Have you ever lost a file you really wanted to keep? With so many Odelia pictures and videos, I needed some storage and backup solution that I can feel safe about. Many people store their pictures on just one computer, but if that hard drive crashes, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
So I started with the 1TB MyBook Studio Edition. Initially everything worked fine, but unfortunately when used with the MacBook Pro, MyBook would fall asleep and never wake up, freezing up both itself and the MacBook. One time when this happened, I had no choice but to pull the Firewire connection, and the Pictures folder disappeared! Yikes! Good thing I had the original copy on another computer. It’s going back.
Next I tried a Thermallake external hard drive enclosure. The design was immediately alarming because it lacked a fan or ventilation openings, which can cause the drive to fail sooner. While this enclosure worked with the PC, it actually corrupted some files I touched when accessed from the Mac!
Finally, I decided to fork out a little more money and got a DLink DNS-323 Dual-Bay Network Access Storage and stacked them with two Seagate 1TB hard drives. It comes with a Gigabit connection, so I can access the files quickly or have it always available over wireless. Every night it backs up the primary drive onto the secondary drive automatically and incrementally. It saves a whole lot of hassle and gives me a peace of mind. Now I have 1 TB of backed up storage, a perfect solution! In addition, the DNS-323 is essentially a small linux machine that uses 20% of the power of a traditional computer, it provides the added bonus of being a iTunes server and a print server (USB port). After reading a dedicated web site on how to add plugins and hacks, I’ve learned you can add telnet, bittorrent, ftp server, appletalk, scheduled downloads, and more. Performance is also great.
So now I have a place I can store all the precious Odelia pictures and videos, all the Europe photos, and all the other goofy stuff I’ve saved in the past. And best of all, I have a peace of mind that if Murphy’s Law strikes one of the hard drives, my data is still intact. Looks like this unit is a winner, but only time will tell.
Update: I did some tests and noticed that this device is runs at 25 watts while active and 8 watts in “standby” mode. Definitely much better than the typical desktop.
oooooo me want…
I’ve had hard drives fail so this is a great idea.
The NAS works great until someone breaks into your house and steals your computer and the NAS. Uh-oh…weeping and gnashing of teeth once again!
Same thing with a house fire.
Call me paranoid…
You’re right, this solves the problem of hard drive failure, but not fire or theft. I suppose I can make a copy onto yet another hard drive periodically, put it in a fire-safe box, and hide it. Takes quite a bit of work, though… What about a backup buddy system where you always back up to the computer of someone you trust?