Comments on: Experiences with 1 TB external hard drives? http://www.librarywebchic.net/wordpress/2007/11/10/experiences-with-1-tb-external-hard-drives/ Resources for librarians who are interested in the application of web design and technologies in libraries Sun, 07 Sep 2008 08:19:21 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: fbaer http://www.librarywebchic.net/wordpress/2007/11/10/experiences-with-1-tb-external-hard-drives/#comment-35313 fbaer Fri, 23 Nov 2007 21:43:37 +0000 http://www.librarywebchic.net/wordpress/2007/11/10/experiences-with-1-tb-external-hard-drives/#comment-35313 I agree with the comment about the network attached storage. There's another benefit with those, as well: you can generally swap out drives. So as drive sizes increase and prices fall, you can upgrade. You can find NAS boxes (no drives included) for around $100. Drives themselves are pretty cheap. I agree with the comment about the network attached storage. There’s another benefit with those, as well: you can generally swap out drives. So as drive sizes increase and prices fall, you can upgrade. You can find NAS boxes (no drives included) for around $100. Drives themselves are pretty cheap.

]]> By: Richard Akerman http://www.librarywebchic.net/wordpress/2007/11/10/experiences-with-1-tb-external-hard-drives/#comment-33679 Richard Akerman Wed, 14 Nov 2007 09:47:26 +0000 http://www.librarywebchic.net/wordpress/2007/11/10/experiences-with-1-tb-external-hard-drives/#comment-33679 I would recommend getting Network Attached Storage (NAS) with RAID 1 mirroring. You can get a DNS-323 with dual 750GB SATA drives for about $800. The reason is, all hard drives eventually fail. So you need a backup for your backup drive. Losing 250GB is really bad, losing 1000GB is worse. I will have a review of the DNS-323 coming sometime. The Digital MyBook with network and RAID is another good option mentioned above. I would recommend getting Network Attached Storage (NAS) with RAID 1 mirroring. You can get a DNS-323 with dual 750GB SATA drives for about $800. The reason is, all hard drives eventually fail. So you need a backup for your backup drive. Losing 250GB is really bad, losing 1000GB is worse. I will have a review of the DNS-323 coming sometime. The Digital MyBook with network and RAID is another good option mentioned above.

]]> By: yech http://www.librarywebchic.net/wordpress/2007/11/10/experiences-with-1-tb-external-hard-drives/#comment-33590 yech Tue, 13 Nov 2007 19:57:09 +0000 http://www.librarywebchic.net/wordpress/2007/11/10/experiences-with-1-tb-external-hard-drives/#comment-33590 I just purchased one and love it, its fast, connects to my Mac or PC. As far as fan noise, I have no complaints and when it does spin up its not all that loud, heck my dell laptop makes more fan noise. Having a Maxtor 1TB, the WD is a better choice as it powers on and off (sleep mode) with my Mac. It is slightly larger than the Maxtor but runs much much cooler which is important to long life. I just purchased one and love it, its fast, connects to my Mac or PC. As far as fan noise, I have no complaints and when it does spin up its not all that loud, heck my dell laptop makes more fan noise. Having a Maxtor 1TB, the WD is a better choice as it powers on and off (sleep mode) with my Mac. It is slightly larger than the Maxtor but runs much much cooler which is important to long life.

]]> By: Ben Brophy http://www.librarywebchic.net/wordpress/2007/11/10/experiences-with-1-tb-external-hard-drives/#comment-33388 Ben Brophy Sun, 11 Nov 2007 23:56:51 +0000 http://www.librarywebchic.net/wordpress/2007/11/10/experiences-with-1-tb-external-hard-drives/#comment-33388 I have a Micronet external hard drive attached to my Mac Mini. It didn't work with my AirPort Extreme, apparently there's a short list of approved hard drive manufacturers. I didn't try to hard b/c the net working wasn't important to me. I use the hard drive to hold my music collection and to back up my hard drive. Good luck. Here's a picture of the network: (Trying this without the Flickr link) I have a Micronet external hard drive attached to my Mac Mini. It didn’t work with my AirPort Extreme, apparently there’s a short list of approved hard drive manufacturers. I didn’t try to hard b/c the net working wasn’t important to me. I use the hard drive to hold my music collection and to back up my hard drive. Good luck. Here’s a picture of the network:

(Trying this without the Flickr link)

