External or Internal, that is the question!

BeatMaster · 8 May 2007 at 22:53

Well, I'm stuck trying to work out how to solve my hard drive storage and backups.

I currently have the following:
Samsung 80Gb SATAII Main Drive with just Windows
Maxtor 120Gb 6Y120MO - Storage / 10Gb available
Seagate 7200.10 320Gb - Storage / 50Gb available

I've got a 200Gb external ATA caddy as a backup but that clearly can't cope with the amount of data stored. The Western Digital 500Gb AAKS drives look rather appealing but there clearly internal rather than external.

I don't know if things would be much quicker ditching the 80Gb drive and 120Gb and replacing it with a 500Gb Western Digital. Partition it 80/420? Any performance hits from having Windows and storage on the same drive rather than separate?

This still leaves the dilemma of backups and since I've now got 750Gb's (without the OS 80Gb) worth of storage, I need more backup space! :eek:

Any suggestions?

BeatMaster

rpstewart · 9 May 2007 at 09:19

For proper backups you're better off with an external drive that can be turned off when not in use and therefore is protected from power spikes, exploding PSUs etc. The AAKS is still a good option for backups if you pair it with an IcyBox external caddy. The caddie supports eSATA and comes with a PCI backplate to route an internal SATA port outside if necessary, this is far quicker than USB.

lsg1r · 9 May 2007 at 09:32

get an external sata caddy for the western digital, alternatively look at something like the qnap 201, synology ds207, takes 2 sata drives and connects via network

BeatMaster · 10 May 2007 at 11:58

rpstewart said:
For proper backups you're better off with an external drive that can be turned off when not in use and therefore is protected from power spikes, exploding PSUs etc. The AAKS is still a good option for backups if you pair it with an IcyBox external caddy. The caddie supports eSATA and comes with a PCI backplate to route an internal SATA port outside if necessary, this is far quicker than USB.

Sounds like a good plan but will eventually need 2x 500Gb external drives and so 2x Icybox's would be quite pricey. Surely they're must be cheaper alternatives?

I could get a WD 500Gb MyBook for £83 or a WD AAKS for £66 plus a caddy for £30 bringing it to £96

Decisions decisions!

Also, would there be any impact having the OS on a partition instead of my current 80Gb?

BeatMaster

lsg1r said:
get an external sata caddy for the western digital, alternatively look at something like the qnap 201, synology ds207, takes 2 sata drives and connects via network

Very pricey setup! I could get a 500Gb MyBook World Edition for £130. Nice thought though

BeatMaster