Network area storage Drive?

C

contrastingLight

Messages
206
Name
Richard
Edit My Images
No
I am looking to buy a nas drive to ensure all my photos are backed up, does any one have any recommendations?

I am currently looking at the thecus 4100+

This would initially hold two 1tb drives in raid 1 and then expand by adding a further 2tb .

Does any one have experience of the above drive?

Cheers
Richard:thinking:
 
Looks good but I do notice that in the tech specs it says:

Storage Capacity: 4 x 750+ GB

Does the + after the 750 mean it can take larger drives? Probably worth a check.
 
Not a problem - we use them here at work with 1Tb drives in. Nice devices and easy to administer.
 
whitey said:
i looked at this one but it only holds two drives

http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/Shop/Specifications.asp?ProductID=6719

looked at a couple of others without the hard drives that could be around 75 then you add your own, they can work on RAID 1 setups and takes 1TB drives, can post some links to them if needed
Click to expand...

I would ideally be looking for a four bay set up, however would love to look at any suggestions you may have.
I have been going round in circles and have kept coming back to the thecus, there are quite a few options out there.

There seems to be a premium price to pay for a four bay set up!
 
I've got no experience of that NAS (I've got two from Bufallo) , have a good look at reviews / specifications as I've found that the network speed of them vary dramatically.

If I was after a drive for doing backups I'd by two ESata units & use them for alternate backups as I've never been convinced by the safety of RAID 1
 
4 drive storage units i've found the following that maybe of use

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/4TB-Quad-Bay-...39:1|66:2|65:12|240:1308&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Network-Attac...39:1|66:2|65:12|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

there listed all over the net, this is just a quick link to the unit intself

i am currently looking at a 2 drive storage unit, this one

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2TB-DUAL-HDD-...39:1|66:2|65:12|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

this is availble from either Amazon or Ebay through the same seller, takes upto 2TB (you need your own drives) and seems to do everything i need

i did look at a 3 drive one with RAID 5 but cant really justify the extra 300 it will cost me (i currently have 2 x 750gb drives that would go straight into the enclosure)
 
whitey said:
4 drive storage units i've found the following that maybe of use

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/4TB-Quad-Bay-...39:1|66:2|65:12|240:1308&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Network-Attac...39:1|66:2|65:12|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

there listed all over the net, this is just a quick link to the unit intself

i am currently looking at a 2 drive storage unit, this one

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2TB-DUAL-HDD-...39:1|66:2|65:12|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

this is availble from either Amazon or Ebay through the same seller, takes upto 2TB (you need your own drives) and seems to do everything i need

i did look at a 3 drive one with RAID 5 but cant really justify the extra 300 it will cost me (i currently have 2 x 750gb drives that would go straight into the enclosure)
Click to expand...

They all look good, the second one the thecus is the one I am currently considering.
I can pick this up for £259 quid from a retailer or sub £200 from fleabay.
The question is how full are your current drives?
If they are both creaking with content then it may be worth having the expandability of the four bay drive.
This is my current argument for buying a four bay, it will give the expandabilty for the future !!
So I can store more photos:clap::clap:

Cheers

Richard
 
I think the model you declared at the start is a good choice, I was looking at that myself before I went up the server route.
 
i took the plunge and got the 2 day encolsure to put my drives in. i will run 2 x 750gb drives. have around 200gb worth of data on there at present

a cleanup and defrag would get it down somewhat which will allow me plenty of space for the next few years.
 
cowasaki said:
I think the model you declared at the start is a good choice, I was looking at that myself before I went up the server route.
Click to expand...

Ah now you mention it this was an option I had been considering,what are you using as your server?
How do utilise it versus a modern nas set up?
Do you have a back up system ie raid 1 incorporated?


Intrigued,

Richard:thinking:
 
whitey said:
i took the plunge and got the 2 day encolsure to put my drives in. i will run 2 x 750gb drives. have around 200gb worth of data on there at present

a cleanup and defrag would get it down somewhat which will allow me plenty of space for the next few years.
Click to expand...

On a cautious note,
I would make sure that your 200gb is back up else where prior to placing your drives in to the nas, I have read a few revues that state system automatically formats the drives!!

Would not want you to loose all that data.:bang:

cheers
Richard
 
yeah they will, i will backup on external and OS drive and then format and reconfigure the whole lot when it arrives :D

thanks for the heads up though
 
My network drive is dead or nearly dead depending on how the mood takes it. I'd be interested to know how that twin drive unit works out whitey as i need to order something soon.
 
Hi Robert

its great thus far, took delivery yesterday. backed up my data to two other drives and then fitted ahrd drives in there, booted it up ran the software as per manual and setup the raid 1. this took around 5-10 minutes to configure the drives and format and i am now copying data over.

get loads of data on the drives once logging in, i can post some screen shots once its finished if you like to show you what it does?

once mapping a netowrk drive letter it does the rest

what thesew boxes can also do is backup from one to another via the net if there in different locations or easier if there close so thats nice to know for future reference for me
 
What is the network speed like? I've read that some network drives are very slow transferring data across a network (much slower that PC to PC for example).

Does it sleep when inactive? Drives turn off?

I guess i could read the ebay link and answer this one myself.. does it have a print server built in? (USB ports). That is the other reason i got the one I did - no particular PC needed to be on for printing.

Does it say anywhere what file system it uses? Does it use Linux? - not that it really matters but might help for future recovery if it breaks.

Thanks.
 
Richard, repeat after me: RAID is NOT backup :)

RAID1 will protect against hardware failure (one HDD frying for example), but not user stupidity (you erasing the wrong files for example) - 2 physically separate copies is still the best solution.

RAID 1 will not safeguard you from data loss from viruses or inadvertent file overwriting, in addition to theft, as I mentioned. The point is, automating backups of your most important files to somewhere off your RAID system, whether to another local hard drive or an off-site system, is the only way to ensure the kind of backup that keeps you safe from these issues.
Click to expand...
 
the drives "spin down" after a period not in use, this can be changed in the settings, mine is set at 15 mins, can be set from 1-240 i think it was

it has print server built in but i dont use it

i copied 230ish gb yesterday and it took a few hours but i wasnt to suprised to be honest and its copying to two drives in theory
 
reddeathdrinker said:
Richard, repeat after me: RAID is NOT backup :)

RAID1 will protect against hardware failure (one HDD frying for example), but not user stupidity (you erasing the wrong files for example) - 2 physically separate copies is still the best solution.
Click to expand...

Raid is not backup :eek:

Further food for thought......:thinking::thinking:

Back to the drawing board......
 
it is but isn't to be honest

what it does is mirror the drive, so you edit pics on one it copies to the other, you move images to one it copies to the other but if you delete images from it well you know what happens there
 
Think I'll be going for one of those ebay/amazon ones too.

I notice there is a fan on the enclosure - does that just switch on when needed or run constantly?
 
i think its on all the time but doesnt make any noise

i've had mine switched on now 2 days straight while sorting it out and not had any problems
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top