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seattleguy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 28, 2014
2
0
Have a MacBook Pro running OS X Mavericks with a SSD that has a 250 GB capacity which is almost full.

Over the past 2 years, I have used numerous (from Western Digital to Seagate) external hard drives to store data via Time Machine and they all have crashed. I heard the best one to get is a Hitachi and also make sure its a solid state drive (SSD). Someone recommended a Western Digital NAS Redline.

My requirements are:

1. Store Time Machine Backups onto a RAID.

2. Also, use the hard drives to act as a network drive so I don't have to rely on my local 250 GB SSD which is almost full.

3. Need it to be WiFi.

4. Most importantly it needs to be reliable.

Any suggestions would be great... Thank you for taking the time to read this.
 

Altemose

macrumors G3
Mar 26, 2013
9,189
487
Elkton, Maryland
Have a MacBook Pro running OS X Mavericks with a SSD that has a 250 GB capacity which is almost full.

Over the past 2 years, I have used numerous (from Western Digital to Seagate) external hard drives to store data via Time Machine and they all have crashed. I heard the best one to get is a Hitachi and also make sure its a solid state drive (SSD). Someone recommended a Western Digital NAS Redline.

My requirements are:

1. Store Time Machine Backups onto a RAID.

2. Also, use the hard drives to act as a network drive so I don't have to rely on my local 250 GB SSD which is almost full.

3. Need it to be WiFi.

4. Most importantly it needs to be reliable.

Any suggestions would be great... Thank you for taking the time to read this.

This sounds like you would want to have a NAS that supports backups. That being said, I do not think you want a RAID as if one drive goes your backup went with it. That is simply doubling your chances of failure.

You could look at a Time Capsule and an external USB hard drive to do weekly archives to. It would work as a great wireless router, has wonderful reliability, supports up to 3 TB of data, and does Time Machine backups. If you have a little more money then maybe look at a Synology product.
 

seattleguy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 28, 2014
2
0
Altemose,

Thank you for responding... What I want is a set of drives for Time Machine backups and ALSO be able to use as a network drive. Not just for Time Machine but having a shared drive as well... The USB drives keep failing on me - I've had 8 different external hard drives that broke on me. Is there a SSD I can purchase that is highly reliable?
 

Altemose

macrumors G3
Mar 26, 2013
9,189
487
Elkton, Maryland
Altemose,

Thank you for responding... What I want is a set of drives for Time Machine backups and ALSO be able to use as a network drive. Not just for Time Machine but having a shared drive as well... The USB drives keep failing on me - I've had 8 different external hard drives that broke on me. Is there a SSD I can purchase that is highly reliable?

The USB failure is a bit curious... perhaps magnets are around? I use a Samsung 840 Evo SSD in my MacBook Pro. It is a great, speedy, and reliable SSD with a 3 year warranty. I believe it is the most affordable option Samsung offers and it does a great job. Stay away from low end SSDs as you will regret it later. Originally I installed a Verbatim SSD and it was replaced a year later by the Samsung that is how bad it was.

The Time Capsule can work as both a Time Machine location and file sharing NAS. Do note that it is not a true NAS but works fine as long as your needs aren't too excessive. I have a AirPort Extreme with a USB drive and it does fine for saving updates and program installers for when I reload systems.
 
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