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    Is this a good plan for storage?

    Discussion in 'Accessories' started by lottdod_1999, Jul 11, 2007.

  1. lottdod_1999

    lottdod_1999 Notebook Evangelist

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    I really like the Western Digital My Book 500GB Premium ES model, and it's only $150 and will probably fall in price.

    I was thinking of buying one after the other (maybe every 3-6 months though) and making a fleet of External hard drives to which I have all my media files. Then I can stream it through my Xbox 360.
     
    lottdod_1999, Jul 11, 2007
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  2. Matt

    Matt Notebook Deity

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    I think My Books are great. Definitely worth $150, in my opinion. I do have a question, however.

    Why would you need more external HDDs if you had a My Book? Is 500GB not enough? Other than that, it sounds like a great plan to me.

    Matt
     
    Matt, Jul 11, 2007
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  3. lottdod_1999

    lottdod_1999 Notebook Evangelist

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    hahah no 500gb is a teeny weeny bit of storage
     
    lottdod_1999, Jul 12, 2007
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  4. knightingmagic

    knightingmagic Notebook Deity

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    How much data do you have? 4TB? On my desktop, 4 years of use is only 40GB/111GB. I have a 250GB MyBook with about 100GB of full C:\ drive backups and HD video. My 160GB notebook drive is very spacious.

    IMO, using lots of external drives in not a good idea. You only have so many USB ports and the performance won't be so hot.
     
    knightingmagic, Jul 12, 2007
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  5. lottdod_1999

    lottdod_1999 Notebook Evangelist

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    Right now? around 300GB :( So I'm sweating it right now
    well the mybooks come with eSata and the computers I'm looking at will have at least 8 USB ports..
     
    lottdod_1999, Jul 12, 2007
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  6. Matt

    Matt Notebook Deity

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    Wow. You're making me sound like a minimalist... or at least more so of one. ;)

    If I were you, I might consider getting the 1.5TB My Book. It might be worth the money, or at least cheaper than buying multiple 500GB My Books.

    Matt
     
    Matt, Jul 12, 2007
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  7. lottdod_1999

    lottdod_1999 Notebook Evangelist

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    but too expensive all at once
    plus more crash/risk
     
    lottdod_1999, Jul 12, 2007
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  8. deputy963

    deputy963 Notebook Evangelist

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    If you're that hard up for storage why not build a cheap PC running win2000 or linux with a Raid 5 array. If you run linux you can get by with a much older pc. Slap a raid card in and throw in 4 or 5 500gb drives (much cheaper as bare oem drives) and have 2TB and some redundancy to prevent data loss.

    There is a specific NAS build of linux, but I can't remember the name off the top of my head.

    Besides you'll get better transfer rates using Ethernet.
     
    deputy963, Jul 12, 2007
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  9. lottdod_1999

    lottdod_1999 Notebook Evangelist

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    ew haha
    I dont like that idea
     
    lottdod_1999, Jul 12, 2007
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  10. knightingmagic

    knightingmagic Notebook Deity

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    Usually 2TB is where high end PCs end and small servers begin. You could consider getting a tape drive.
     
    knightingmagic, Jul 12, 2007
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  11. lupin..the..3rd

    lupin..the..3rd Notebook Evangelist

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    Use firewire (if your laptop has it built in, most do) or buy an eSATA expresscard if you're firewire-less. Don't use USB, it's VERY slow and it sucks for external hard drives.
     
    lupin..the..3rd, Jul 12, 2007
    #11