External backup - your thoughts?

epoxy5

epoxy5

epoxy5

Associate
Joined
30 Jun 2004
Posts
247
Hello all...

I am a Mac user and I am looking for some advice regarding backup.

The backup should be used for the following:

iTunes library
Aperture or perhaps iPhoto as I might go back to that (don't ask).
Various instruction movies
Regular documents and invoices.
A lot of my illustrations
client sites (or even a local server)
Huge amount of creative resources - fonts, sounds, brushes, stock images etc..

Right now I have the following hardware:

iMac - 500gb
TimeCapsule - 500gb
2 Old 320gb MyBooks running FW400 (but they behave a bit odd from time to time - not always showing up in Finder).
1 old Maxtor 1Touch 300gb - USB 2 working fine but slow and a bit loud.
A lot of spare SATA drives 500gb - 200gb.

I have the following options:

Upgrade the TimeCapsule to a 1.5tb drive if possible

Drobo and use some of the biggest spare drives I got (still I hate the price).

A Synergy box perhaps?

I also got some spare parts so I could make a computer running as a fileserver - rather cheap option. (Still I would hate to have such a box running 24/7 - and not shure how well it would work with various harddrives and how easy it would be to get it to be a good backup solution).

A couple of big FW800 MYBooks running mirrored mode (relatively cheap for the 1TB version).

I also got a PS3 and it would not be bad if it could talk with my solution, but not really a must have. I just want a good backup solution...

Would you mind sharing your thoughts - what works, have you tried some of the same solutions etc..

The Drobo does indeed look like a lovely solution, but I just hate the price....

Thanks in advance!
 
I kinda skimmed your post but will warn you that western digital mybooks are complete garbage.

My 'studio' edition will not stay asleep, or awake, spinning up and down sporadically multiple times per hour. This has nothing to do with Apples power settings, it's the drives own firmware which is useless. I back up my system with time machine once a day, then it's unmounted. Also it is noisy as hell. Basically a waste of money, the only time I have made a rash purchase without researching first; the internet is littered with mac users complaining about these.
 
likwid said:
I kinda skimmed your post but will warn you that western digital mybooks are complete garbage.

My 'studio' edition will not stay asleep, or awake, spinning up and down sporadically multiple times per hour. This has nothing to do with Apples power settings, it's the drives own firmware which is useless. I back up my system with time machine once a day, then it's unmounted. Also it is noisy as hell. Basically a waste of money, the only time I have made a rash purchase without researching first; the internet is littered with mac users complaining about these.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input - the WD ideas is skipped. I think I have the same symptoms with the ones I got - like they are living their own life. Thought it was due to my old versions, but it seems to be a common problem.

Thanks again.
 
I use a QNAP-TS209.

I have my itunes library on it via an afp share which is also shared via twonkymedia so it can be streamed to my PS3/360 and similarly for video.

You can relatively easily create a share / disk image for TimeMachine (although you do have to do the initial setup manually)

I back up selected shares (that aren't back ups themselves) to an external usb hdd.

It's also my print server.
 
Sareth said:
I use a QNAP-TS209.

I have my itunes library on it via an afp share which is also shared via twonkymedia so it can be streamed to my PS3/360 and similarly for video.

You can relatively easily create a share / disk image for TimeMachine (although you do have to do the initial setup manually)

I back up selected shares (that aren't back ups themselves) to an external usb hdd.

It's also my print server.
Click to expand...

I did take a look at the QNAP as well - and I do like the idea.. But since I already got a TimeCapsule running on the network how would I combine those two? (I am an idiot when it comes to network).
 
Man I keep getting back to that Drobo... It just seems like the perfect idea, when you got a lot of unused disks..

TimeCapsule takes care of all the iMac content via Lan, all resources located on Drobo via FW800. Expensive, but without the need of drives to begin with, it looks a lot like my other ideas in terms of money. And the fact that it can hold 4 drives makes it very expandable from my pov....
 
take a look at ministack v3 has loads of connectors adds hub to the system i use it on my mini mac as timecapsule backup and media centre storage,, you can put your own drive in it i have a 1tb in there at mo.. very simple to use and looks like a mac mini size,,
 
Cool thanks.

I'm also looking for another solution, although I currently have a Macpower enclosure with two Seagate Barracuda's in RAID 0, I now need more space ...
 
startrek2 said:
take a look at ministack v3 has loads of connectors adds hub to the system i use it on my mini mac as timecapsule backup and media centre storage,, you can put your own drive in it i have a 1tb in there at mo.. very simple to use and looks like a mac mini size,,
Click to expand...

They are indeed nice and seems to be easy to add under the Time Capsule.. Not a lot of good dealers though... I wonder if it's possible to daisy chain two of 'em then run those in mirrored mode?

But that Drobo... it just makes so much sense - gotta love those 4 bays!
Maaan... Will need to think really hard. But that MSV3 does look sweet too (except those huge logos).
 
no you cant daisy chain them or raid it...

the unit sits under the minimac so i dont see the logo.. a plus is it has esata as well so plugging it in pc is useable as well at good esata speeds and also you can take it about its almost portable in size even with the external psu, it also turns on/off on the system button so its like having another drive built in..
 
D-R-O-B-O

Get a drobo with droboshare for some seriously powerful backup solutions.

Failing that the best is generally considered a Mac Mini with a drobo (to use as a mega media centre / backup server) but it's expeeeeeeensive. Expect AmTechFox to buy 4 soon :p
 
icybox nas ? stick in 2x 1TB drives and your away, make everything additional to that, sell if you wish to recover some costs and enjoy.
//edit

I hope you enjoy the drobo, sounds nice and easy. Shame about the cost.
 
Last edited:
Best solution in my opinion is to buy an oldish laptop, install linux and attach external drives via usb or pcmcia esata. You'll have a full blown server from which you can torrent, stream, serve, use linux, etc all from terminal via ssh.

All the nas I've seen are too underpowered to do anything other than file serve, and they're expensive.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom