Topic: Buying an external HD/RAID/NAS?

[sunjan]

Hi all,

Shopping for more storage but am clueless what to get.

My ideas and needs...
Usage:
I'm planning to get a Squeezebox later on, so I need plenty of space where I can store my shows.
I backup my masters on DVD-R, but it would be pain to restore them to the HD, so I thought a RAID would give me some peace of mind.
I'd also be ripping my CD collection, sell it off on ebay and play the FLACs instead, so I'd need some kind of redundancy for that too.
I won't be carrying this aroud, so size/portability is not an issue.

Connectivity:
I'm not sure what the main selling points with a NAS are, since I normally just have two computers in my home network (laptop + workstation). Are there any "nice to have" features that I'm out of touch with?
If there's no need for NAS, I guess eSATA gives the best bandwidth? My mobo only has SATA, so can I pick up a PCI extension card or some kind of eSATA adapter? Or should i just ignore it and stick to USB 2.0/FW?

Brands:
Since I never played with RAID before, I envisage making a bunch of support calls during setup, so I'm looking for any brand with decent support. This also rules out buying a separate enclosure and loose HDDs, since I don't think either party would be commited to getting me started.
And I'm boycotting WD because of their copyright management nonsense (and high failrate).

I'd be really grateful for any thoughts you might have.

TIA!

[evilchris]

I'd also be ripping my CD collection, sell it off on ebay and play the FLACs instead, so I'd need some kind of redundancy for that too.

This is a illegal, for the record.

[rocksuitcase]

Buffalo TEchnology sells some great pre assembled RAID boxes.  I read a thread on here quite a while ago that covered them thoroughly.  I haven't bought one, but would liek to, and when I go that way, it will probably be one of their boxes.
http://www.buffalotech.com/products/network-storage/

reviews:
http://www.cnet.com/4520-10602_1-5618710-1.html

[sunjan]

I'd also be ripping my CD collection, sell it off on ebay and play the FLACs instead, so I'd need some kind of redundancy for that too.

This is a illegal, for the record.

OK, I won't sell them off, I'll store them in my attic in a box... 

Thanks for the tip on the Buffalo unit, rocksuitcase, T+

A friend of mine recommended this one from D-Link:
http://www.dlinkshop.com/product.asp?sku=3049920

Any opinions?

[Brian Skalinder]

Personally, I think RAID is overkill for data that <a> doesn't change rapidly and <b> isn't mission-critical.  Additionally, IME most inexpensive RAID solutions use RAID controllers that I wouldn't trust any farther than I could throw them.  If I'm not going full enterprise-quality RAID, I'm not going RAID at all.  But that's me.  My solution:  reasonable redundancy without RAID.

Summary:

• Multiple HDDs in an external case (firewire in my case, but eSATA will work just as well);  internal HDDs would work just as well)
• Mirrored nightly.  More info in the reasonable redundancy thread.
  
  

Pros:

• Inexpensive
• Works great
• Easy to set up
• Very reliable
• Doesn't rely on a cheapo / proprietary RAID controller
• Easily recoverable in the case of HDD crash, etc.

Cons:

• Doesn't have the cachet of an uber-geek RAID setup
• Less usable HDD space v. RAID5 (though same as RAID1)

[sunjan]

• Multiple HDDs in an external case (firewire in my case, but eSATA will work just as well)
• Mirrored nightly via DeltaCopy
  
  

Hey Bri, in your example, it doesn't really matter whether the disks are in an external casing ot just straight inside the PC tower, right? Deltacopy works fine either way?

But I guess for Squeezebox using a network attached solution allows you to switch off the computer. Other than that there are no major advantages?!

[Brian Skalinder]

Hey Bri, in your example, it doesn't really matter whether the disks are in an external casing ot just straight inside the PC tower, right? Deltacopy works fine either way?

Correct, internal or external doesn't matter.

Other than that there are no major advantages?!

Not of which I'm aware, but I've not looked into NAS much.

[dmonkey]

I've been running an Infrant ReadyNAS for about a couple of years now and I'm totally pleased. Super easy to set up, lots of storage space, redundancy, etc.  I use mine for my audio stuff, but it was primarily purchased as a backup for digital photo files (I have tons). I think they support Squeezebox  as well.

http://www.readynas.com/

I think they're a little pricier than the Buffalo and some other NAS devices out there, but I liked the features and their products seemed to be getting better user reviews than some of the other options at the time.