Which External USB Hard Drive for back Up or Should I Choose a NAS Drive?r should

hitman

hitman

hitman

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Which External USB Hard Drive for Back Up or Should I Choose a NAS Drive?

I'm looking for an external usb HDD to back up my data as my SDD is close to failing. Was looking at getting an external HDD and was looking at one of these due partly to it's portability factor but also because I can load win 7 onto a new netbook when I was going to buy an external dvd drive to do so:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-003-AD&groupid=1657&catid=1659&subcat=

However, I've also seen this Synology NAS drive which tempts me as at some stage I may buy a music streaming device:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-030-SY&groupid=1657&catid=1659&subcat=

Can anyone provide a simple summary of the benefits and drawbacks of an external usb HDD v a NAS drive? Which do you think would best suit my needs?
cheers
 
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Get a NAS as you can use it for media streaming around the house and backing up multiple PC's. You can use a USB Flash drive to install Windows 7 on the Netbook easy enough.
 
I ahve been using Synology two bay ones for some time now and they are great. Software really good, easy to setup. And they have some good ios apps for accessing your files/media whilst home or out and about. Qnap also do a range which are worth looking at but my preference is Synology.


That's not to say mind the buffalo station or WD alternative wouldn't necessarily suit your needs. I do however think you will see the best gain in whatever you choose by ditching wireless, or at leats trying to boost it if you can't.

Hard drive is standard storage. A NAS opens up a whole wealth of features, some for use now and maybe some at a later date. A NAS, provided its on a gb network will be much, much faster than a usb solution.

I have a Synology DS212 in Raid 1 and speeds are great, I also have an image of my OS ont here for reinstalls. I then stream media to my HTPC downstairs.

ALthough more expensive upfront you will getter better performance/features etc but depends ultimately what you see your self doing with your data.
 
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USB 2 has a maximum theoretical speed of 480 Mbits per second.

Ethernet, if running on a gigabit network has a maximum theoretical speed of 1000 Mbits per second.

Additionally you will see much faster speeds with a pair of drives in Raid over ethernet than a drive on usb.

However, it depends on a lot of things such as your actual network to actual realise those speeds.

It depends ultimately what you want the device for though. Downside of the Synology NAS is a much higher upfront cost compared to buying a bog standard usb 2 external hard drive. ALso, the nas is a mini computer on its own right and doesn't need the pc to be on for it to be up and runing.
 
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cheers WD, which Synology model would you recommend for info back up, future music straeming and perhaps future personal cloud storage? Is there any restrictions placed on this sort of thing by internet providers?
 
No, the network drive sits on your home network. Can you send me a message via the trust button dude. Can't seem to message you as you haven't configured your trust.

Model all depends on budget. How much have you got to spend?
 
I have been using the ICYBOX 4220B for some time now.

However I have just recently had a failure with 2x1TB drives in RAID that I could not recover without having to buy another 4220

NOT HAPPY

Now, I was considering whioch way to go, and a mate down the road has just bought himself a Seagate GoFlex thats a NAS connection, so, for a kick, I just bought the USB one.

The bases on these are switchable and you can simply plop the drive out so thats what I have done to get the data onto it quickly.

In terms of speed, the USB 2 one is not really any quicker than the NAS one... Or at least I gave up after 2 days of copying and then I connected it directly and finished in under half an hour.

I have bought myself a new base that will convert it to NAS rather than USB for the purposes of throwing it onto the Switch and I will almost definitely buy another one very soon.

I almost wish that I could buy them empty cos I have 2 x 1TB in the 4220 that are now free.
 
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