Suggestions on a new 2TB+ external drive/NAS?

A

Acejam

Weaksauce
Joined
Nov 4, 2009
Messages
65
Hey all,

Right now I have the following drive setup on my machine:

1 x 60 GB OCZ Vertez (Boot Drive w/ Win 7 x64)
2 x 1TB Seagate Barracuda in RAID 1 array (1 TB data capacity)
1 x 300 GB Maxtor OneTouch II (very old)

Basically right now I have just under 300 GB of space. Therefore, I've been able to back up this data to my external without issue. (never running out of space) However my data collection has been rapidly growing lately, and I have a feeling I will be breaking the 300GB mark very soon.

As of now, I'm thinking about picking up a new external drive, and converting my current RAID1 array to a RAID0 array. (since I only have a 60GB OS drive now, which is 1 week old) This will provide me with 2TB of storage internally, and should speeds things up a bit. I am thinking about doing this because I recently built this new rig, and I've decided to install my larger programs onto my RAID array, versus my SSD. (apps that have lots of temporary files, less writes, etc)

Therefore, I'm looking for an external solution. I would most definitely prefer e-SATA, however it's not the end of the world if unavailable. (transfers just take longer :( ) I'm also looking for a solution that can provide me with 2TB, or more. RAID would be nice, but that might add some more $$ into the picture. I've looked at the 2TB WD MyBook Mirror Edtion, but that would provide me with only 1TB of storage if I put it into a RAID1. The external is for my backups, so I would think RAID1 would be best, but I'd consider running RAID0, since it would be a 2nd copy of my internal RAID array.

I currently don't own any NAS devices, but I'm willing to consider them as well.

Requirements:
- External
- 2TB or more
- RAID would be nice...
- USB2.0, prefer e-SATA
- NAS is an option...


Any recommendations?
 
I will suggest that you do NOT get the IcyBox/MGB Raid Pro/TaurusLAN...and whatever other name it is sold under. It is an unreliable piece of shit. Beyond that, it worked pretty well. :mad:
 
Have you considered something like an HP MediaSmart server, or building your own WHS box?
 
[LYL]Homer;1034886696 said:
Have you considered something like an HP MediaSmart server, or building your own WHS box?
Click to expand...

I thought about it...but I'd really like to stick with just 1 box for now. I honestly only need an external hard drive for backup purposes. (99% of the time it's not even powered on)

I plan on building a HTPC later on down the road probably, but that won't be for another year or so...
 
So I'm still debating on if I should go with a local external drive, or a simple NAS setup. Right now I don't really have a use for NAS, but in 3-6 months I might. (might be moving)

Anyways, for drives I've been looking at:

Cavalry 2-Bay RAID Disk Array (RAID 1) USB 2.0 / eSATA 2TB (2x1TB)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822101091

Fantom G-Force MegaDisk MDE2000 2TB USB 2.0 / eSATA 2 Disk RAID Arra
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822204072

D-Link DNS-321 Diskless System 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822155009
If I went with this setup, I'd pick up 2 new 1TB WD Green/Black drives as well (Raid0 for 2TB total)

The D-Link NAS option sounds like a safe bet, especially since I can use my own drives. A friend of mine has a similar D-Link NAS setup, which has performed well so far. However, I'm not sure how I feel about it only being network capable. An eSATA port would be really and I'm still not sure if I need the NAS...

If I went with the NAS, it would stay on 24/7 and I'd probably find ways to utilize it. However If I went with an external eSata drive, it would probably remain powered off 99% of the time. (using this only for backups)
 
Bump!

I see that a few NAS devices have USB ports on them for "expanded storage". Does anyone know if some of these can be used as simple USB drives? (in other words, they can function as a NAS and USB drive, but not necessarily at the same time)
 
They can IIRC but that capability only shows up on the more expensive NASes ($500+).
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
Well I picked up a WD WDH1CS15000N 1.5TB External Drive...

I bought it on sale on black friday @ best buy for $120 out the door. I also picked up an e-SATA cable. I immediately reformatted it the drive to NTFS, and so far it's running great!

I plan to try out Windows 7 backup. Right now my data is setup as follows:

C: drive, 1x60 GB SSD drive(only 25 GB used)
- OS
- 1 Game (Call of Duty)

D: drive, RAID1 array, 2x1TB drives (only 450 GB used)
- Movies, music, some games, pictures, etc
- DVD backups, ISO images, etc


I'm trying to decide between 2 different backup strategies:

Strategy 1:
- Configure Windows 7 backup to backup all system data, and my own data (movies, pictures, music, etc) to the external drive. This would be done by me specifying which locations/folders to backup.Although Win7 would do the actual backing up.

Strategy 2:
- Have Windows 7 backup system data only.
- Backup my own data manually. (Manually drag media folder to the external drive. Folder contains music, movies, etc)

I'm debating between these two strategies, because I'm not sure which method is best. (trying to adhere to common/best practices) Also, I'm not sure if Windows 7 backup compresses data or not. (either way, I don't care, but it would be nice to save space if it's safe compression)

Thoughts?
 
I ended up going with strategy #1. I'm not sure long it took exactly, because I set it and walked away. Although when I was copying items via eSATA, the drive is very fast. (70 MB/sec writes!)

Overall, for only $120 I highly recommend this setup to anyone looking for a nice backup solution. I was a bit weary as an enthusiast going with a WD MyBook "Home" edition, but it turned out to be a great choice. Also, this drive does not have any SmartWare built in!
 
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