Network Attached Hard Drives Advice

[Superangel]

Hi guys

I'd like to add some centralized storage to my home network (mostly for media files, but also for storing documents and other work-related things). Originally I just planned to just add an external USB hard drive to my RT-N66U router's USB ports, but I've since read that performance is less than ideal.

So now I'm consider network attached hard drives, but I'd like to know which set up you think is better?

• 1 x WD My Book Live Duo (4TB); or
• 2 x WD My Book Live (2TB each); or
• 2 x Seagate Central (2TB each); or
• 1 x 2TB network storage & CrashPlan+ remote backup

My plan is to use one drive as 'active' storage, and the other as a backup. I though the Duo would be fine, but I read that if it fails (the unit, not the drives), I could lose both my active and backup drives Is this common or just a bit of scaremongering?

Ironically, buying separate WD drives works out cheaper, but I'd like to hear your thoughts before making the plunge. I included the Seagate Central since it's new and fairly comparable, but I have no preference between the two brands. As for CrashPlan+, I like the idea of remote backup, but the backup/recovery speeds for huge amounts of data puts my off somewhat.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

Superangel

P.S. I considered QNAP and Synology single and dual-bay NASs too, but cool as they are, they seem kind of overkill for my needs (and much more expensive too; ideally I'd like to keep things under ~US$350).

 

[claykin]

1) I'm not a fan of any network attached storage device with a single disk. I highly recommend a RAID1 setup.

2) Hardware failure of NAS does NOT mean death of your data. Sure, if hardware failure is due to lightning strike or water intrusion it could mean death of your data, but a typical hardware failure does NOT mean you cannot read your disks. (at least with Synology/Qnap)

3) Another reason for offsite backup is fire, theft, etc... RAID1 doesn't address this type of loss.

4) I do NOT believe any of the devices you referenced will provide you with satisfactory r/w performance. They are all fairly slow and in the case of the Seagate you need to load their bloatware to manage it.

I recommend you check out the Synology DS213. Consider it an investment in your data storage. Plus its got lots of other features you might find useful.

 

[Superangel]

Thank you Claykin! In that case I'll take another look at the Synology and QNAP offerings. Maybe saving up a little more will provide great benefits in the long-term. Thanks again.