I’m shopping for an external hard drive and at a loss as to which would fit my needs best.
It will be basically a NAS for all my media and run off my Mac and or be moved to my back up PC (should I need any files transferred)
I’d like at least a TB and wondering what a decent price is, what type will work best (Hybrid between SSD and Platter pus)
I’m open to suggestions and appreciate any feedback
Which External have you had success with and feel comfortable purchasing?
I Hear that the DROBO is good but after that i think western digital makes a good NAS hard drive
I have a Drobo, and love it. It’s definitely the choice if you want data to be secure and survive a dead drive and it’s just plug and play. No need to worry about mismatched drive sizes, etc.
I wouldn’t go for an SSD drive for an external drive, unless you’re using a really high speed bus. Are you connecting with USB?
[quote=“MiG”]I have a Drobo, and love it. It’s definitely the choice if you want data to be secure and survive a dead drive and it’s just plug and play. No need to worry about mismatched drive sizes, etc.
I wouldn’t go for an SSD drive for an external drive, unless you’re using a really high speed bus. Are you connecting with USB?[/quote]
usb or firewire
i suppose i’m just distracted by the shiny button that is SSD (oooh shiny!)
cost wise I imagine the drive will be more affordable than that…
Even Firewire 800 won’t get you close to SSD speeds. Normal drives will be fast enough.
My Drobo’s connected on Firewire 800, then shared to the network. Works great, and is easy to add more capacity to it – you take out the smallest drive and add a bigger one. You can even do that while the drobo is on and working. Very cool.
[quote=“MiG”]Even Firewire 800 won’t get you close to SSD speeds. Normal drives will be fast enough.
My Drobo’s connected on Firewire 800, then shared to the network. Works great, and is easy to add more capacity to it – you take out the smallest drive and add a bigger one. You can even do that while the drobo is on and working. Very cool.[/quote]
I’ve installed TONS of drobos they are awesome, same as qnap.
both pricey, but you get what you pay for.
Question to the OP’r
Is this mac of yours a laptop or desktop ?
if laptop buy a 120-160 gig ssd for the laptop and a 4 bay drobo for your storage needs. Prices of hard drives are going down, just make sure that the drive is on the list for supporteed raids, actually its more of a pool with drobo…
[quote=“jase”]
[quote=“MiG”]Even Firewire 800 won’t get you close to SSD speeds. Normal drives will be fast enough.
My Drobo’s connected on Firewire 800, then shared to the network. Works great, and is easy to add more capacity to it – you take out the smallest drive and add a bigger one. You can even do that while the drobo is on and working. Very cool.[/quote]
I’ve installed TONS of drobos they are awesome, same as qnap.
both pricey, but you get what you pay for.
Question to the OP’r
Is this mac of yours a laptop or desktop ?
if laptop buy a 120-160 gig ssd for the laptop and a 4 bay drobo for your storage needs. Prices of hard drives are going down, just make sure that the drive is on the list for supporteed raids, actually its more of a pool with drobo…[/quote]
it’s a desktop
no thunder port on this one though (even though i think there is only one type of external that supports that, that was just released? …)
thanks for the feedback!
May I suggest a USB 3.0 card? They plug into the PCI-E slot. I put one in my IBM Intellistation and am very pleased with it.
I know they make them for Mac’s. Example: lacie.com/more/index.htm?id=10112
x
[quote=“MiG”]I have a Drobo, and love it. It’s definitely the choice if you want data to be secure and survive a dead drive and it’s just plug and play. No need to worry about mismatched drive sizes, etc.
[/quote]
That looks way cool. 