| Sign in: |
| Members log in here with your user name and password to access the your admin page and other special features. |
|
|
|
|
|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Hard Drives and Backup Questions
Jonathan Durr, Student/Intern, Photographer
 |
Morton Grove | IL | USA | Posted: 5:24 PM on 02.06.11 |
->> I am completely clueless when it comes to hard drives other than putting one in my computer or hooking up an external drive, nothing fancier than that.
I have 2 hard drives (320 and 500GB) in my computer, and recently bought 2 more (1.5TB each). When I opened up my PC to install them, I realized I didn't have any space left to put the drives. I plan on using these drives for backing up my photos and other important files.
I have another case that I can move the entire computer into and it would fit everything, but I'm sure there is an easier way to get this done.
After looking at older posts, I saw that Drobo was mentioned many times. I looked into it and I don't really understand how it works exactly. Could someone dumb it down for me? It sounds like a box that you put multiple hard drives in and it backs up one drive on another one.
While I'm at it, what is a good software to regularly backup files on a PC? I want something that only backs up new files so it doesn't have to do the entire drive over and over again. I can't wait until I get a Mac Book Pro and can use Time Machine..
One thing that might be an issue, depending on the setup. I think something is wrong with my firewire port on my computer. This started after I upgraded to Windows 7 64bit and installed an additional 4GB of RAM. If I leave my SanDisk Extreme IV CF firewire reader plugged in for some period of time, my computer crashes with a blue screen and the file responsible is related to the firewire. I've tried to reinstall/rollback the firewire driver but nothing fixed it.
Thanks! |
|
Stephen Brashear, Photographer, Assistant
|
Seattle | WA | USA | Posted: 5:51 PM on 02.06.11 |
| ->> Jonathan - A Drobo is a good option. There are other NAS (Network Attached Storage) devices available. Drobo is nice because it allows you to put different size and different brand drives into the bays. You can use cheap or expensive drives. Some NAS devices require that the drives be a certain same type and same size. A Drobo is basically a RAID array (there are others here that can explain the configurations better than me) which stores your data on multiple drives such that if one of the drives fails your data is still safe. Some don't like DROBO because it uses a proprietary file system. I have a DROBO FS, which is the 5-Bay ethernet version for network access. There is also a Firewire version that can be used for editng video. You can put 4 1TB drives in a DROBO and you will 3+ terabytes of storage. When the time comes you can swap in a couple of 2TB drives and increase your storage space. I would suggest the ethernet version of DROBO as it can be accessed on a network. DROBOs are fairly easy to set up, though there are other devices are easy. It used to not be the case. I hope this helps some. |
|
Gregory Greene, Photographer
|
Durham | NH | USA | Posted: 6:12 PM on 02.06.11 |
->> Newer Tech has a nice external enclosure called the Guardian
MAXimus that offers RAID 1 protection. It has FW400/800,
eSATA, and USB2 connectors. I bought an empty one from OWC
for $129. It was a snap to install drives and hook up. Very
quiet unit. Works well with Windows 7 64bit.
You can also get the unit from B+H if you feel more
comfortable with them.
Good luck. |
|
Israel Shirk, Photographer, Assistant
|
Boise | ID | US | Posted: 7:31 PM on 02.06.11 |
->> You could just get one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-Drives-Docking-Station-ST0014U/dp/B002MUY... - available at Best Buy. You just plug the hard drives in, then plug it into your USB. Plenty fast for backups, etc, and it can handle two drives. You could get an enclosure as well if you don't like having drives out in the open, but they're more expensive.
A drobo is a cheap, nonstandard way of doing RAID - which means Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks. Server-grade hardware costs a lot, but is more reliable. To get around the price barrier, people figured out that if you store data on two or more hard drives at the same time, you get the same reliability at a lower cost, and if a drive goes bad you can just replace that drive and have the system take care of everything else for you. A drobo is similar to that - you plug it into your USB, it makes several hard drives look like one big drive to your computer. It's just a little less reliable and/or flexible - the main problem being that RAID is a standard which is used across a lot of different manufacturers - so if your enclosure or motherboard dies, you just get another one and it'll handle it fine. With a drobo you have to get a new drobo enclosure, given they'll still be in business and haven't made any changes to their products in the last X number of years. And with a raid, you can configure it so you can just pull one of the drives, take it with you, and have it work like a normal drive afterwards (in case your house burns down while you're away, for example).
