Portable external hard disk

[Hans L]

Hello:

I need a hard disk dock that I can connect to a router so that my wife and I can back up our stuff (image, actually) every night. Once a week, I will pull out the disk and bring it to a neighbor (10 houses away)m bringing back the disk that is already there, to avoid total loss in case of fire or burglary. I consider the amount of data too large for on-line backup, and I want an image rather than incremental backups anyway.

I have not kept my ear to the ground for a number of years, so I do not know much of what is out there, and the little I know, I need verified, because it is hard for me to establish what is good and what is not. Therefore, would anyone have some tips on what I should look at?

Thank you,

Hans L

[Xnemesis]

Hi there im not sure what capacity you are looking for however I myself have had some data loss issues so I usually back up my system with Norton ghost making and image the way I deal with this is I have bought an 120gb ssd to store the image on and with a startech enclosure (StarTech 2.5-inch SuperSpeed USB 3.0) the USB 3 gives me the edge to upload large files quickly and this ideally also keeps my data safe. Im not sure whether this has helped you but this how I keep my image safe.

[cam1986]

I don't trust 3rd party program's to backup so do it manually to 2 ext drives ever now and again

[Xnemesis]

Urrm third party as in what way, Norton ghost I run it in dos and I manually do it.

[cam1986]

I would rather copy and paste

[Xnemesis]

copy past the whole windows? Well how would you replace it in case of disaster for instance your windows doesnt boot any more even if you could windows would not allow you to do so. Ghost Image basicly takes a snapshot of your hard drive where your operating system lies and it is compressed into a image its super compressed it will reduce the size of the image by more than half its original size. Its world renowned this how business run smoothly all the time they take snapshots using Norton Ghost or other software and are able restore their systems perfectly back to its original state.

[Hans L]

Sorry, guys, I did not get notification of your responses. Thanks for your replies.

I'm in the US, and I use a UK piece of software for imaging, Macrium Reflect. Works much better for me than Acronis "True Image", which I had before. My compressed image file is about 215 GB.

I could go with two regular external drives, but I wanted to connect them to the router so that both my wife and I could easily access them. And I wanted a dock for easy removal and connection.

I have looked at Seagate, but they must have the dumbest support personnel in the world, because it does not matter how clearly I pose a question, they are simply incapable to respond in any intelligible manner. I have also had problems in the past with Seagate external drives, so I was wondering if anyone knows of any other brands that work well, and if they have docks or not.

Now, that said, there are not too many brands left, are there? Seagate bought Maxtor and Samsung's drive division, so that leaves Western Digital and a few others (Cie?; a list of existing brands anywhere?).

Looking forward to your comments.

Hans L

[Samwood]

How about this. Buy 1 of these:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/d-lin...rage-enclosure
Then get 2 identical HDDs to fit in it. Keep HDD 'A' in the dock at all times, doing daily (or whenever you want) backups. Then HDD 'B' can be kept at your neighbors and once a week you can insert HDD 'B' into the NAS unit. Then copy all the data on HDD 'A' on to HDD 'B' and then take it back to your neighbors.

This will give you and the wife continuous access to the data via your network, and give you a 3-copy (assuming you still keep a copy on your PC) backup system. The little added bonus of doing things this way is that on your weekly backups your PC(s) will not be slowed down during this process as all data transfers will happen within the NAS unit.

As for Brands, AFAIK there are only 2 major HDD manufactures left: Seagate & WD, and theres little or no difference between the 2 with regards to quality/reliability. I'd Just look at reviews etc for specific drives that you find that suit your needs.

[Hans L]

Thanks, Samwood. Looks interesting.

Now, there are so many different hard drives, so I wonder what the innards of the dock looks like. How does it connect to hard drives that have connectors in different places on theri bodies?

Hans L

[Xnemesis]

Hi Hans ok so this what I thought about how to deal with what your issue requires my idea is to buy a 2 bay NAS with SATA 3 capability http://www.scan.co.uk/products/d-lin...oogle+shopping this one is very good in my opinion. You should in my opinion buy 2 identical hard drives and set them in the NAS as at raid 1 which will basicly mirror your data on the second drive in the event of a hard drive failure your data will be safe on the second driver, not only will the NAS accommodate in saving your image to it. But will be lit up as shared network drive for anyone to access. Now since you want to give your drive to your neighbour why not set a up a cloud service for instances google sky drive you could make an account and sync your NAS to the pricing plan is here for monthly (https://developers.google.com/storag...ricingandterms) now your data mirrored on the NAS and also synced with cloud which ultimately most safest and accessible environment for you and your wife if in case you do lose something or in case you wish to upload other files its there.

Well thats what my sketch is of how you could have safe data filler in your home accessible as shared network drive and with SATA 3 data speeds you should be able to be comfortable transfer rates depending how good you gigabit router equivalent router is. As for the harddrive business Im no expert on which is the best but to my knowledge Samsung have never let me down but like you said they have been bought over so they probably are using there hardware to make harddrive more manageable for spares Im thinking it in the way of GM motors but you probably can find a thread here or on the internet to which is the best drive for you I suppose 2x2tb should be what you aim for.

Hope this helps hans.

[Hans L]

Xnemesis, sounds like a plan, but the Cloud, I am not sure.

I back up an image of my drive every night, and always keep four of the last ones on the external hard drive. Now, that is no problem, except for the Cloud.

I cannot back up the whole drive to the Cloud. Together, my wife and I have 270 GB compressed. That is about 2000 Gbits (8 x 270). With an upload speed of 1 Mbits/s, I get 555 hours, or 23 days. I have to assume that using the Cloud is practical for saving small amounts of very important data. But even if I do incremental uploads to the Cloud, I cannot get my entire disk there, can I?

If I am missing something, please let me know.

Regards,

Hans L

[Xnemesis]

Yeah your right I was assuming you may have a net similar to mines I get around 20mbs upload speeds I was assuming you would have better internet over there in the states. I guess the initial point being a NAS would serve much better and that over all would benefit you over the long run I just wonder the image program you use how it utilizes compression since ghost has very high compression rate? Setting up a NAS is a easy enough buy the drives insert them in the bays and then configure the NAS from the comfort of your chair.

[Hans L]

Ha, 20 mbs in the USA! You'll pay through the nose, Xnemesis. My compression is perhaps not so impressive, but the program is so reliable, I do not want to change.

The info on the Seagate site is deplorable,. but I found

http://www.seagate.com/external-hard...armor-nas-220/

which fits the bill.

Regards,

Hans L

[Xnemesis]

Yeah your right the information on the website is terrible almost no information what it is capable of. The review is bit worrying about the transfer speeds and in my opinion since you will be using it as work horse it might not suit you. See review(http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/netwo...or-nas-220-4tb) the transfer speeds aren't not very good.

[Hans L]

If I am not too 'farshnusket' (well, only two glasses of wine), I get about 7.5 hours to backup 270 GB. That is terrible!!!!!

What the heck is going on? Is the monopoly just getting too lazy? What other external disks are there (Cie, oh, I just saw that Seagate bought them too, at least 64 %, or did that deal not get through?). It looks like the options are very limited. Would anyone have a solution?

Thanks for the link to the review, Xnemesis!

Regards,

Hans L

[Xnemesis]

In my opinion your best bet is to go for a Western Digital drive they have been said to be very reliable. My friend who has enormous amounts of storage and deals with day to day issues that most of us may not come across says that Western digital has been the best drive he has owned and known for in reviews and so on. I suppose you should look into that company they have decent warranty as well 2 years in the UK not sure about the states.