Storage suggestions

R

racer12306

New Member
Hi all, I'm new to the forum and have a quick question that should be easy to answer.

I am looking for a storage solution for pictures that is very reliable.

I see it as two options...

Get an external hard drive with an eSATA port and plug it into the computers SATA (with the right cord of course). This would be backed up using Carbonite and would be shared across my home network.

or

Get a NAS system like the DNS-321 and set it up in RAID.

Which is the safer setup? I like the idea of both setups.
 
I was just given a NAS for Christmas and I'm loving it. It's only a single drive, but I'm going to make weekly backups onto an external drive.

As for reliability, it should be fairly equal, but there are some obvious differences between them. An eSATA drive will be much, MUCH faster and will always work (assuming the drive itself works). The NAS should be as reliable, but you have to rely on the network. This will cause quite a speed difference... Plus the NAS is essentially another computer so it could have it's flukes now and then.

Unless you're sharing data around the network, I'd go with the eSATA route.
 
I will be sharing across the network regardless of which setup I go with. I guess I should have specified that in the beginning since it does make a difference.

Also, whatever way I go will be the sole storage for these pictures. Can't replace them so I want them to be secure.


Thanks for the answers so far.
 
yeah well that does make a big difference as external HD's are good fro single person use but not so good for acrossed network sharing
 
Well if you are sharing, you may want the NAS. But regardless what method you use, DO NOT make it your sole storage method. As rare as it may be, it is possible to lose both/all drives within a RAID. I still keep backups on DVDs and such in addition to my NAS and backup drive.
 
Seems like there are so many what ifs, that there is no sure fire backup setup.

You could go so far as to say what if the DVDs get damaged. A RAID1 setup is more backup than I have ever had, so that's atleast a one up on what I used to have.
 
bengal85 said:
If you treat dvds right they should never get damaged
Click to expand...

Damaged yes, but recordable media does have a "shelf life". Expect CDs/DVDs to last around 3 years, plus or minus depending on usage, brand, burn speed, etc etc...

(3 years is the average I found online, but most of my media has lasted longer...)
 
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