Running out of HDD space, what are my options?

[iflynething]

Is RAID any different than using a backup software? Seems to me it's doing the exact same thing

~Michael~

RAID1 is transparent. You don't do anything and it automatically saves your data in two places simultaneously.

This is the one I bought:

Amazon.com: Cavalry Storage CADA-SA2 Series 2 TB USB / eSATA 2-bay RAID Personal Disk Array (Black) CADA002SA2-B - Includes eSATA Kit: Electronics

Now that's a really nice set up. If I were to get a 2TB external, it would be $189 for the Western Digital. $240 for the RAID isn't all that bad and with free shipping

Is RAID any different than using a backup software? Seems to me it's doing the exact same thing

Two completely different things. RAID is for high availability and Backups are for recoverability. You really should have both but I highly recommend placing a preference on implementing backups first. Being able to recover your data even at the expense of waiting for them to be restored is very important.

This question comes up all the time and almost gets answered incorrectly. RAID is not a replacement for backups.

What do you mean by high availability? I believe that RAIDs are working with the network and you are available to access them anywhere?

~Michael~

 

[icassell]

OK, now I'm confused. What do you mean that RAID is not a replacement for backups? I figured a RAID1 would be exactly that. Do I have to go back to the drawing board?

 

[usayit]

What do you mean by high availability? I believe that RAIDs are working with the network and you are available to access them anywhere?

Sorry... I should have defined.

High availability means that a hard drive failure would not interrupt in any way your access to your data. If your RAID 1 set breaks, you can still access your data and continue working without interruption just as long as the remaining disk remains in operation until you rebuild the mirror with a new disk. Recoverability (also referred to as data protection) is your ability to recover files if they are lost or corrupted.


RAID does not protect your from data corruption, destroyed location, and user snafu.



[edit]
Ahha..
Journalspace makes the case for backing up - European Journalism Centre


For anyone making a career in IT generally its easy to explain the differences. They see the need for restores quite frequently.. often without the users even knowing that something went wrong. The fact that it happens and goes unnoticed makes it difficult to understand to the general public. Kinda like explaining life insurance to a teenager who lives in a life with the notion that they'll live forever. The journalspace snafu was one of the few documented cases that hit the internet and opened many eyes. (it just took me a while to remember) I've made a career out of disaster recovery and data protection. Unfortunately, folks in my field of expertise are brought into the picture after something really bad has already happened. Fortunately for most of us, its required by law for most financial and health institutions to not only backup but prove it works.

 

[grafxman]

I didn't see this mentioned anywhere but maybe I missed it. I use an esata 2 port express card. I connected 2 esata 1 TB external drives to it. Other external drives such as the commonly available USB drives are pretty slow by comparison. An esata drive is just about as fast as your internal drive. I also have 3 external USB drives and their slowness is quite noticeable compared to the esata drives. I use one esata drive for nearly all my applications and they run just as fast as they did on my internal drive. Of course you have to have a card port to plug the esata card into.

 

[Live_free]

My laptops HDD is only 120g I just have an Airport Extreme N Time capsule. That is 2tb which is wireless HDD I store all my pictures on it.

 

[iflynething]

My laptops HDD is only 120g I just have an Airport Extreme N Time capsule. That is 2tb which is wireless HDD I store all my pictures on it.

That time capsule with Mac's are pretty cool. Being wireless and all

~Michael~

 

[Joves]

Well you could just get a 1tb drive to replace your current. I think the Barracudas are like around $120 total at BestBuy now. I use my external strictly for photos and it is 500gigs and, I keep that in my fireproof safe. Which are also inexpensive if you consider what they save if you have a fire.

 

[iflynething]

That's very true. A 1TB would be alot cheaper too...as you said $120

~Michael~

 

[RONDAL]

for those running multiple external HD's, regardless of the size, picking up a DROBO may save you a lot of headaches.

I LOVE mine and can't get enough of it. So easy to use, and full redundancy.

Data Robotics, Inc.

 

[Vicelord John]

I just picked up a Western Digital 1TB My Book for $129 at Best Buy.

It works well.

 

[usayit]

1 TB Seagate internal drive -> $89
Micro Center - Barracuda 1TB 7,200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

Hard drive dock with both USB and eSATA interfaces -> $49.99
Micro Center - 2.5"/3.5" SATA to USB/eSATA Combo Dock Station with All-in-One Card Reader

Even better.. buy two hard drives and keep one of the copies of all your data at work/another house/friends/etc..

You'll never have to worry about yet another power brick to plug in.. another power cable to manage.. and internal hard drives are cheaper. Need more archival storage or another backup to add to a rotation, just buy another internal hard drive (or pulls from used computers) Just drop in and access data.

Just keep the packaging to store the drive in when you are done. Its about the same price as the previous post of Best Buy...

 

[iflynething]

That's a pretty neat storage dock. I didn't know those were even made.

~Michael~

 

[r9jackson]

All of you are giving some very good ideas. One option I am looking at and have had the opportunity to test at work is the Drobo. It's a little more expensive, but gives you a lot more RAID protected storage for a little more money. You can start small with two drives and grow it to 4,5 or 8 (depending on the model). Very cool technology.

I did a mini-review on my photography blog. Check it out at:
The Amazing Drobo
I think it has some links to the manufacturer in the article. I bought mine for work from Amazon.

 

[usayit]

That's a pretty neat storage dock. I didn't know those were even made.

There quite a few to choose from now a days. The one linked was just done on a quick search for those on a budget and to show a fair comparison between retail vendors (as opposed to online).

I currently have this and it hasn't had any problems:

Thermaltakeusa*»*Storage*»*Docking Station

and one from here (firewire port was a requirement):

Voyager by NewerTech- Hard Drive Dock for 3.5" and 2.5" SATA Devices provides high-performance and flexibility
(off course they'll work on windows machines too)



...


If its between these two choices

1) RAID 1 with spares for backups
2) Extra cost of fancy RAID units like the DROBO with no backups.

You are better off with #1.

 

[iflynething]

The Drobo, while very nice, is out of my price range right now.

I was looking at Best Buy and saw some 1.5TB drives. I don't know the difference between the Essnetial and Home Edition. I think there is even a World edition but the price is so great, what would be best?

The 500GB I have now is the essential? There was also a hard drive enclosure for $60 that seemed really nice. I could get an internal desktop drive, like a $250 2TB and then use that once I am able to move to a desktop then get another drive as the backup to that.

~Michael~