External hard drive for expanding iTunes library?

Michael, I'm still confused about what you are calling a file server. As far as I'm concerned, a box on the network that serves up files is a file server, and a NAS qualifies. No, its not as fast as my Dell PowerVault either, but it didn't cost $3K and it isn't loud as a 747 on take-off.

I've backed up 600GB off my terastation overnight. 600GB/(8 hrs x 3600 sec/hr) = 0.02GB/s = 160 mbps... Would it be faster configured in RAID0? Yeah, probably (and I can configure it that way). It also works as a printserver, BTW. And, I gather it will run slimserver on a standalone basis.

So, you get slower performance ripping CDs, organizing tunes, and d/ling to your portable. Ripping CDs is not a process that is storage drive limited--99% of the time there is (if, like me, you use EAC) CD reader dependent and processor dependent for the compression. D/ling to a portable? Yeah, maybe a bit slower, but I usually do that overnight and, frankly, the speed of that is probably more dependent on the interface to the portable. Organizing tunes is a big topic, but I find that as long as the XML library file is on my local fast drive, searching isn't an issue. If I want to retag 10,000 files, well, yeah, it takes a while. I don't do that very often.

So, I still don't understand why you advocate RAID 0. Especially as a low cost option. The speed--for audio--is overkill. And, now you seem to be saying $500 for the RAID 0 server *and* you still need a NAS to back it all up. Why not something simple like the terastation or similar boxes?

Michael, you seem to know a bit about this, and I also considered the route you advocate with a cheap computer controlling the drives, but why not go with a board that supports SATA drives and has a RAID 5 controller built in? They also have IDE ports so you can have backup drives in the same box. I know a bit more $$ up front but SATA drives are cheaper and this is much more powerful so it seems like a better route in the long term.

I know just enough about that to be dangerous so any input would be appreciated.

I advocate RAID 0 because (non-zero) RAID protects against one thing and one thing only: A single hard drive failure. (Lose 2 and you're hosed.) It allows you to work even when a drive fails. It does NOT protect against the more common reasons for data loss (user screwups, viruses, etc). Hence you still need a backup solution. So if you're a business that depends on having continuous 24/7 access to your data, you use RAID. On the other hand, if 24/7 continuous access is not critical to the application, as is the case here, save your money and just purchase a replacement HDD if/when it becomes necessary. You have backups, so you can restore the data easily. Make sense?

RAID 1 doubles the number of drives you need, and RAID 5 really only makes sense with at least 4 drives. So you're adding an additional 2 drives effectively to achieve redundancy for comparable data storage. You'll have to purchase an additional HDD if any of the drives dies regardless of which RAID type you use.

Edesilva, are you referring to Buffalo's 1 TB Terastation? My friend has one and we're getting nowhere near the 160 Mbps that you're getting. Which model do you have? We do much better transferring files PC to PC across his gigabit ethernet network than we do from Terastation to PC.

And the reason I advocate building your own machine is that it is more flexible in the long run. Want to add additional capabilities to make it some sort of media server? No problem. Want to add Myth TV software to make it like a TIVO? It's doable (although that does take some work and special hardware). Or you can also use it as a router/firewall.

I guess my point is that it's your backups (preferably stored away from your computer), not RAID that really protects your data. You'll pay extra for RAID. Just make sure you need it.

Michael

Yes, but... RAID 0 doubles the number of drives as well, and it doesn't give you any redundancy protection. Frankly, I've backed up my RAID 5 as well anyway--no way I want to rip that many CDs again and do all the indexing and get all the artwork. Once is enough...

Sure your friend's isn't on a hub versus a switch or something? At 16 mbps, it would have taken four days to back mine up, and it was overnight. Maybe I'm underestimating overnight using 8 hours, but I'm not underestimating by a factor of 10--it was overnight...

As far as building your own, I built my last computer and, while I won't claim to be any sort of computer genius (last system I built was a Z80 on an S100 bus), it isn't purely plug-and-play. I had to work out a fair number of oddball issues, and some of them took some time and research. Not sure everyone is up for that. I like the terastation b/c it is basically plug-and-play. Its not perfect--multiple access is a lot slower than my PowerVault, for example--but it is pretty good protection versus the consumer USB/firewire drives so many use. After the number of failures I've had with those, I'm much more comfortable with the idea of my catastrophic failure being two drives failing at the same time...

Guess everyone is going to have their own comfort zone here. Part of the reason I'd advocate not giving away or selling the original CDs. Those are, ultimately, the last backup...

I'm coming to this thread late, but I have a G-Drive 500G Q Drive to hold music files and use as a back up for my Mac Powerbook and Macbook Pro. I bought it for speed (FW800), reliability, and because it is fanless. I've been happy with the speed and reliability, but for a fanless HD, it is a bit noisier than I'd like. When I'm listening to music from iTunes, the hard disk is spinning and it is fairly loud. When I'm listening to music, it doesn't bother me, but when I'm trying to concentrate with no music, the drive noise seems pretty loud. I agree that RAID's are the way to go if you want the most reliability, since there is a backup built in if the drive fails. Nevertheless, RAID's are a pretty expensive option. I have an old cheap external I can use to back up my iTunes collection.

Howell, by now, you've probably spent some time with the G-Drive. What do you think?

Does anyone know where to find a review of noise ratings for different external hard drives?

Mark