External drive

thecommander

Looking to buy a large (2-4TB) external drive. I have a few on my desk of various sizes and they're all beginning to fill up.

I looked at the MyBook Studio Edition 2. Its a 4Gb RAID drive with all the inputs I need, although some of the reviews aren't the greatest. Heard the same about Drobos aswell.

Just wondering if anyone can give some personal input. Its for a design studio, so need it to be reliable.

Thanks

Talisman

I have the the 2TB MyBook Studio Edition 2 and it's fine. I've had no issues with it. You are paying a premium price for the 4TB, I considered it but it's cheaper to buy the 2TB model, two internal 2TB drives and fit them yourself.

I also have an old but reliable ReadyNAS X6 kitted out with 1TB drives.

Have you considered a Thecus NAS? They have dual gigabit ethernet as standard with load-balance and fail-over support.

thecommander

Talisman wrote: »

Have you considered a Thecus NAS? They have dual gigabit ethernet as standard with load-balance and fail-over support.

Ethernet doesn't really bother me, it will only ever be connected to one computer by firewire.

Good thinking on the 2Gb vs 4gb. By the time I'll need the 3Gb prices will have dropped anyway.

Sad Professor

Re: MyBook Studio Edition 2

Is it possible to use RAID 0 with it for Time Machine backups? i.e. so I could have one massive TM drive. Or am I mad to even consider using TM to backup so much data?

Talisman

Sad Professor wrote: »

Re: MyBook Studio Edition 2

Is it possible to use RAID 0 with it for Time Machine backups? i.e. so I could have one massive TM drive. Or am I mad to even consider using TM to backup so much data?

Yes you can. By default it is setup as RAID 0- 2 x 1TB = 2TB volume.

Stainless_Steel

I have the mybook studio II also.

I have it set up as RAID 1 for peace of mind so only see write speeds of 20MB/s or so. I have it connected to my airport extreme.

The disk does go into power saver mode fairly quickly after no activity and can take a few seconds to spin up again. It may be possible to turn this off in the supplied config software. I haven't done it as I like it turning off because the base station is always on.

Sad Professor

Stainless_Steel wrote: »

The disk does go into power saver mode fairly quickly after no activity and can take a few seconds to spin up again. It may be possible to turn this off in the supplied config software. I haven't done it as I like it turning off because the base station is always on.

I think all WD MyBooks do this. It is possible to turn it off. It's probably a good idea if using with Time Machine as all that spinning up and down can't be good for the drive.

Stainless_Steel

Sad Professor wrote: »

I think all WD MyBooks do this. It is possible to turn it off. It's probably a good idea if using with Time Machine as all that spinning up and down can't be good for the drive.

Agree. I only allow time machine to do a weekly (or so) backup...iMac hasn't got any important files locally...important stuff is stored under RAID on the mybook.

thecommander

Thanks for the input, will have a look over the weekend.

akadesign

Anyone know where you can pickup a 1 or 2tb FireWire 800 drive around Dublin.

Saw a WD 2tb in Pc world for €389 surely there must be a cheaper alternative? Bricks and mortar store preferably.

Talisman

akadesign wrote: »

Anyone know where you can pickup a 1 or 2tb FireWire 800 drive around Dublin.

Saw a WD 2tb in Pc world for €389 surely there must be a cheaper alternative? Bricks and mortar store preferably.

Never consider buying such an item from PC World.

Phone CompuB (01 5079101) at the bottom of Grafton Street, or Right-Click (01 4759681) on Dawson or Camden Street.

Elara.ie - €192. You can arrange to collect it from Park West if you don't want to wait for delivery.

akadesign

Cheers Talisman, thought so, robbers. Will check these guys out.