I need a big drive with backup features

petemc · 03-08-2008, 13:35

I had a scare last night. My photo drive decided to stop working. I haven't backed it up in a couple of months, properly that is. I've got jpgs backed up online but not a real backup. The wedding I did recently, the books I'm working on, various other clients work was all inaccessible. Naturally it all came back after turning it off and on again but still, scary evening. The problem is that I'm working off a laptop and its started to be a bit annoying. I've got way way too much data for it and its spread out over random usb hd's. So its annoying to backup. I've only got a 100mb lan so its better to work over usb/firewire than it is a NAS drive. My initial thought is the Drobo, which I heard about via another photographer. It seems perfect. Its basically a house for hd's. You can upgrade them at your will by putting in a new hd. It manages all the data, its all backed up and if one drive fails you simply put a new one in and off you go. The problem is that its like £300 for the Drobo 2 and you have to buy hd's on top. I could get a 1tb usb drive for less than that. Time Machine on OSX is great but it only backs up my internal drive. I just want a big drive with redundancy. I don't want to faf about with backup programs, weekly backups and stuff. I just want to know that my data is safe and that all I have to do is backup the jpg's to Amazon's S3 service for offsite backup.

Daz · 03-08-2008, 13:53

Don't confuse RAID with a backup solution - it's an availability one and shouldn't be relied upon like backups.

If you dont have enough storage inside the Macbook for all your photos then I'd be looking at some sort of NAS storage and external backup for that as well - you just sync off what you need to the book. Tis what I do here for important stuff anyway - including Dee's photos. What she's working on is on the PC and is sync'd to the server, which is then backed up to an external array.

petemc · 03-08-2008, 13:55

The problem is that NAS is only going to be 100mb/s. It'll slow down my editing process unless I invest in a faster router.

Daz · 03-08-2008, 14:02

I'm probably the wrong person to speak to about this, when it comes to backup I have a work hat on and I can easily argue for money when it comes to backup

If you're looking for a smart solution then you'll need to centralise your data somehow (which is on separate drives right?), but that central repository shouldn't be your backup location - because when it goes pop you cant be sure you have everything, or where it is.

petemc · 03-08-2008, 14:24

Yer exactly. I need a fast drive to work from and I need a backup too. Thats why the Drobo is appealing because it has that redundancy built in, just its pricey. I currently have a server, after a fashion. I guess the simplest idea would be to buy a big drive and 1gb router. Setup my Mac Mini to do all the backing up. Assuming of course that the G4 Mac Mini has 1gb ethernet. After a quick google, it doesn't. Bah.

Daz · 03-08-2008, 14:29

The Drobo would only give you a reliable backup solution if you didnt RAID the disks, in which case you may as well just buy 2 other external drives, as you'd need still need to manage the files yourself anyway.

Depends how clever you want to get I guess. Could you not buy a couple of external 1TB disks, work off the one, then have a one button copy job to sync the data from your working disk to the backup one?

petemc · 03-08-2008, 14:39

From the video I saw of Drobo in action it implied that it was all automatic. You just pop in disks and its all accessible and backed up. Perky upbeat hot girlie sold it well.

Ok, fsck. Drive just decided to stop again. Its come back but now I'm REALLY scared.

Daz · 03-08-2008, 15:02

As clever as it is, it's still a single point of failure. It wont cover you for data corruption, wont cover you if you accidentally delete a file, and if this proprietary black box of software breaks or goes wobbly, you're nowhere.

Like I say, I'm probably the wrong person to talk to about this, but it wouldn't be good enough for me on it's own.

If the drive is faffing now and it's you're business we're talking about here just run to PC world and buy another disk if you haven't got anywhere to put the data.

petemc · 03-08-2008, 15:05

I'm currently backing up everything on it

I've got the space its just that its 110gb that I've left lying around.

Edit: This ReadyNAS looks good, but its £588. Ow!

LeperousDust · 03-08-2008, 15:19

Can you not run time capsule, as well as a separate backup script onto a generic portable hard drive? I know its over LAN again, but it things aren't moving fast maybe you need to go giga, and look at it like paying for a hard drive...?

