USB/NAS Disk - Recommendations

Hi

I'd like to purchase an external storage device for backing up my own PC
hard wired to router and two laptops connected via wireless.

Presently I'm backing up my PC and laptops to my spare 200GB SATA drive in
my PC.

What I'm considering is an additional drive either NAS or USB so I can back
all three up to it.

I'm not bothered about it being wireless or having a print server as I
already have one of those.

Some sort of automated backup software would be extremely useful.

Any tips/pointers please.

Thank You

On 17 Nov 2006, "Becks" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>What I'm considering is an additional drive either NAS or USB so I can back
>all three up to it.

Depends a little on what you want to spend, and whether fan noise is very
important. I'm just testing a USB 2.0 / Firewire external storage unit
(can hold 3.5" HDD, or a 5.25" CD, though I've not tested CD yet)...

Were you planning on using the SATA drive or something else in the unit?
I've mostly seen IDE support on the NAS boxes whilst SATA might need USB.


Have seen a Freecom Classic 250 GB unit, smaller and with no fan, that has
Ethernet (which I would recommend, so it can easily be accessed from any
PC, or even via port forwarding from the internet, if you want to allow
external access without going via PC -> USB) which cost about a hundred
quid... but I've not yet seen the user interface, nor do I know where it
was bought from at that price...

I'll pop into the shop and see if they've finally sorted out their PCs and
have it plugged in to the 16 port hub I gave them... It's a Hi-Fi shop
with various PCs and webcams, and these days some amps, etc, have RJ45 /
802.11 for connection to the LAN... NB using an ethernet switch is not
always best for having audio streams around the house, try a hub...

Have also seen the SV-8989 unit on Ebay for about 120 quid inc delivery,
but buying the unit and HDD, direct from SVP or similar, I would find it
difficult to beat that price for that much storage... though unlike a
USB unit, one with Ethernet could go to the other end of my LAN and
noise would stop being an issue once it is in the garage!!

(The Sumvision SV-8989 is shown near the bottom of their products at
http://www.sumvision.com.cn/results_...roduct_type=37 - it
is described as "Sumvision 3.5" IDE to Nas/USB HDD Encloser" and is
about the only item shown horizontal - the majority have a stand and
are displayed as vertical units... has web interface for configuring
and FTP server, but I've not seen it "in action" so far... 50 quid by
itself, and then add an IDE HDD, but as mentioned, I saw the lot being
sold on ebay by someone for under 110 plus 8.95 delivery... perhaps a
job-lot of hard drives were available to be able to provide 320 GB for
that price point.)

(E-Mail Removed) declared for all the world to hear...
> Hi
>
> I'd like to purchase an external storage device for backing up my own PC
> hard wired to router and two laptops connected via wireless.
>
> Presently I'm backing up my PC and laptops to my spare 200GB SATA drive in
> my PC.
>
> What I'm considering is an additional drive either NAS or USB so I can back
> all three up to it.
>
> I'm not bothered about it being wireless or having a print server as I
> already have one of those.
>
> Some sort of automated backup software would be extremely useful.
>
> Any tips/pointers please.

Buffalo linkstation 300Gb in use here. Been find so far. Comes with some
backup software but I'm not using it for that, I use it as a media
server.
--
Regards
Jon

On Fri, 17 Nov 2006 22:49:28 GMT, "Becks" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Hi
>
>I'd like to purchase an external storage device for backing up my own PC
>hard wired to router and two laptops connected via wireless.
>
>Presently I'm backing up my PC and laptops to my spare 200GB SATA drive in
>my PC.
>
>What I'm considering is an additional drive either NAS or USB so I can back
>all three up to it.
>
>I'm not bothered about it being wireless or having a print server as I
>already have one of those.
>
>Some sort of automated backup software would be extremely useful.
>
>Any tips/pointers please.
>
>Thank You
>
>
If you have an old PC lying around then you can build a NAS for very
little outlay. I've built one using an old AMD K6 2 mobo with 256Mb of
memory! I'm using NASlite OS which can be downloaded for around $29.
Boots from the CD and the OS runs in memory so any drives you have
connected are available for storage. Only gotcha I found was the old
BIOS had a 127Gb limit on the drives so I fitted a PCI card to get
round that. Other than that it runs fine and is available to anyone on
my 'local' network. It's been extremely stable and has been running
for ages. No monitor, no keyboard or mouse. It just sits happily in
the corner ticking away. I tried FreeNAS but that was very flaky on
the network side of things.

HTH


cheers,
Len

Decisions ! Decisions !

I'm now looking at the Buffalo LS-250GL LinkStation Pro

I've been a little concerned over some reviews of other models - especially
the noise.

I have a 'QuietPC' and its hard to tell if it is indeed turned on or not.
My router is silent also.

I do have an old PC but it's only a PII-400 with 256MB of RAM and an 8.4GB
hard drive.
The other thing is - its as noisy as hell !

I was also looking at the Seagate ST3320620U2-RK 320GB External Drive

It's USB only but its on offer at PC World for £79.99 down from £129.99 and
from what I've read it's whisper quiet.

I think though I really should go down the network route.


Help make my mind up please !!

(E-Mail Removed) declared for all the world to hear...
> Decisions ! Decisions !
>
> I'm now looking at the Buffalo LS-250GL LinkStation Pro
>
> I've been a little concerned over some reviews of other models - especially
> the noise.
>
> I have a 'QuietPC' and its hard to tell if it is indeed turned on or not.
> My router is silent also.
>
> I do have an old PC but it's only a PII-400 with 256MB of RAM and an 8.4GB
> hard drive.
> The other thing is - its as noisy as hell !
>
> I was also looking at the Seagate ST3320620U2-RK 320GB External Drive
>
> It's USB only but its on offer at PC World for £79.99 down from £129.99 and
> from what I've read it's whisper quiet.
>
> I think though I really should go down the network route.
>
>
> Help make my mind up please !!

The Linkstation Pro 250 Gb I had for one day, I sent it back because it
went faulty after just 24 hours.
--
Regards
Jon

"Jon" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) et...
>
> The Linkstation Pro 250 Gb I had for one day, I sent it back because it
> went faulty after just 24 hours.

:-(

What about the TeraStation ?

I've heard good reviews

But a little expensive

On 18/11/2006 in message <4gG7h.17973$(E-Mail Removed)> Becks
wrote:

>What about the TeraStation ?
>
>I've heard good reviews
>
>But a little expensive

I can second that - if you don't mind the cost. Been running one here for
18 months 24/7.
I have it set up as 2 x RAID1 arrays. I accidentally turned the power off
at the mains once, took a while to sort itself out when I turned it back
on but no data loss.

--
Jeff Gaines
Damerham Hampshire UK

On 18 Nov 2006, "Becks" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>I was also looking at the Seagate ST3320620U2-RK 320GB External Drive
>It's USB only but its on offer at PC World for £79.99 down from £129.99

Yes - I saw the TV ads a week or so ago, and it was the fact the unit is
USB only which put me off... I already have an iMac and using ethernet
and being on the LAN would seem the most flexible, whatever OS one may
be using in 2 years time...