Agree on both.

I am actually looking at Synology bays right now.

 

No offense, but this is terrible advice when it comes to computers. Never wait for new tech because there's always something new.


HC, what exactly are you looking to store and how valuable is the data (in other words, do you care about data redundancy)?
[/quote]
Initially I just wanted to transfer all my movies from DVD to an external HD because my new laptop doesn't have a disc drive. But another issue is that as my last laptop was quickly dying and my options were limited, I dumped a lot of stuff (mostly photos) on to a bunch of flashdrives. So ideally I'd just like everything in one place.
[/quote]
Does it need to be portable?

 

I have on my Amazon wishlist an Synology 215j w/ a pair of WD red 6TB drives (in RAID 0, should give me about 5 TB of backup/storage).

I should probably get on that since my backup drive failed over the weekend.

 

That should be RAID 1.

 

^ I know it's a bit pricey but for a consumer who values their content at home (photos, documents, videos, etc.), I think a set up that provides backup with redundancy and also speed when accessing is ideal.

 

I had a RAID 5 on my old computer... of course I never accounted for the motherboard shorting and frying the RAID card and making the entire thing fail.


BTW, if you're not seeing a trend, NEVER LET ME TOUCH YOUR HARD DRIVES

 

No offense, but this is terrible advice when it comes to computers. Never wait for new tech because there's always something new.


HC, what exactly are you looking to store and how valuable is the data (in other words, do you care about data redundancy)?
[/quote]
Initially I just wanted to transfer all my movies from DVD to an external HD because my new laptop doesn't have a disc drive. But another issue is that as my last laptop was quickly dying and my options were limited, I dumped a lot of stuff (mostly photos) on to a bunch of flashdrives. So ideally I'd just like everything in one place.
[/quote]
Does it need to be portable?
[/quote]
Define portable? I assumed it would be portable (and don't really care either way), but am now imagining something like this.

 

Small enough to fit in a pocket/purse.

You've got something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Passport-Ultra...157B1VXZWBV2XH

The next step up (and no longer portable) would be something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Book-USB-Hard-...b+backup+drive

Then something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KU68A1A

And finally onto more advanced setups like what I had mentioned (which will set you back $500+).


Honestly the best option might be to get two of the portable drives (keep one at home and another elsewhere, rotate them weekly or whenever you back everything up). Reasonable outlay and solves every possibly calamity (single drive failure, hardware failure, catastrophic failure) reasonably well.

 

I think my lifetime tally is now up to 13 single drive failures (of the ~20 I've ever owned), 2 hardware failures, and 0 catastrophic failures.

I still lament the day I lost my first MP3 hard drive with hundreds of european/russian releases that I've never been able to find again... or the 2nd one where I lost all my late 90s/early 00s dance music... or the one where I lost all of my college projects and random house designs...

 

No offense, but this is terrible advice when it comes to computers. Never wait for new tech because there's always something new.


HC, what exactly are you looking to store and how valuable is the data (in other words, do you care about data redundancy)?
[/quote]
I don't know, I see it as the other way around, just in general. Because there's always going to be something new, *always* wait until you *need* something to get it.

But two things:
1. If you need it now, you need it now.
2. Storage is an area where I'm *really* expecting massive growth in the next year or so, depending on how this 3D flash chip technology plays out. So I am personally holding off on adding more disks to my NAS until these 3D flash drives start hitting the market. But then again, if my current 2TB runs out, I guess I'll be buying something.