03-08-2008, 13:35	#1
petemc Moonshine Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Nr Liverpewl Posts: 4,371	I need a big drive with backup features I had a scare last night. My photo drive decided to stop working. I haven't backed it up in a couple of months, properly that is. I've got jpgs backed up online but not a real backup. The wedding I did recently, the books I'm working on, various other clients work was all inaccessible. Naturally it all came back after turning it off and on again but still, scary evening. The problem is that I'm working off a laptop and its started to be a bit annoying. I've got way way too much data for it and its spread out over random usb hd's. So its annoying to backup. I've only got a 100mb lan so its better to work over usb/firewire than it is a NAS drive. My initial thought is the Drobo, which I heard about via another photographer. It seems perfect. Its basically a house for hd's. You can upgrade them at your will by putting in a new hd. It manages all the data, its all backed up and if one drive fails you simply put a new one in and off you go. The problem is that its like £300 for the Drobo 2 and you have to buy hd's on top. I could get a 1tb usb drive for less than that. Time Machine on OSX is great but it only backs up my internal drive. I just want a big drive with redundancy. I don't want to faf about with backup programs, weekly backups and stuff. I just want to know that my data is safe and that all I have to do is backup the jpg's to Amazon's S3 service for offsite backup. __________________ Thats no hamster, its a space station!

03-08-2008, 13:53	#2
Daz The Stig Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Swad! Posts: 10,713	Don't confuse RAID with a backup solution - it's an availability one and shouldn't be relied upon like backups. If you dont have enough storage inside the Macbook for all your photos then I'd be looking at some sort of NAS storage and external backup for that as well - you just sync off what you need to the book. Tis what I do here for important stuff anyway - including Dee's photos. What she's working on is on the PC and is sync'd to the server, which is then backed up to an external array. __________________ apt-get moo

03-08-2008, 13:55	#3
petemc Moonshine Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Nr Liverpewl Posts: 4,371	The problem is that NAS is only going to be 100mb/s. It'll slow down my editing process unless I invest in a faster router. __________________ Thats no hamster, its a space station!

03-08-2008, 14:02	#4
Daz The Stig Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Swad! Posts: 10,713	I'm probably the wrong person to speak to about this, when it comes to backup I have a work hat on and I can easily argue for money when it comes to backup If you're looking for a smart solution then you'll need to centralise your data somehow (which is on separate drives right?), but that central repository shouldn't be your backup location - because when it goes pop you cant be sure you have everything, or where it is. __________________ apt-get moo

03-08-2008, 14:24	#5
petemc Moonshine Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Nr Liverpewl Posts: 4,371	Yer exactly. I need a fast drive to work from and I need a backup too. Thats why the Drobo is appealing because it has that redundancy built in, just its pricey. I currently have a server, after a fashion. I guess the simplest idea would be to buy a big drive and 1gb router. Setup my Mac Mini to do all the backing up. Assuming of course that the G4 Mac Mini has 1gb ethernet. After a quick google, it doesn't. Bah. __________________ Thats no hamster, its a space station!

03-08-2008, 14:29	#6
Daz The Stig Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Swad! Posts: 10,713	The Drobo would only give you a reliable backup solution if you didnt RAID the disks, in which case you may as well just buy 2 other external drives, as you'd need still need to manage the files yourself anyway. Depends how clever you want to get I guess. Could you not buy a couple of external 1TB disks, work off the one, then have a one button copy job to sync the data from your working disk to the backup one? __________________ apt-get moo

03-08-2008, 14:39	#7
petemc Moonshine Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Nr Liverpewl Posts: 4,371	From the video I saw of Drobo in action it implied that it was all automatic. You just pop in disks and its all accessible and backed up. Perky upbeat hot girlie sold it well. Ok, fsck. Drive just decided to stop again. Its come back but now I'm REALLY scared. __________________ Thats no hamster, its a space station!

03-08-2008, 15:02	#8
Daz The Stig Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Swad! Posts: 10,713	As clever as it is, it's still a single point of failure. It wont cover you for data corruption, wont cover you if you accidentally delete a file, and if this proprietary black box of software breaks or goes wobbly, you're nowhere. Like I say, I'm probably the wrong person to talk to about this, but it wouldn't be good enough for me on it's own. If the drive is faffing now and it's you're business we're talking about here just run to PC world and buy another disk if you haven't got anywhere to put the data. __________________ apt-get moo

03-08-2008, 15:05	#9
petemc Moonshine Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Nr Liverpewl Posts: 4,371	I'm currently backing up everything on it I've got the space its just that its 110gb that I've left lying around. Edit: This ReadyNAS looks good, but its £588. Ow! __________________ Thats no hamster, its a space station! Last edited by petemc; 03-08-2008 at 15:16.

03-08-2008, 15:19	#10
LeperousDust Bananaman Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Liverpool/Edinburgh Posts: 4,817	Can you not run time capsule, as well as a separate backup script onto a generic portable hard drive? I know its over LAN again, but it things aren't moving fast maybe you need to go giga, and look at it like paying for a hard drive...? __________________