Good RAID for my audio collection

Costs about the same, takes up less space and uses a preferred ethernet connection? Both are fine but why not?

quote:

Why using RAID? I cannot see any advantages, it is a waste of money and resources.
I just would have a main drive and a backup drive which is a clone of the main one. You can set up some procedure so that data (music) can be backed up now and then.

Peter, you spot on. While my WD RAID is on the service I hooked my 1 TB USB HDD on the Slim Server and now listen music through TP with no major complain.

Possibly RAID is most suitable to backup the files from the USB HDDs?

quote:

Originally posted by Peter Dinh:
Why using RAID? I cannot see any advantages, it is a waste of money and resources.
I just would have a main drive and a backup drive which is a clone of the main one. You can set up some procedure so that data (music) can be backed up now and then.

Hi Peter -

Raid 1 is simple mirroring of two drives. If one fails, you just keep on running. An email alerts you to replace the failed drive as soon as practical.

The point I was trying to make in my earlier post is that even if you have 2 mirrored drives, a controller failure (albeit relatively rare) could leave both drives unusable. That's why I make a 3rd copy.

Dual drive NAS boxes with Raid 1 controllers have come down in price dramatically over the last couple of years. In fact, my total investment in music storage is but a tiny fraction of my investment in Naim equipment!

I cannot think of a single reason, given access to your music library is important to you, why you wouldn't want storage with higher availability.

Hook

Personally I see no value in a drive and a second drive using two power points and both equally as likely to fail anyhow.

May as well use a purpose designed NAS with raid features.

MOst people do not 'get' this until they take the plunge.

Go on its worth it!

A friend of mine runs NAS Netgear NVX (Pioneer) with Seagate Barracuda 1.5 Tb in Linn Klimax DS system. But it's only 6 months old -- too early to judge on stability.

Any experience with this one ?

these guys do a good comarision etc:

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com...n,com_nas/Itemid,190

You should buy on specs really I guess, any one of us could have had issues with a devices, thats not representative of anything. I personally did not have much luck with the drobo, no doubt plenty of others have a good experience though.

quote:

Originally posted by AMA:
Jack, I plan to use NAS with Logitech Transporter through Slim Server.
You say that search is a bit slow in big libraries (like mine). I wonder if 7200 RPM drives help in this case or not?

Drive speed is completely irrelevant for audio replay and also for the access to library data. Even the slowest drive give you (more than) plenty of read speed. Slow access has to do with the software design used in this product.

quote:

Originally posted by AMA:
Possibly RAID is most suitable to backup the files from the USB HDDs?

RAID has no use in back up it is just a protection against hardware failure, which is extremly rare and can be seen 'coming' if you monitor the SMART values of the drive.


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aleg

Optical discs are good for back-up - you can get Blue Ray recorders that will hold quite a bit of data. Sony and Verbatim rewritable discs hold 25GB for under £5. Once written you can ask somebody else to look after them so if there is a disaster then at least your music is safe.

quote:

Optical discs are good for back-up - you can get Blue Ray recorders that will hold quite a bit of data. Sony and Verbatim rewritable discs hold 25GB for under £5. Once written you can ask somebody else to look after them so if there is a disaster then at least your music is safe.

I need 30 blue ray disks for audio and 50 blue ray disks for video. It's quite a reliable option -- but not practical.

quote:

Drive speed is completely irrelevant for audio replay and also for the access to library data. Even the slowest drive give you (more than) plenty of read speed. Slow access has to do with the software design used in this product.

Thanks, Aleg.

quote:

MOst people do not 'get' this until they take the plunge.

Been there, done that some 5 years ago with RAID 5! Reversed back to the 2 disk setup because still do not 'get' this. Remember that raid is NOT about data redundancy, it is only for hardware failures, and you still have to back up you valuable music collection somehow.

Raid is not the end of the story, access to music and files both pushed and pulled and access to ones work files etc when out and about are very useful.

But yes, I use RYSNC to back up my music folder should I accidentally delete a folder or something.

A bit off to the side but I have invested in a network attached ACER Homestore which has an Intel Atom processor built in with some DDR and runs Windows Home Server software. It can hold 4 disks. I have 4TB in it. The Home Server software manages the shared media folders and duplcates all the media files automatically.

Only just started playing with it but the Music sounds good coming of it.

Geoff

Please be careful backing up in the same device, ie RAID-1 (Mirror). With a fire or burglary the whole lot is gone..

I have a 1 TB NAS. As a backup I use a (cheap) external 1 TB usb harddisk, which is stored in my brothers vault (other location).

quote:

Originally posted by garyi:
But yes, I use RYSNC to back up my music folder should I accidentally delete a folder or something.

All hail ssh/rsync

I abandoned RAID [because of software issues], but surely a single hard drive should suffice, provided it is backed up from time to time and kept in a safe place. I have back-ups held in Denmark and Spain, as well as a regularly adjusted one at home ...

ATB from George

PS: And all the original CDs are retained so there is effectively no risk with a single hard drive.

quote:

Originally posted by GFFJ:
PS: And all the original CDs are retained so there is effectively no risk with a single hard drive.

No, but it's whether you feel the pain of reripping is worth the cost of figuring out a sensible backup strategy.

And there's always downloaded music to worry about too....

Promise Technology's DAS is another way - no network required, not too keen on a NAS and a SAN seems overkill for home use.

quote:

Originally posted by Andy S:

quote:

Originally posted by GFFJ:
PS: And all the original CDs are retained so there is effectively no risk with a single hard drive.

No, but it's whether you feel the pain of reripping is worth the cost of figuring out a sensible backup strategy.

And there's always downloaded music to worry about too....

But I already have a bombproof back-up strategy. So the likelihood of ever re-ripping is virtually infinitesimal ...

As for downloads [and I have a few], then the risks is marginally worse, but still bombproof …

ATB from George

Have used a Drobo for the past 8 months, using Hitachi drives, 2 * TB, and works fine. I use it also so video, hence the large capacity, which is also expandable, up to 4 bays. It's basically plug and play out of the box, unlike what I've read about RAID. No complaints so far...

Paul