Need new backup drive

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Kirstie

Kirstie

PFG, Picture Framing God
Joined
Jan 16, 2007
Posts
8,395
Loc
Berkeley, CA
Agrh....my latest back up hard drive, a Maxtor, just failed. I think I have had one fail from almost every major manufacturer. The last one was a LaCie. I think the Western Digitals at work are still running.

So here I am again, needing a new one for my 500GB Mac in the home office. I think Time Machine kills these things because it runs all day. There has to be a way to set that up differently.

Any suggestions? Looking for decent price and good quality.
 
You'll want to find one with adequate ventillation. Most of the external enclosures aren't meant to be run 24-7 since they often don't have fans or use really crappy small ones. The WD mybook style drives with lots of vents work better for this.

It would also be a good idea to get a 5400 rpm drive rather than a 7200 rpm. This will help the drive run cooler; and rotational latency is not an issue for a backup drive. I use a bunch of WD 1 TB green drives in my system and they work great (much quieter and cooler than other drives).

I would suggest avoiding the seagate freeagent drives that stand upright. I have a friend who has killed 2-3 of them by knocking them over while they were running. (note: that's bad for any hard drive, so don't do it)
 
what was said above !!! Plus be real sure you have it on a power surge/backup box(like APC's from staples, etc)---start at around $35---requires a new battery( around $30) ever 2-3 years(depending on who often/how long the power is out) .

if you have cooling problems you might a pc aux-cooler(bank of 2-3 fans) underneath to stop you heat problems.....either you have lousy power flow(spikes/drops-a common enough thing) or where you put them doesnt get enough air to cool them---absolutely should NOT be having to replace you drives!:(

mine says "manhattan" on it (whoever THAT is!). It is a couple of gigs and has been sitting on the shelf (and moved 2x) for like 4+ years.
 
As was said before and in other threads, those drives are not meant for 24/7 operation and are sealed in metal 'coffins' without ventilation.

Having it connected 24/7 also presents a problem in the event of a power surge or theft, which could take out the computer and also the attached backup drive.

They probably make better quality drives that can stay in there 24/7, if that's what you want to do. (or you could just mount another drive inside the pc for the same result) The problem isn't the drive, but the case it is enclosed in. You need one with a fan, and an external power supply. newegg.com probably has just what you need.

What gtp is doing presently: In the shop, we use a rotation of six $10 4gb flash drives. (one for each day of the week that we are open) They are only connected to the pc during our pos's closing routine, for about 30 seconds per day. This is the only time the POS files are not open/locked/in use, where they could be backed up properly. Every weekend, we do a more thorough backup which includes spreadsheets, documents, images, and other non essential files that are on our server. Some weekends this goes on an external HD that lives in the fire safe at the shop, other weekends it goes to a DVD that lives in the safe at home. Monthly, it also gets backed up to the HOUSE pc; via the internet.

Mike
 
Take a look at a Windows Homer Server if you need something on all the time. They're pretty inexpensive (starting at under $300) and are an actual computer as far as hardware is concerned. They're bigger than an external drive but not as large as a typical computer - more like an appliance. But since they connect to your computer(s) via ethernet you can put it anywhere you have or can run a wire.

See the Microsoft website for more info, including info about Mac compatibility (it is).
 
Kirstie, you might check out dropbox.com. It's a cool service that creates a folder on your desktop. You can drag files to it like any other folder, and it updates online automatically.

You can keep the dropbox on all of your computers, and all will have access to your dropbox.

The really cool part is you can also choose to share the folder, or a subfolder, with someone. Great for sharing photos, things like that.

2gb is free. We'll both get bonus storage if I refer you. I'll send you a link, if you're interested. I'll do the same for anyone. PM me your email and I'll invite you.
 
You're ahead of me, then Kirstie. I just learned about it.

I'm looking at using it as my POS backup folder. I can do my backup at each location to the dropbox, then make a hard copy at home as often as I want. If I remember right, you have a server for your shop, so backing up is easier to access. With my two locations, keeping a backup schedule has been more difficult, and remembering to bring my external hard drive for a month-end backup has also been hard.

But no, I'm not planning on full-computer backups to it either.
 
I have actually been looking into the home server route for my house. WHat I think is cool, from my understanding, is that if there is a problem, you do not have to reinstall software before reloading the backup data, everything is backed up including the actual software. And you can then access the home server from anywhere with a internet connection.

They are not too bad price wise, $350-400.
 
Richard, We load the four Frame Ready data files into Drop Box each night. Each evening I copy the fresh data files from Drop Box into one of 7 folders for each day of the week. Then I also copy the fresh data files into my courtesy copy of Frame Ready at home.

Now I have a copy online, a copy and a backed up copy at the shop, a copy and a backed up copy at home. I also have complete access to the day's records by updating my home copy of Frame Ready. And it is all Mac-PC compatible. I gave up on flash drives when I installed Drop Box. This is fast and easy and free.

Tim, the home server route also sounds great for your situation. For me, I am running Macs, and all I really want is a new back up drive for the house that will last for a while.
Thanks.
 
Kirstie said:
Tim, the home server route also sounds great for your situation. For me, I am running Macs...
Click to expand...

Windows Home Server is fully Mac compatible. For some reason, most commercial setups will not back up FROM the server (you can still use Mac software to backup TO the server), but the HP Media Smart series are Mac Backup capable.
 
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