Network Storage

I

INTELCRAZY

banned
Let me explain my situation, I help manage a family-ran photography business, I need some type of storage maybe 1-3Tb. Okay, recently we have been using about 7 USB External HDs("jerry-rigged"). I need this to be networked so I can access it at home and at my store which is about a mile away. Oh, may I mention it needs to be backed-up.
Can anyone give a good, budgeted solution, so I don't have to drag those HD's with me.

Thanks for all help
 
There are actual Network Attached Storage devices with FTP access and what not, but I don't always hear good things about these, particularly the lower end ones. Your best bet would be to just get some older computer and set it up as a web server. The only problem, I don't know how much info you have to transfer at once, but you realize you are limited to web speeds. Of course, doing 3TB of info would take quite some time :P I figure you just need smaller bits of data, but full res. photos can get rather large...
 
I am running through broadband ISP, I have thought about a stand-alone network storage that is password protected. Hook that up to a couple of USB Western Digital My Book 1TB and have 2Tb of total storage. I am entry level in this stuff, and I am not good with networking, I love computer hardware though
 
That radiolab kit is not a bad idea, I like that. Thanks, could hook that up to the desktop PC at the biz and use that with a few HD modifications, one problem BACKUP

THANKS
 
INTELCRAZY said:
Let me explain my situation, I help manage a family-ran photography business, I need some type of storage maybe 1-3Tb. Okay, recently we have been using about 7 USB External HDs("jerry-rigged"). I need this to be networked so I can access it at home and at my store which is about a mile away. Oh, may I mention it needs to be backed-up.
Can anyone give a good, budgeted solution, so I don't have to drag those HD's with me.

Thanks for all help
Click to expand...

Something like this? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822154083

You can have a networked hard drive and access it anywhere using Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, etc. I mean what you're referring to is kinda pricey, especially the amount of storage you're requesting, so being a "budget" solution it is not. The closest budget solution is what you're doing now and it's inefficient, hence the problems you're having. A networked drive is the easiest and fastest solution to you're problem but it might put a dent in the old wallet. Good luck!
 
you are probably best off setting up a small linux file server, with VPN, samba, and a back up solution and tossing a bunch of cheap HDs in it. This will be best result for what you want to do and doesn't cost that much, but you may need to hire someone to set it up for you.
 
ooh, that's not a dent in my wallet, maybe my reputation, I am not the prime owner of this biz. I was thinking about the link below, I would like to have something like this. When it is off I could unplug a USB Drive and attach it to my PC and and back it up on one of the seven others we have. That is at least a little more organized.
Thanks for the link though
 
INTELCRAZY said:
ooh, that's not a dent in my wallet, maybe my reputation, I am not the prime owner of this biz. I was thinking about the link below, I would like to have something like this. When it is off I could unplug a USB Drive and attach it to my PC and and back it up on one of the seven others we have. That is at least a little more organized.
Thanks for the link though
Click to expand...

What are the disadvantages of this?
 
well here are the advantages of what I listed.

1) Linux is open source and free, so you don't have to pay for an OS
2) You can use an existing older PC as the file server (no cost if you already have the PC)
3) Cross platform compatability, samba (SMB) works with unix, linux, os x, windows, etc
4) You can set up VPN connections and remote in from home using your existing internet connection to check things and work on the computers remotely, and transfer data. However transfering large files will be slow. This is mainly because every ISP caps your upload speed unless you pay for premium service.
5) Gives you access to tons and tons of open source free programs for backing up and managing your data.
6) Centralize all your data and have a solid back up plan on top of that. If you think saving money not having this is a good idea, I hope you never have to pay for data recovery from a failed drive....its expensive

Disadvantages:

1) New platform, got to learn it or hire somebody or know somebody to help you
2) Requires a bit (not too extensive) of networking knowledge
3) Would require the know how to fix problems as they occur

The problem with those NAS devices you can buy is that they are already in a RAID, like the 1TB network drives are usually 4x 250gig drives. I know this because I have some at work and have repaired them. If one drive in that RAID fails the whole RAID fails, which means your data is toast unless you have additional back ups.

In all honesty your best bet just may be a large USB 2.0 or FW external HD that you can take back and forth from home to work. It would be cheap and easy to use (requires no technical knowledge). However, I would make sure you have back ups of that drive on other drives/devices.
 
Is there something out there with RAID 1? I have already reconfigured the desktop PC at my store to mirror on 2 500Gb WD drives.
 
tlarkin,

You must have non raid /raid 0 NAS devices. If it was configured as a raid 5 array you could loose a drive with no problem. You would need to shut down nas and replace drive but all is not lost.

Do not use linux, unless you are a expert ..... you WILL have problem. It may be a free OS, but it will cost you much more if you need help.

It would help if you let us know how much you want to spend.

Do you really need 3TB of space? Can you not archive some of your old stuff?

Say for example 1TB of online storage and archive the older stuff to usb drives.

.......
under 1k
If you only need 1TB that is not hard to do with a inexpencive NAS device.

or
1x windows XP computers
2x 750gb SATA drives
1x SATA raid 1 controlers

install 2 drives in each computer, setup the raid 1 arrays, and make each pc a storage location. Raid 1 is inexpencive (under 100$) the drives are (400$ each) This gives you a decent amount of reliable storage (you can loose a drive not loose any data) you will have to replace the drive but your data is safe.

You will still need a backup solution

.......
over 2k
I would get something like a dell poweredge 2900 storage server. It can hold upto 6 750gb drives in raid 5 (3.7TB or 3TB with online spare)

As for backups, its impractical to backup more then 1TB without a tape drive, and i think that would break the bank. I paid 4500$ my 14TB tape autoloader, the drive it self (Quantom SDLT4 is a 1.6TB tapedrive ) is around 3000$.

What i am tring to say is that its not cheap to have all that storage, have it be reliable, and be able to back it up.

I would say archive as much as you can, have less then 1TB of online storage.
 
He is on a budget so building a Windows rig i would say it out of the question, along with the RAID 5 idea. Also, if they knew how to set up and configure a RAID5 I could only assume Linux would be no big deal to them.
 
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