]]> By: Ben Brophy http://www.librarywebchic.net/wordpress/2007/11/10/experiences-with-1-tb-external-hard-drives/#comment-33387 Ben Brophy Sun, 11 Nov 2007 23:55:06 +0000 http://www.librarywebchic.net/wordpress/2007/11/10/experiences-with-1-tb-external-hard-drives/#comment-33387 I have a Micronet external hard drive attached to my Mac Mini. It didn't work with my AirPort Extreme, apparently there's a short list of approved hard drive manufacturers. I didn't try to hard b/c the net working wasn't important to me. I use the hard drive to hold my music collection and to back up my hard drive. Good luck. Here's a picture of the network: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lfb/432893257/ I have a Micronet external hard drive attached to my Mac Mini. It didn’t work with my AirPort Extreme, apparently there’s a short list of approved hard drive manufacturers. I didn’t try to hard b/c the net working wasn’t important to me. I use the hard drive to hold my music collection and to back up my hard drive. Good luck. Here’s a picture of the network:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lfb/432893257/

]]> By: Fiona http://www.librarywebchic.net/wordpress/2007/11/10/experiences-with-1-tb-external-hard-drives/#comment-33371 Fiona Sun, 11 Nov 2007 23:03:25 +0000 http://www.librarywebchic.net/wordpress/2007/11/10/experiences-with-1-tb-external-hard-drives/#comment-33371 I recently chose to go with a smaller drive, figuring I'll eventually back things up over two or three drives. And for some possibly illogical reason I don't trust the bigger drives just yet. A larger drive like 1TB <a href="http://www.hothardware.com/articles/Seagate_Barracuda_720011_1TB/?page=8" rel="nofollow">will probably run hot</a>, so enclosure will be crucial. I bought a 500gb Seagate Barracuda and partitioned it. Barracuda is the only hard drive I would buy. I got a Vantec Nexstar enclosure for it. I like it better than the Cooler Master I got for my husband. I recently chose to go with a smaller drive, figuring I’ll eventually back things up over two or three drives. And for some possibly illogical reason I don’t trust the bigger drives just yet. A larger drive like 1TB will probably run hot, so enclosure will be crucial.

I bought a 500gb Seagate Barracuda and partitioned it. Barracuda is the only hard drive I would buy. I got a Vantec Nexstar enclosure for it. I like it better than the Cooler Master I got for my husband.

]]> By: Mike http://www.librarywebchic.net/wordpress/2007/11/10/experiences-with-1-tb-external-hard-drives/#comment-33341 Mike Sun, 11 Nov 2007 21:00:51 +0000 http://www.librarywebchic.net/wordpress/2007/11/10/experiences-with-1-tb-external-hard-drives/#comment-33341 I am in a similar position to you (also a Mac user), but I keep holding out as prices get lower and drive size gets higher. I know I will have to commit sometime. I am mostly going to use it for ITunes broadcasting though, as I have other external drives that are adequate for backup. However, were I to purchase a 1 tb drive today it would probably be the Western Digital MyBook, which comes in a 1, 1.5 and 2 TB version. From what I've seen, it's one of the better reviewed ones. You may need the World edition for network storage. Also be aware that many of the 1tb drives out there do not seem to offer RAID, but the Western Digital ones do. You probably know that most 1tb drives are actually 2 500gb drives, and with RAID the backup is mirrored onto 2 drives (leaving you half as much storage but twice the security). With the newer MyBooks you can remove one of the 500gb drives and replace it yourself if it fries. Fan noise is also an issue with many larger drives. I will be interested to hear more about your experiences as I will probably purchase a drive in the next 6 months. I am in a similar position to you (also a Mac user), but I keep holding out as prices get lower and drive size gets higher. I know I will have to commit sometime. I am mostly going to use it for ITunes broadcasting though, as I have other external drives that are adequate for backup.

However, were I to purchase a 1 tb drive today it would probably be the Western Digital MyBook, which comes in a 1, 1.5 and 2 TB version. From what I’ve seen, it’s one of the better reviewed ones. You may need the World edition for network storage. Also be aware that many of the 1tb drives out there do not seem to offer RAID, but the Western Digital ones do. You probably know that most 1tb drives are actually 2 500gb drives, and with RAID the backup is mirrored onto 2 drives (leaving you half as much storage but twice the security). With the newer MyBooks you can remove one of the 500gb drives and replace it yourself if it fries. Fan noise is also an issue with many larger drives.

I will be interested to hear more about your experiences as I will probably purchase a drive in the next 6 months.

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