Members Phait Posted February 5, 2012 Members Share Posted February 5, 2012 I'm looking for a backup solution (my current one is a 20 GB internal drive I put in a drive dock... eek). I don't want to spend much more than a hundred. I do usually buy and prefer Seagate. I see a bunch of 500+GB external drives, but the specs never say if it's 1 drive or 2 -- most of these external cases look like they would house 2 drives. This way I have 2 exact backups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Phait Posted February 5, 2012 Author Members Share Posted February 5, 2012 I guess to answer my own question, it seems there are external RAID drives but these cost more than $200-$300+, and you need to make sure they're not RAID 0 ( http://www.devindra.org/tech/2007/07/18/why-you-should-never-buy-dual-drive-raid-0-external-hard-drives/ ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jorge7 Posted February 5, 2012 Members Share Posted February 5, 2012 Why do you want 2 exact copies within the same external drive, eg, RAID 1 configuration? That will reduce risk of loss due to physical drive failure, but will not protect against viruses, fire, theft, lightning or other electrical spikes, or software/malware induced file corruption. Wouldn't it provide better overall security to get 2 separate external drives and rotate them, keeping one in a secure off site location in case of theft or fire in your studio, or at least keeping at least one disconnected at all times in case of virus or electical spike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Phait Posted February 5, 2012 Author Members Share Posted February 5, 2012 It wouldn't be constantly connected. Only when I'm doing back ups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author MikeRivers Posted February 5, 2012 CMS Author Share Posted February 5, 2012 I'm looking for a backup solution (my current one is a 20 GB internal drive I put in a drive dock... eek). I see a bunch of 500+GB external drives, but the specs never say if it's 1 drive or 2 -- most of these external cases look like they would house 2 drives. Anything that's packaged as an external drive will be a single drive. Have you considered something like this dual dock for bare SATA drives? If you want two backups, you could drop two drives into the slots, copy what you want backed up to both drives, remove them and store them away. You can plug them back into the dock if you need to restore from the drives. As long as you're not going to be carrying the drives around there's no reason to have them installed in a case, and by buying bare drives, you know exactly what you're getting. One thing that isn't completely clear about this one is whether there's one slot for a 3.5" drive and the other slot for a 2.5" drive, or if both slots can accommodate both sizes. Ask first before ordering. I have a single dock from this company (Vantec) and it works just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members scarecrowbob Posted February 6, 2012 Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 "One thing that isn't completely clear about this one is whether there's one slot for a 3.5" drive and the other slot for a 2.5" drive, or if both slots can accommodate both sizes. Ask first before ordering. I have a single dock from this company (Vantec) and it works just fine. " IME, both fit both sizes. I use a version from another manufacturer and I like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members js1 Posted February 6, 2012 Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 Mediasonic do a bunch of external multiple drive cases, both RAID and plain. No personal experience with them. I am looking to build a RAID networked store this year. There's so much that needs to be backed up these days that I'd rather have one unit that I can trust for everything. Combined with an offsite backup. js Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ggm1960 Posted February 6, 2012 Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 Have you considered something like this dual dock for bare SATA drives? If you want two backups, you could drop two drives into the slots, copy what you want backed up to both drives, remove them and store them away. You can plug them back into the dock if you need to restore from the drives. Looks nice but will it toast bread? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author MikeRivers Posted February 6, 2012 CMS Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 Looks nice but will it toast bread? Only if you turn it up to 11. Bagels, however, won't fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jorge7 Posted February 6, 2012 Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 The real question is, relevant to the OP, will it toast hard drives? Bare internal HDs are not really made for frequent plugging/unplugging, for carrying around, and certainly not for dropping even a few inches. The big advantage of backing up to external drives is that you can keep the backup disconnected and in a different physical location, avoiding data corruption from malware and physical threats like theft and fire. Carrying a bare internal drive around, if not properly protected from mechanical and static electrical shock, sounds a bit risky. Also, I would imagine HDs need to be inserted and removed while the USB and power are disconnected, or is this automatically built in to the unit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Phait Posted February 6, 2012 Author Members Share Posted February 6, 2012 I had thought about getting a dock, but like Jorge7 I have concerns about storing/handling them. I currently do this with a 20GB drive and a (single) dock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author MikeRivers Posted February 6, 2012 CMS Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 I have a big pile of "bare" drives for my Mackie hard disk recorder. I put them in the anti-static bags that they came in originally, and then store one or two in a plastic Office Depot "pencil box" that's just about the right size. I handle them carefully and they don't get damaged. For projects where I'm switching drives frequently, I put them in carriers, but just for backup I don't see any reason to worry about not having an enclosure, if it otherwise suits your working style. Now I wouldn't recommend this sort of connection for day-in-day-out plugging and unplugging, but for double backup, I see no reason not to just leave a couple of drives in the dock and turn the power off when it's not being used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MyAccount Posted February 7, 2012 Members Share Posted February 7, 2012 Yes there are external enclosures that have RAID chipsets. You can usually switch between RAID settings with some DIP switches to get either mirrored or the sum capacity using 2 drives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members deanmass Posted February 10, 2012 Members Share Posted February 10, 2012 Drobo's or their are a couple newer Netgear 2/4 drive enclosures. New Egg has them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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