I am looking to increase my back up storage & have 3 options? unless you give me more.
1. I have one of these http://www.welland.com.tw/html/multimedia/747aksi.html with a 160gb drive split into 2, half for back up storage & half for movies to watch on tv. Put a bigger hdd into this?
2. Buy a 1tb external drive, seen them for £70 on the net.
3. Add another hdd to my pc or is this like putting all my eggs in one basket.
My preferred option at the moment is an external drive but i would be interested in your veiws or ideas.
Simon
I suggest a external hard-drive as they are cheap and easy to connect to any PC using USB. Maplin have a Seagate Itb external drive for £79.99. :tup:
I am looking at this Western Digital unit http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital-Elements-External-Drive/dp/B001GO9ERE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1253789615&sr=1-1
Is this still a good brand & are there any I should avoid.
Simon
I have one of those Wd units but a 750gb silver version from a few years ago, works well, no problems, use it for back up and for feeding movies to the tv media pc. I plan on getting 2 of those 1TB units as I need more storage now, I plan to use one on a daily basis and use the other just for back up.
I also have an extra hdd in the pc case which I use to back up the c drive, but I would not only rely on that becasue if the power supply in the pc case blows it could take out both drives, so the external is essential imho.
Quote from: bones615 on September 24, 2009, 11:54:45 AM
I am looking at this Western Digital unit http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital-Elements-External-Drive/dp/B001GO9ERE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1253789615&sr=1-1
Is this still a good brand & are there any I should avoid.
Simon
WD have been making drives since the year dot. I have the My Book version and it works a treat. ;D
I have a MyWorldBook NAS drive from WD - Its meant to be a Gb ethernet one - but it can't cope with data transfer at 10M, let alone 1Gb - And the drive has now died. Not impressed with WD!
I also had a 500Mb Seagate I think - that died too.
I now have a Buffalo USB 1Tb drive, which wasn't too expensive, but seems a lot more robust than others I have, but my main backup is a QNAP TS109 with a 1Tb drive in and it has a 1Gb network port, with 3USB ports which I plug the buffalo into so it backs up the Qnap weekly. It also has a ESata port for the same thing.
Downside is that its not cheap - but I would say in this case you get what you pay for.
If you keep the USB drives off and only turn them on when you want to backup they should be ok - but I leave mine on all the time and use syncback to automatically back up my data - otherwise it wouldn't get done!
Hmmmmmm TS-109. Good call ;)
Western Dig are very fond of keeping their drives cool. Which is a very good thing. But the fan on a MyBook Pro really belongs on an Apache. When it's on it's the loudest thing in the house. Yes, louder than iTunes.
Quote from: Jonathan on September 24, 2009, 07:17:42 PM
Hmmmmmm TS-109. Good call ;)
Yes, well, it was you that recommended it at the time :)
Have a look at the warranty on the drives WD only stand by there external drives for 12 months whereas Seagate stand by theirs for 5 years. Also consider Firewire rather than USB as it is faster and not much more expensive and even if your PC doesn't have a firewire connection a card is only about a £5
Just got the WD elements 1TB drive, limited instructions - plug it in then play. Is there any software I could get that might be useful for backing up specific files, putting it to sleep? Is there any benefit from partioning it?
Simon
Quote from: bones615 on October 07, 2009, 06:33:20 PM
Just got the WD elements 1TB drive, limited instructions - plug it in then play. Is there any software I could get that might be useful for backing up specific files, putting it to sleep? Is there any benefit from partioning it?
Simon
That depends on the size of the files you store on it. If you have lots of small files, like word document files, then yes, but if most of your files are over 5mp then no. My 1tb external disk is two 500mb drive but I use it as a 1tb drive for my photos. As for backups, Windows XP or Vista has a limited one built-in to the operator system, but it won't be as good as a full backup program. Try BullGuard see here: http://www.computerbuyer.co.uk/labs/236658/bullguard-backup-80.html Or if you want to use Windows own built-in to XP or Vista see here: http://www.pcbuyerbeware.co.uk/Software3.htm and page down to the infomation. :tup:
I use syncback - its free, but very good. They also do a paid verfsion - but most won't see any benifit! http://www.2brightsparks.com/
Quote from: anglefire on October 07, 2009, 09:43:45 PM
I use syncback - its free, but very good. They also do a paid verfsion - but most won't see any benifit! http://www.2brightsparks.com/
I use it too - and an excellent job it does too - works automatically and invisibly in the background.
I'm afraid I leave most of my drives on all the time too, as experience (or is it paranoia?) leads me to keep data in more than one place, and definitely not on the internal hard drive. I just have one external drive that I back up my programme files to that I only update once every two weeks or so.
Thanks guys, just installed syncback - easy to set up, scheduled it to run weekly. Looks good but i will wait till monday when its supposed to run & see what happens.
Simon
I've got 2 x Freecom Toughdrives (160Gb & 320Gb) that I use for work, the 160Gb has taken a bit of a beating though over the years and is now a little tempramental when plugging it into a USB port but still works.........eventually.
I've also got an external 500Gb Freecom NAS drive that I use for backup and data storage. I love it! I have got it plugged straight into my router so that if I'm away working I can atill access it via the secure FTP access on it. It's got firewire and USB connections which make it quick to transfer data.
I'd deffinitley recommend Freecom as they are great products for the price.
Steve
I've just pushed the button on another drive - a Samsung 1.5Tb SATA to go in the main PC as my documents drive is getting pretty full.
I'm now thinking about a backup solution for that one - which I'm pretty sure I'm going to get a QNAP TS210 but I'm not sure what size drive(s) to have installed. Might be a phone call on Monday.
I've just ordered a 1TB western digital extreme ehd from amazon, £65 plus a fiver delivery to portugal :) got a black one this time, hope its as reliable as the silver one I've had for a couple of years :2funny: :legit: ..
If you are looking for extra storage check this out: http://www.saverstore.com/product/20041320/Hitachi-2TB-External-USB-Black ;D
Quote from: anglefire on November 07, 2009, 08:55:14 PM
but I'm not sure what size drive(s) to have installed.
I think the old adage applies Mark.
Get as much as you can afford. If they offer 4tb and you can afford it - then get it.
Digital Picture files are not getting any smaller.
My old 30D would produce a jpg of 6mb at best printable resolution. My 5D MkII can now produce jpg's of up to 30mb, and commonly 22-23mb.
That's a 4 times increase in storage requirements. On that basis 1tb today will be 4tb tomorrow.
I'm just grateful i'm not at that point yet, but i can see that within 2 years my current storage requirements will be obsolete because of file size and the increase in picture taking.