External HD help

asterix

asterix

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..and explained in Laymens terms (or better still, As if I was 10 :lol: )

No seriously now, Ive got 2 WD drives and both been fine to date. The 250gb has my originals on in "month" folders, ie Feb 2008 etc etc. My 500gb has specific folders, ie Sport>Rugby>Widnes>2009>Gateshead etc. This is now getting full. Both of these drives are currently my only copies of the images. I have no backup CDs because I didnt think on at 1st and now would need about 3 months burning discs, Doesnt appeal really.

Any advice guys and gals, I know I need to buy another 1 maybe 2 drives, but whats this mirror/RAID stuff, I deally I want to burn 2 copies of each folder and store one offsite (Brothers).

So then, If I buy 2 more drives, How do I set it up. If a bought a 1tb drive and mirror it, Does it become 2 500gb drives and if a drive fails the other part of it will be fine, Am I right in that assumption?

TIA
 
There are loads of different modes when mirroring drives and I can't remember which one is which but the one you would want is the one where it litterally copies the information to both drives at the same time and appears in windows as 1 drive... so you have 2x 1tb drives they would show as 1tb but you would get an identical copy of everything on the second drive...

You can set it so it combines both to give you 2tb etc and more complex setups but for backup purposes the first is probably best.... however if someone nicks your PC, or god forbid there is a fire etc both disks go anyway... always prefer some sort of backup where I can take the backup and store it somewhere else.... in which case I would recommend a 1tb+ external drive to copy evreything to and store serperately..... then in future burn each months photos to a DVD or something
 
Creed said:
There are loads of different modes when mirroring drives and I can't remember which one is which but the one you would want is the one where it litterally copies the information to both drives at the same time and appears in windows as 1 drive...
Click to expand...

This would be called a RAID-1 mirror
It requires two disks, and makes it appear as a single disk

You do not want a RAID-0 stripe, or an internal mirror (you [the OP] described it as taking 1 drive, and halving the capacity). In either of these scenarios, if one drive failed, (i.e. controller fails, or heads crash, common problems), then you would loose all of the data.

I would think there are two scenarios which are suitable, depending on work-ability and cost to you.

The ideal solution I would see, would be a USB device which provided an internal raid1 mirror, plus 1 extra USB disk. You would use the mirror device for day-to-day, and then use the other single disk as the off-site backup with your brother (for theft/fire/accidentally deleting everything, basically RAID cannot protect from this).

I don't really deal with consumer products, and have no knowledge as to whether this one is a good one or not, I just provide it as evidence that the items exist:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=224243


What OS are you running? Some OS's provide what is called software raid. This /will/ be noticably slower if you are using windows and USB, but, takes some of the guesswork out of boxes like the one above.
 
Another thing you may wish to consider (and I know I should but don't) is to burn each days' images to a DVD once downloaded from the CF card.

I am not suggesting you start doing it for shots already taken, that would take months, but most of my CF cards are 2GB or 4GB, I really should download, then burn (but I don't 'cause I am lazy).
That way it is just an extra 10 minutes each day you shoot, and you have a static backup too
 
easy solution would be to just get a couple of tb drives and automate file sync using something like microsoft's free synctoy (if windows). Use your old drives to make an additional backup to store off site.

internal tb dirve for around £65 samsung spinpoint f1 http://SPAM/mzlx7u or external something like http://SPAM/n8rxog
 
You do not want a RAID-0 stripe, or an internal mirror (you [the OP] described it as taking 1 drive, and halving the capacity). In either of these scenarios, if one drive failed, (i.e. controller fails, or heads crash, common problems), then you would loose all of the data.
Click to expand...

that is true for all raid levels, if the controller fails then your data is toast.

in my opinion you do not need raid for non-server use, get 2x USB/firewire/sata drives and use a sync program like synctoy or allway sync.
 
I meant disk controller, sorry for not making that clear. Most good raid controllers, can be replaced up (and in some cases down) without issues.
Also, a consumer level controller, should probably have 3 years warranty.

If the backup device is to be connected permanently (or you do the backup to DVD as well), then a sync program would be sufficient. If however, it is only sync'd once a month (when you see your brother perhaps, I don't know the situation), then you could loose up to 1 months worth of data (since the last sync)
 
coldpenguin said:
I meant disk controller, sorry for not making that clear. Most good raid controllers, can be replaced up (and in some cases down) without issues.
Also, a consumer level controller, should probably have 3 years warranty
Click to expand...

they can be replaced yeah, but to use raid drives as a single point of backup is not a good idea. even with server level controllers.
 
I've seen raid controllers fail and completely destroy all the data on both sets of disks, so personally I'd prefer not to use it.
My suggestion would be:
- Big internal 3.5" drive (e.g. 1.5TB, available for under £100 now)
- 1TB or bigger USB external HD
- MS synctoy software (it's free and VERY easy to use). Set it up to complete daily synchronisations of data if you wish

That will cover you against disk failure (it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of WHEN), but as stated earlier, won't cover you for fire or theft.
If you want to fully cover yourself, buy a further USB drive and leave it with someone you trust for storage at their place, then on a monthly basis, swap USB drives and re-sync again. That should cover against just about any normal scenario short of nuclear war.
 
neil_g said:
they can be replaced yeah, but to use raid drives as a single point of backup is not a good idea. even with server level controllers.
Click to expand...
LVM raid control is where the security is, not hardware. Alas for that you're talking one of just a few mid-range OSs, though as IBM were providing JFS2 for Linux, you could use that to build your own resilient network storage box.
 
Mr_Sukebe said:
I've seen raid controllers fail and completely destroy all the data on both sets of disks, so personally I'd prefer not to use it.
Click to expand...

I have only ever seen data destroyed on a real raid controller once.
However, I have seen nigh on 1000 disks fail in the past.

We are however talking consumer grade here, they are not always the best tested systems. A raid1 mirror, is only marginally (if you consider raid controller failure) more complex than a single disk. And they would recover from the much more likely chance of a disk failing.

However, as I said earlier, if both the disk and backup device can be kept local and sync'd up regularly, then this is as effective as a raid1. However, neither will protect from fire, or user error.
 
neil_g said:
they can be replaced yeah, but to use raid drives as a single point of backup is not a good idea. even with server level controllers.
Click to expand...

Agreed, it cannot survive user error or theft. Which is why I suggested a USB drive to be stored with the brother
 
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