Gregory's suggestion looks pretty nice. I'd consider it. |
|
Greg Francis, Photographer
|
Rochester | NY | USA | Posted: 9:01 PM on 02.06.11 |
| ->> I've been running a Cavalry USB 3.0 Dual docking station with two 2tb drives for six months, works great! |
|
Gregory Greene, Photographer
|
Durham | NH | USA | Posted: 11:56 PM on 02.06.11 |
->> Definitely consider one of the faster connection cables if
you can. USB2 is a pretty slow way to move hundreds of GB's
or worse TB's of data. Think about a multi-layered approach
to storage. Primary data should go on some type of redundant
disks (RAID1,10,5), an immediate backup solution (internal
or external duplicate that doesn't have to be RAID), and an
external disk for offsite recovery.
Just make sure you finally move your offsite recovery disk
OFFSITE! :) |
|
N. Scott Trimble, Photographer
|
Lake Oswego | OR | USA | Posted: 12:18 AM on 02.07.11 |
->> Don't worry Jonathan, I speak dumbanese.
The Drobo is a docking station of loose hard drives that can be any size and make, as long as they are eSATA.
In its basic configuration, it provides storage as well as a redundancy buffer so if a drive fails, the data shifts to the other drives safely, until you replace the bad drive. So, if you have four 1TB drives, you DON"T have 4TB of storage, you have about 2.5 or so and the rest is for redundancy and protection. I have had mine for three years now and its been terrific. |
|
Jonathan Durr, Student/Intern, Photographer
|
Morton Grove | IL | USA | Posted: 11:35 AM on 02.08.11 |
->> Thanks for the suggestions guys.
In the long term it looks like it might be best to have a setup like the Drobo but not have it dependent on a company staying in business in order to use it a long time from now.
I think I might make a stop by my local MicroCenter store to get some good advice based on my current system. After hearing your suggestions, I'm thinking of getting an enclosure that holds 2 drives. I'd rather not accidentally hit drives standing vertically in the open.
I have a few questions still.
Is there any way to install a USB 3 port on my computer? I really don't trust my firewire being constantly used since it ends up making it crash. It looks like there's space for one more device in my computer below my audio card, but I don't know what type of space that is, PCI or what ever they are called.
Any suggestions on a backup software?
I have a 1TB external drive that I'm using now for my backup, but once I get this system in place, I'll use that for the off-site backup. |
|
Gregory Greene, Photographer
|
Durham | NH | USA | Posted: 6:30 PM on 02.08.11 |
->> I use Clonezilla Live to get a Bare Metal Recovery backup
of my system disk and I use Robocopy (comes with Windows)
and it's mirroring option to backup/sync my data to external
drives.
Ideally I'd like to have my system disk mirrored but I just
don't have the free internal SATA connection for an
additional drive. |
|
Eric Canha, Photographer
|
Brockton | MA | United States | Posted: 7:53 PM on 02.08.11 |
->> Just to throw one more possibility out there for you. Consider moving your system into a bigger case (I like the super huge Cool Master cases) and installing one or more of these: http://www.amazon.com/Kingwin-3-5IN-Sata-Mobile-Rack/dp/B00126U0VA
I have 3 installed in my machine and have the sata configured to allow hotswapping of the drives. The top slot I use for my "working" drive the middle slot holds a backup disk and the third slot is like a SUPER CF, where I pull the data drive from the event server and pop it in to ingest event files at sata speed instead of playing around with externals or USB.
I still have a Drobo Pro with 16tb as my in house backup but the drive racks give me the advantages of using the massive cooling power of the case, the clean and stable power of the Corsair PS and the speed of eSata.
E |
|
Return to --> Message Board Main Index
|