[Hidden-tech] Recommendations for 1.5 or 2 TB External Hard Drives for OSX

Will Loving will at dedicationtechnologies.com
Tue Mar 15 13:07:04 EDT 2011


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.comhttp://www.shopwesternmass.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
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-- 

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




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