After a fair amount of time reading and such I have finally decided that my media collections do not need or warrant the time and hassle of RAID. Instead I have two options left open to me. Either I purchase a second drive each time I expand and use some form of backup/cloning software so that should anything ever happen I can simply carry on with an exact duplicate. Or I get an external usb drive with all the backup software as part of the drive.
With this in mind I have seen the following pros and cons of each.
Second HDD:
PROS.
Faster to transfer (could be wrong here as it will be running 3Gb/s against USB 3.0)
Cheaper
Less power needed as only spins when backup running
CONS.
Open to infection (if it's connected all the time and I get a virus)
Time consuming if only connected up once during a weekly backup schedule
Not always up to date if running on a schedule only
External USB:
PROS.
Instant up to date backups
Easily flexible on location
Conv of use (can simply plug in or out usb cable)
CONS.
Slightly more expensive
Slower (again dependant on 3Gb/s against usb 3.0)
Built in backup software (I have no experience of these so can't be sure if it will be that great compared to stand alone backup software)
So can anyone offer up anything else I haven't seen on this issue? I am leaning on the side of the usb drive for the fact of not having to shut my system down to remove a drive to keep it safe and locked away from any potential system issues, so feel free to show me how I can avoid that if possible?
With this in mind I have seen the following pros and cons of each.
Second HDD:
PROS.
Faster to transfer (could be wrong here as it will be running 3Gb/s against USB 3.0)
Cheaper
Less power needed as only spins when backup running
CONS.
Open to infection (if it's connected all the time and I get a virus)
Time consuming if only connected up once during a weekly backup schedule
Not always up to date if running on a schedule only
External USB:
PROS.
Instant up to date backups
Easily flexible on location
Conv of use (can simply plug in or out usb cable)
CONS.
Slightly more expensive
Slower (again dependant on 3Gb/s against usb 3.0)
Built in backup software (I have no experience of these so can't be sure if it will be that great compared to stand alone backup software)
So can anyone offer up anything else I haven't seen on this issue? I am leaning on the side of the usb drive for the fact of not having to shut my system down to remove a drive to keep it safe and locked away from any potential system issues, so feel free to show me how I can avoid that if possible?