Storin' Stuf

Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic

   I hope this is in the right section... anyways, I am looking for a way to store more music on my computer and thought the idea of an external hard drive seemed like the best. But as I read some reviews I become hesitant, any suggestions?

Author	Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic
The Truth Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: April 19 2009 Location: Kansas Status: Offline Points: 21795	Topic: Storin' Stuf Posted: November 07 2009 at 22:22
	I hope this is in the right section... anyways, I am looking for a way to store more music on my computer and thought the idea of an external hard drive seemed like the best. But as I read some reviews I become hesitant, any suggestions?


Dean Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout Joined: May 13 2007 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 37575	Posted: November 08 2009 at 06:01
	Internal drives are more reliable than external - hard-drives are mechanical and they don't like being moved, though the smaller drives (2.5" and 1.8") are designed for portable use so are more robust. Having said that I've replaced several 2.5" drives in various laptops and iPlod's with 1.8" micro-drives also die with disappointing regularity. My personal recommendation would be to fit a second internal drive into your desktop and back that up onto an external USB drive periodically (a music collection is the single most expensive collection of data anyone will ever own - anyone who doesn't back it up is throwing caution to the wind - spending $100 on some seemingly redundant h/ware is cheaper than replacing a lost collection.) If you are contemplating an external drive and if you do get a 3.5" external, get one with a fan if you're going to leave it plugged in for any length of time - the only 3.5" drives I've had to replace have been on USB boxes without fans. Of course fans and music are not necessarily compatible. One path to consider (other than USB) is an external network drive (sometimes called NAS drives) - these can either be cable or wireless. For cable I'd recommend the Freecom NetworkDrive, it can be a little problematic on a domain-based network but on a home network it's perfect - it also has the added advantage of having a USB port for plugging in an external USB drive so it can back-up itself at the push of a button. For wireless I use my Archos 5 (hooked up to my AV entertainment stuff) which uses UPnP to connect to every PC in my house - that way I can stream music (and video) in either direction - other wireless media players are available that do the same job without the extra expense of having their own screens. hope that helps.
	What?

The Truth Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: April 19 2009 Location: Kansas Status: Offline Points: 21795	Posted: November 08 2009 at 16:14
	Thanks Dean, I will try to look into all these suggestions. You seem to know what your talking about


toroddfuglesteg Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Retired Joined: March 04 2008 Location: Retirement Home Status: Offline Points: 3658	Posted: November 09 2009 at 02:31
	I also use external harddrives for my work projects. 3 terrabytes to be precise in addition to a big internal harddrive. I use those with fans and I have never ever had any problems with them. I also have five smaller external harddrives without fans which I only sporadic use. None of them have failed so far. But external harddrives with fans is highly recommended. I use USB 2 on the external harddrives. But I have recently learnt that I can install a PCI-E card which means I can use the SATA 2 ports on the external harddrives. Sata 2 = 6 x USB 2 speed. Those PCI-E cards are very cheap and you may consider this solution if you have a spare PCI-E slot. Make sure that your external harddrive comes with SATA-2 solution in addition to USB 2. I only have one internal harddrive because I have had problems in the past with two internal harddrives when one of them "expired" and took down the rest of the computer. That is something I no longer can afford, timewise. My rig is therefore one internal harddrive and three satellite harddrives in a bookshelf. The harddrives is standing upright on it's sides. I recommend this solution. Edited by toroddfuglesteg - November 09 2009 at 02:34

Dean Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout Joined: May 13 2007 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 37575	Posted: November 09 2009 at 03:01
	^ You are correct in keeping your main system as simple as possible - the fewer components inside the box the less there is to go wrong. Unplugging a dead USB, NAS or external SATA is far easier than opening up your desktop. However, I don't see the difference between an external SATA2 and an internal one. If an internal drive is going to die then statistically it's going to be your primary drive and that will take down your whole system regardless of how many drives you have. I've 6 internal harddrives in my PC and haven't had a problem yet - I had to beef-up the cooling of course - however this is overkill and I would not recommend adding more than one extra internal. I certainly don't use any of the internal drives as backup drives only backup onto external drives. The PCI-E/STAT2 approach is a good idea (assuming your motherboard supports PCI-E) as too many external USB2 drives create long start-up times (it can take several seconds for each drive to be recognised).
	What?

