Mybook options. You can pick them up on Ebay for about $800 with 2TB (1TB RAID) installed.

I've been considering a Drobo for some time...

Perhaps this is something you'd be interested in.. and they're now available in Australia, although for a decent price... perhaps PriceUSA would be helpful...

(also plays nicely with Airport and Airport Expresses)...

i would suggest using unRaid from Lime Technology, LLC. The license costs about $120aud, and its a linux distro using basically raid4. you can build it on an old PC, and use various size disks (1 x 500gb, 1 x 20gb, 1 x 60gb, etc.) to create a volume. the nice thing about it is that you can add/remove disks from volumes also, unlike other raid systems. i use it at home and it works well, building myself up another system now to get a bit more storage.

Ohhh, pretty!

OK, that went to the top of the list based on looks alone.
Now for the serious stuff...

Or better - X RAID
I have Infrant NV+ and it is great

OK, so it drops a few places when the "serious stuff" questions are asked...

*mumbles* still looks pretty though....

Drobo are very good.

There's a very very simplified article here on what different things essentially mean to the average person, minus the jargon, and another article here that breaks External Drives into their basic categories, once again, for any lay person to understand.

What one essentially needs to ask is: Do I want / need something which is "on" 24/7, or do I just want to back up every so often ?

cheers,

cw

Two possibilities spring to mind.

1. The Taurus LAN.
2 Bay Storage / Network Attached Storage (10/100/1000) / USB Back up).

A basic and solid work-horse.



Specs:

• Chipset: Storlink SL3516
• RAID Level: RAID 0 (Striping), RAID 1 (Mirroring)
• Drive Interface: 2 x 3.5" SATA I / SATA II (2x1TB)
• Host Interface: LAN: 10/100/1000Mbps and USB 2.0
• Case Material: Aluminum
• Windows Requirements: Windows 98/SE/ME/XP/2000/Vista
• Mac OS Requirements: Mac OS 9.1 or higher / Mac OS 10.0 and higher.

2. The Synology Disk Station DS207+.
High-speed 2 Bay SATA NAS Server with Advanced Data Protection.

Something a little more advanced...



Specs:

Hardware:

• CPU Clock Rate: 266 MHz
• RAM Size: 64MB
• Internal HDD: 3.5” SATA II x 2
• External HDD Interface: USB 2.0 port x3
• LAN: Gigabit x1
• Fan: x1 (60mmX60mm)
• Power Recovery
• Max Capacity (Internal HDD): 2 TB
• Max Supported IP Camera: 2
• Operating Temperature: 10 to 35°C
• Storage Temperature: -10 to 70°C
• Relative Humidity: 5% to 95% RH

Certification: FCC Class B, CE Class B, BSMI Class B, VCCI Class B

Networking Protocols: CIFS, AFP, FTP

File Sharing:

• Max User Accounts: 128
• Max Groups: 64
• Max Shared Folder: 100
• Max Concurrent Connections: 32

UPnP Multimedia Service Support:

• Sony PS3, Microsoft Xbox360 (See All Supported DMA)
• Audio Format: AAC, M4A, MP3, Ogg Vorbis, WAV, WMA, WMA VBR, WMA PRO, WMA Lossless
• Video Format: ASF, AVI, DAT, DivX, MP4, MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, VOB, WMV, XviD
• Image Format: BMP, JPG (jpe, jpeg), GIF, ICO, PNG, PSD, TIF (tiff), UFO
• Playlist Format: WPL, M3U

iTunes Server Support:

• Audio Format: MP3, M4A, M4P
• Playlist Format: M3U, WPL

Audio Station Support:

• Audio Format: AAC, M4A, MP3, Ogg Vorbis, WMA, WMA VBR
• Playlist Format: M3U, WPL
• Internet Radio: SHOUTcast, Radioio

Photo Station 3 Support:

• Video Format: ASF, AVI, MPEG1, MPEG4, WMV, XviD, DivX, DAT(2), MP4(2), MPEG2(2), RM(2), RMVB(2), VOB(2)
• Image Format: BMP, JPG (jpe, jpeg), GIF

Management:

• AJAX-based Management UI
• Download Station Bandwidth control
• Download Station Port Range Setup
• Editable HTTP Error Page
• Email Alert Message
• Email Notification for New User
• External HDD Hibernation (USB)
• Scheduled Power Off
• Firmware Upgrade
• FTP passive port range
• Hide-able Shared Folder
• Internal HDD Hibernation
• Movable Shared Folder
• Port range for BitTorrent
• Removable Default Shared Folder
• System Temperature
• Ez-Internet
• PPPoE
• UPS Management (Over USB 2.0)
• User Quota
• Web-based Download Station

RAID Management:

• Volume Type: Basic, RAID 0, RAID 1
• Upgrade from Basic to RAID 1
• Expand RAID 1 with Larger Hard Drives
• Volume Auto-rebuild after abnormal power failure

Backup Solutions:

• Network Backup
• Local Backup
• Desktop Backup (using Synology Data Replicator 3)
• USB Copy

Supported Clients: Windows 2000 onward / Mac OS X 10.3 onward

Printer Support:

• Max Printers: 1 (on Mac -PostScript USB printers only)
• Supported Protocols: LPR, CIFS, AppleTalk

Cheers Angsty,

CW

Hi ClockWork,

I've been looking into gigabit RAID NAS devices for my work from home design studio. I am accumulating images at a huge rate for one particular client but I don't want to go to a full stand alone server at this stage - physically they will be too large and heat output is a concern.

Originally I was looking at the Lacie 301236A 4TB unit, but having done some digging it sounds like they may not be the best proposition in the long term.

I've been doing some reading on the Synology DS207+ units.

Given that the maximum raided capacity is going to be 1TB with these (RAID 1 on 2TB), what sort of drives would you recommend? Ideally I am looking for something which will double as a mass storage AND a reliable backup for the next 3 or so years.

Are they difficult for someone not up to speed with building up drive devices? The last time I was pulling things apart and swapping drives was about 10 years ago.

Thanks in advance!

Things have advanced to new levels of simplicity.
If you know how to plug an Ethernet cable into a Modem Router, you're already half way there.

Putting things simply - Synology only makes NAS. They don't design external units with FireWire or eSATA. Just NAS.



cw

MacManMike - I just finished installing my Disk Station 207+ based on discussions and advice from Clockwork and have been very happy with the ease of use of this device.

It is easy to set up and even a non-networking person like me got it up and running within the hour. All the configuration options are manged via the system software and I even managed to work out how to change it from RAID 0 to RAID 1 -

Chugging along nicely so far (5 days - LOL!) Will consider turning on Websharing and hosting my website from this box this week-end.

Ang

PS - my LaCie 500GB drive DIED 2 months after warranty expired, so my personal (soured) experience with LaCie products is: DON'T GET IT!! *grumbles* dropping it off to data recovery service this afternoon... *grumble* $$$$$$ *grumble*

Same thing happened to me the other week. 1tb Lacie NAS drive died on me, now I have to fork out $2,000 to get the data back due to hardware fault.

I might look into a few of the options mentioned above so this doesn't happen again.

That much I can manage...

So are you recommending the CS407e over the DS207+?

Given that both units are enclosures only, can you recommend any HDs in particular?