Need a new reliable external storage system

[1000possibleclaws]

So my trusty external failed a few weeks back, and I lost all my music (I have an old backup of that thank god) and alot of media that's irreplaceable. I've lost faith in one external harddrive as a means of storage and a means of backing up important data.

I'm using a laptop with ~300 gigs of internal disk space, and need to have external memory to hold all my music and video so that when I'm home I can plug it in and it will act as another internal harddrive. So it must withstand constant disk use, and is not meant for backing stuff up.

Someone told me building a server is a lot more reliable than external harddrives. I guess this would be because you could have multiple drives so that if one died you would still have everything important in a backup drive that you never actively use. Need some good recommendations on alternatives to external harddrives, don't want to lose my music a second time. Also would like the cheapest solution possible, a home server at future shop cost $400 and while it might be cheaper online it will still add up to almost a whole desktop when I add the drives to the price tag.

[Detale]

Well no matter what you do chances are you will be using a HDD, even if you build a server. I too have lost my music and pics some time last year due to external failure and GODDAMN does it suck.

What I do now if have more than one external and just use one for backup. What I have been meaning to do it set up a Raid 1 array for so if 1 disk fails I'd have the other one. I think this could be your best bet.

Another idea, albeit expensive is use a Solid State disk. they are supposes to be better and have a waay lower failure rate due to no heat or moving parts you WILL pay the premium though.

How many gigs of backup are you talking about here?

[1000possibleclaws]

Well I'd need to have around 500GB for purely backup purposes. I would also need at least 1TB that I'll be using daily.

Are there cheaper ways of making some sort of external multi-harddrive rigs that will slot internal harddrives in? I guess even 2 slots would work, assuming I could just change the harddrives alot depending if I'm backing something up or using something from a harddrive. If you house harddrives in a server box will they be more reliable then in single external cases?

[clocker]

You could always get an external drive caddy and just pop in drives as needed.
That's what I do and it works well.

Added advantage is that the drives are only active when actually being used and the caddies are cheap.
They're available with USB and eSATA connectivity...obviously, the eSATA link is preferable if possible.

[Cabalo]

Well I'd need to have around 500GB for purely backup purposes. I would also need at least 1TB that I'll be using daily.

Are there cheaper ways of making some sort of external multi-harddrive rigs that will slot internal harddrives in? I guess even 2 slots would work, assuming I could just change the harddrives alot depending if I'm backing something up or using something from a harddrive. If you house harddrives in a server box will they be more reliable then in single external cases?
What you are looking for is a NAS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_attached_storage).
Look around at newegg, there probably are some there. Linksys had some good ones, and AFAIK asus is now producing them. It's a great solution, perfect for your needs.

[beansis]

You could always get an external drive caddy and just pop in drives as needed.
That's what I do and it works well.

Added advantage is that the drives are only active when actually being used and the caddies are cheap.
They're available with USB and eSATA connectivity...obviously, the eSATA link is preferable if possible.

could you give me a suggestion for how to make this?

I just filled up my 1.5TB Seagate :(

[clocker]

This (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817392022)
is what I have.
No problems in nearly two years of use.

[1000possibleclaws]

This (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817392022)
is what I have.
No problems in nearly two years of use.

Would it be reliable to use for constant usage ie streaming my music through my laptop, watching video? That's what I would mainly be using this for, and I would also want to back up the hard drive so I guess I would need 2 of them or something



Well I'd need to have around 500GB for purely backup purposes. I would also need at least 1TB that I'll be using daily.

Are there cheaper ways of making some sort of external multi-harddrive rigs that will slot internal harddrives in? I guess even 2 slots would work, assuming I could just change the harddrives alot depending if I'm backing something up or using something from a harddrive. If you house harddrives in a server box will they be more reliable then in single external cases?
What you are looking for is a NAS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_attached_storage).
Look around at newegg, there probably are some there. Linksys had some good ones, and AFAIK asus is now producing them. It's a great solution, perfect for your needs.

That is gonna be a mission to read but thanks I have never heard of this option, gonna look into this option.

[Cabalo]

shortly, NAS is a networked HDD, something like a router with an HDD (with some differences).
It's pretty useful if you need to have more than 1 PC accessing the same HDD simultaneously. And if you want streaming, it's perfect. You just have to connect the NAS to your home router, and it's accessible everywhere in the LAN, or even remotely if needed to.

[clocker]

For constant use, the NAS option championed by Cabalo is probably the way to go.
I use my caddy frequently but not 24/7.

[beansis]

Would it be reliable to use for constant usage ie streaming my music through my laptop, watching video? That's what I would mainly be using this for, and I would also want to back up the hard drive so I guess I would need 2 of them or something.

Ya this is what I do all the time

Also, can you recommend a reliable hardrive? im looking in the 2TB area

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817392022 appears to only house one drive, are there similar enclosures for multiple drives?

tnx

[Cabalo]

with this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148496)baby you can connect 3x external HDDs and have them accessible through your LAN. (useful if you are already using external HDDs, otherwise use a conventional NAS with internal HDDs)

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31Ewlz2VkQL._SS400_.jpg

[beansis]

with this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148496)baby you can connect 3x external HDDs and have them accessible through your LAN. (useful if you are already using external HDDs, otherwise use a conventional NAS with internal HDDs)

That does look pretty sweet but I just have one 1.5 Seagate Desk

i was thinking of getting an enclosure and some drives as a cheaper alternative and to also have eSATA

if not I'll probably go for this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148405

btw, why are you so enthusiastic for LAN? isn't direct access faster? also I only need the access in my room

[Cabalo]

I'm a LAN enthusiast, for storage purposes.
My computer has only 500GB (used for the OS, some software and my games) and the remaining are all at a fileserver. 5 people access the movies, music, tv shows etc at my house simultaneously. So this solved the redundancy problem.

100MBITs networking is enough to have 10 people simultaneously watching HD movies. Without any breaks. xvid and mp3 are residual when accessed via LAN. The access is seamless, you don't wait a second. Just configure shares, or map them as HDDs to show up on My Computer and you're all set.

[beansis]

in my case, however, it would be just me who is accessing the content, in one location, connected to my pc

i guess im looking for something in between portable hdd and fileserver, needs to be reliable and have enough storage, but not overly expensive and huge

im hesitant to spend to much money since hdd capacity seems to double every year

[Detale]

I do however think we are missing two points here guys. Price and that even with a NAS he will be using a HDD which was the initial problem/question. I mean we're talking a couple hundred dollars for a NAS or $30 for something like clocker said.

[1000possibleclaws]

That's true, and I will be the only person using it anyways. Is there something like what clocker linked to that can house 2 harddrives at the same time? One to access stuff from, and the other so I can back my main one up from time to time?

[clocker]

I've never seen a double caddy.
You could just get two of 'em.

[beansis]

maybe liek this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817707156

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817332021

a tad bit expensive, tho

need to make sure that it has USB 2.0 and eSATA