NAS or just use external drives?

[george1979]

Hi all,

So I am thinking I will need to increase my external storage soon and I was looking into NAS solutions but now I am thinking it may not be my best option and wanted your opinions.

I do a lot of video editing and after effects work so it has a tendency to eat up HDD space (Not to mention my ever-expanding Steam Library caused by the sales).
Apart from my SSD, I have 2x1Tb drives in my PC case and a separate 500Gb portable drive for back ups and moving stuff around.

I want to be able to archive older projects off my main PC to free up space when required.

I was considering something like the ReadyNAS Duo v2 as I can use raid to mirror these important files. However, as I won't be using the network functions at all really (one bedroom flat, PC is already connected to my TV), I thought I might be better just buying two external 2Tb drives and copying the files onto these? It would be cheaper but are there any other major advantages to using the NAS systems I am not aware of?

Thanks

[Bluecube]

Most folks use a NAS to share files across multiple PCs and to share media. It doesn't sound as if that's what you're going to do so I would say that USB drives are your thing. I'd recommend USB3 where possible for that extra blast of speed.

[jim]

I think you can get raid 1 DAS units but separate usb3 drives are probably the cheaper solution

[george1979]

Thanks,

The more I looked into it, the more I was thinking the same thing.

As for USB3, my mobo doesn't have it but I will get USB3 drives anyway for when I upgrade. Or maybe one of those PCI-E to USB3 cards....

Cheers guys

[jim]

These days the price gap isn't huge, so I would go for USB3. You'll really notice the difference when it's USB3 at both ends. If you can get a PCIe card I would seriously consider it, waiting for USB2 drives to copy data makes me want to cry.

IIRC USB3 slots run USB2 devices faster as well.

[peterb]

eSATA is another option if your mobo has a spare SATA port. (or a long SATA cable)

[george1979]

These days the price gap isn't huge, so I would go for USB3. You'll really notice the difference when it's USB3 at both ends. If you can get a PCIe card I would seriously consider it, waiting for USB2 drives to copy data makes me want to cry.

IIRC USB3 slots run USB2 devices faster as well.

eSATA is another option if your mobo has a spare SATA port. (or a long SATA cable)

Yeah I thought I saw in some reviews USB3 drive will run faster than USB2 ones when connected thru a USB2 port. I have a spare PCI slot so one of those cards is looking good to me right now.

I have an esata port but the enclosures and drives seem a bit pricey at the moment. I can get two 2TB USB3 drives for about £140. Its only for back ups so I can leave it to transfer while I do other things. Thanks for the suggestion though. I might look into one when I have more cash.

[blueball]

Just remember, copies of data that you keep in the same building is NOT a backup

[sublime]

As above, sticking data in a raid array in a NAS isn't a backup. It's just redundancy.

Ideally you'd have a 3+ drive NAS box with Raid 5 for your data and then an external drive you'll archive onto, unplug and keep somewhere safe every week/fortnight/month/quarter.