toroddfuglesteg Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Retired Joined: March 04 2008 Location: Retirement Home Status: Offline Points: 3658	Posted: November 09 2009 at 05:47
	Yeah, I have found out it is a good idea to not power on the external harddrives before POST. It seems like I have to invest in a tower solution and a new motherboard mid-2010. That motherboard will have external SATA-2 ports. But in short; go for external harddrives with cooling and SATA-2 port (in addition to USB 2), The Truth. USB 3 is going to be introduced shortly too and USB 2 may be made obsolete in two years time. ......... You are living in Kansas..... OK, you will find some good 1 terrabyte external harddrives with the abovementioned specs for around $ 150. Edited by toroddfuglesteg - November 09 2009 at 05:49

Dean Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout Joined: May 13 2007 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 37575	Posted: November 09 2009 at 06:53
	Oh! the irony - came into work this morning and my desktop primary drive est mort. (not the 6-drive beast - that's my home PC).
	What?

toroddfuglesteg Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Retired Joined: March 04 2008 Location: Retirement Home Status: Offline Points: 3658	Posted: November 09 2009 at 08:38
	Dean. All those computer things requires miles of messy cables. And that is outside the box. The cables between the modems, monitor and the computer + other cables. In short, the mess looks like an eagle's lovenest. How do you organise the cables ?

Dean Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout Joined: May 13 2007 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 37575	Posted: November 09 2009 at 09:02
	^ hide everything under the desk and pretend it isn't there I've tried everything you can think of - spiral-wrap, trunking, conduit, rubberised cable protector strip ... and nothing is really practical since you can guarantee that within half an hour of tidying everything up something will stop working and you'll have to rip one of the cables out and replace it. Wireless isn't even an answer because they need power-cables, though putting all the peripherals on one desktop and wirelessly connecting to it from all other PCs is my preferred method at home - running laptops with dozens of peripherals attached seems a dumb idea to me. At work I've networked everything (printers, external drives, scanners etc) so all desks are relatively cable free and the desks are cable friendly with holes and trunking in-built.
	What?

Slartibartfast Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Collaborator Honorary Collaborator / In Memoriam Joined: April 29 2006 Location: Atlantais Status: Offline Points: 29630	Posted: November 09 2009 at 09:04
	I'm at work and we are currently using a Maxtor 1 TB (terrifying byte? ) external unit as our central data storage unit and I have no complaints. FYI I function as the IT department for a really small firm. I think it could store my whole music collection in a lossless format, plus that of my bossesses. As backups we also have little Maxtor One Touch 120 GB units for each computer. These are nicely portable plug into a USB and easy to access the data. As a disclosure I don't own any stock in Maxtor, but if they want to send me any freebies, I would not turn them down. I also have an 8 GB flash drive which is very nice. It will be interesting to see how the technology develops. I've been using computers since the days of simply DOS by micromess... It's more than kind of slow around here at the moment, otherwise you would not be hearing from me... Edited by Slartibartfast - November 17 2009 at 13:54

danova Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Newbie Joined: November 15 2009 Status: Offline Points: 12	Posted: November 17 2009 at 07:45
	Thanks Dean, I will try to look into all these suggestions. Edited by danova - November 26 2009 at 10:13
	streaming movies

Slartibartfast Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Collaborator Honorary Collaborator / In Memoriam Joined: April 29 2006 Location: Atlantais Status: Offline Points: 29630	Posted: November 17 2009 at 13:55
	I store all my stuff in liquor boxes I get for free at the local package store. To a certain extent I am not kidding.
	Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...

Marty McFly Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: March 23 2009 Location: Czech Republic Status: Offline Points: 3968	Posted: November 17 2009 at 16:08
	I wrote "The Truth" PM. In nutshell, I was saying that I use two 3.5 external drives that I'm keeping at home all time. They cost just about hundred bucks, so it's quite cheap. Oh yeah and they're both 1 TB. Why ? Do you also know someone (my mother) who is keen photograph (and is making money by photos) and produces 1 GB of photos each day ? I do. Crazy, but truth. I can live with my 80 GB netbook hard drive, but I also have to take care about her computer + drives, as long as she's not technical type. Oh crap.
	There's a point where "avant-garde" and "experimental" becomes "terrible" and "pointless," -Andyman1125 on Lulu Even my