looking for help with a large storage solution, for personal use.

[chris_m]

Hello,

I am just wondering what you guys are using for your large storage needs. I have a desktop with dual boot. I would like to add some sort of large storage (in whatever form) to my setup so i dont' have to use DVD's to back stuff up. I have my music library, my photo library, my dvd library and i need a lot of room for storging my audio projects (recording and mixing and stuff).

My first idea was to build a small computer and use it as a file server. Maybe a simple mobo, cpu, raid card and just add Hard drives to a RAID-5 setup when i required them.

Another idea i had was this:http://www.electronix.com/catalog/pr...ducts_id/12573
It seemed like a great way to set up a storage unit without having to build another computer to act as a server. I could just get a SCSI controller and hook this baby up, and add hard drives as i needed. I would go this route excpet the cost is outrageous.

So my question is, what is the best means to create a storage solution, in terms of size and cost. I realize that with a server i would be hindered by the slowness of ethernet, but as long i could stream DVD's and music and stuff, that would be ok.

Thanks for the help guys.

[Cricket]

Not sure if this is what you're looking for, but for backing up important data and storing my digital photos I use a external hard drive housing like this one. You can install a big hard drive (up to 400GB) and connect it to any computer that has a USB port.

If it's not what you're looking for, it's still a good method for keeping backups of your important data.

Cricket

[glc]

How much space do you need?

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=134033

Look near the bottom.

[chris_m]

hey, thanks for the input.

Originally Posted by Cricket Not sure if this is what you're looking for, but for backing up important data and storing my digital photos I use a external hard drive housing like this one. You can install a big hard drive (up to 400GB) and connect it to any computer that has a USB port. If it's not what you're looking for, it's still a good method for keeping backups of your important data. Cricket

I was considering using external HD's for backup, but they just come in models large enough for what i want to do. I'm more looking for an open-eneded system where i could add another HD if i needed more splace. I want a place that is immediately accessable to store my music,movies and TV shows (from my controller on the couch) so i'm looking for something a little more than a place to back up files. I did find a 1 TB external hard drive but it was pricy ($1000 ).

How much space do you need? http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=134033 Look near the bottom

hmmm i didn't really find anything on that link. Just a mention of a RAID card. Did i miss what you were referring to?

[glc]

Post #23. The controller is almost $500 though - and there's more than $1000 worth of drives on it.

[WhatsThisBoxFor?]

I use a modifiedLinksys NSLU2 to store my backups and other data. It has two USB ports on the back, and I think (you will need to check this) you can add 400Gb drives to each one.

It runs linux, and there is a community dedicated to modifying it to run other programs at www.nslu2-linux.org, but the server is down at the moment. Something that might be of interest is that it can be changed to run as a music server as well as a storage device, and can stream music (and movies as well I think) to all sorts of devices.

The only downsides are that it takes external drives, so you need to buy external enclosures, and it can only transfer at about 4Mb/sec, which is not brilliant but is enough for MP3's and other files. It you modify it you also risk breaking it and having to reflash.

[Foges]

you must have some serious money to spend. If your computer case is big enough the cheapest solution would probably be to get a pci card with extra sata connections and get a few 400 gb hd's. but if your looking for something neverending that wont be the solution. a new computer with very simple components may be the best solution then.

[chris_m]

yeah that's the thing, i don't want to spend serious money, being that i don't have much to spend. I think the best option would be to get a simple case w/power source, cheap ram and cpu, and a mobo with integrated video, ethernet and RAID. what do you think?

[chris_m]

Originally Posted by WhatsThisBoxFor? I use a modifiedLinksys NSLU2 to store my backups and other data. It has two USB ports on the back, and I think (you will need to check this) you can add 400Gb drives to each one. It runs linux, and there is a community dedicated to modifying it to run other programs at www.nslu2-linux.org, but the server is down at the moment. Something that might be of interest is that it can be changed to run as a music server as well as a storage device, and can stream music (and movies as well I think) to all sorts of devices. The only downsides are that it takes external drives, so you need to buy external enclosures, and it can only transfer at about 4Mb/sec, which is not brilliant but is enough for MP3's and other files. It you modify it you also risk breaking it and having to reflash.

i don't understand the point of this unit. why would one use this insted of just plugging the external hard drives right into some available usb ports? using this over ethernet would seem to just bottleneck transfer rates to the user's desktop. I guess if you were using a server and had no direct usb ports to it. I don't have a server though, I would build one if that was the most efficient way. In that case, i would just get a SATA/RAID controller for it and add the hard drives internally. Thanks for the suggestions though everybody.

[glc]

Originally Posted by chris_m yeah that's the thing, i don't want to spend serious money, being that i don't have much to spend. I think the best option would be to get a simple case w/power source, cheap ram and cpu, and a mobo with integrated video, ethernet and RAID. what do you think?

That's exactly what the things I built are.

[Foges]

how much are you looking to spend?

[chris_m]

i don't know how much i wanted to spend exactly. I liked the idea of the RAID setup cause it wouldn't be one big hit at once. i could build the server for 600 maybe and then add Hard drives when ever i had some spare cash and when i needed one.

I was also looking at this:
http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?pid=10610

If this comes down in price someday, maybe i'll do this insted.