Lynn, This is probably beyond the capacity that you are currently needing, but in terms of covering both the option of redundant backup (RAID) as others have spoken about, and a system that allows you to dynamically increase your capacity going forward, I have to recommend Drobo. After years of juggling multiple hard drives for backup we decided to bite the bullet and buy something that I'm optimistic will carry us forward for some years to come. The Drobo unit is a self-contained unit holding up to five hard drives and which can connect either directly to your computer or to your network. We have the network version, the Drobo FS. The Drobo is essentially a small Linux computer that acts as an intelligent RAID storage area. By default it uses RAID Level 5 which means that any drive can fail and your data is still protected. If a drive fails or you just need more storage, you just pull the old drive and stick a new one - you don't even have to turn it off. We started out with a combination of old drives we had sitting round and have been gradually replacing the smallest drives with larger ones. It doesn't care what brand, what spindle speed or what size. Just pull off the cover, push it in and in a short while the new capacity will show up. For those who are really paranoid, the Drobo also support RAID 6 which allows for up to two drives failing at a penalty of reduced storage space. For Mac users, the Drobo supports Time Machine across the network (which is unusual) and if your network uses all Gigabit ethernet, you can click a setting in the Drobo setup (aka "jumbo frames") and watch your transfer speed go up considerably. The Drobo, even without drives isn't cheap but if you look around you can usually find discounts that will save you 10-20% off when you purchase direct from Drobo. I think we got our Drobo FS for around $600 with no drives. I'm very please with it and it has made life so much easier in terms of ever expanding needs for video storage for long-term projects. Will Will Loving, President Dedication Technologies, Inc. on 3/14/11 1:19 PM, Lynn Nichols at lynn at starstruckdesign.com wrote: > ** Be sure to fill out the survey/skills inventory in the member's area. > ** If you did, we all thank you. > > > I'm looking to replace my external backup drive for Mac OSX backup -- > can anyone who has recently bought a 1.5 or 2 TB drive for Mac use > recommend a particular make or model? I'm leaning towards Seagate or > Western Digital but I'd be interested in good experiences with any > make/model. > > Thanks, > > Lynn A. Nichols, Starstruck Design > Gill, MA 413-863-7752 lynn at starstruckdesign.com > http://www.starstruckdesign.com http://www.shopwesternmass.com > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Hidden-discuss mailing list - home page: http://www.hidden-tech.net > Hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net > > You are receiving this because you are on the Hidden-Tech Discussion list. > If you would like to change your list preferences, Go to the Members > page on the Hidden Tech Web site. > http://www.hidden-tech.net/members -- William M. Loving Dedication Technologies, Inc. 7 Coach Lane Amherst, MA 01002-3304 USA will at dedicationtechnologies.com Tel: +1 413 253-7223 (GMT 5) Fax: +1 206 202-0476