Household storage strategy

[markcookky]

I am looking for a good central storage solution for my house (all MAC). I am looking for an option that would be:

• Central to all computers
• Scalably/expandable
• solid option to back up this data (with or without a machine to conduct the backup)
• Option to be used for time machine
• automatically ensure data is mapped
• secure remote access (Bonus)
  
  
  I have ipads, iphones, MacBook Pro, mackbook air, Imac on my network
  
  
  Any help or input is appreciated

 

[Shaggymax]

You may want to look into picking up an older Mac Pro?? They are available for $400 and up...

Room for 6 drives if you utilize optical drive slots. Rock solid machines. Some people will say they consume too much power for a storage machine, but it will hum along for years to come...

Good luck!

 

[tmoerel]

I am looking for a good central storage solution for my house (all MAC). I am looking for an option that would be:

• Central to all computers
• Scalably/expandable
• solid option to back up this data (with or without a machine to conduct the backup)
• Option to be used for time machine
• automatically ensure data is mapped
• secure remote access (Bonus)
  
  
  I have ipads, iphones, MacBook Pro, mackbook air, Imac on my network
  
  
  Any help or input is appreciated

• 
  
  Synology or QNAP Nas with 4 to 5 disks!

 

[Ccrew]

Sounds to me like you're in the market for a NAS device.

Personally I have two of these in the 4 drive configuration: but there are a lot of devices out there that will fit the bill. I had a smaller Synology, and if $ is no object it's definitely one of the best, but I was able to go with a lot more size for less $ with the Netgear

http://www.netgear.com/landing/storage/for_home.html#tabs

I have my internet router hooked to a GigE switch with 2x these running 4x4tb drives in RAID 5 so I essentially have 24TB online that's accessible via wired or wireless. That said, I replicate one to the other for redundancy, which barring my house becoming a smoking crater insures data redundancy as I can lose a drive or a complete unit and still have no ill effects.

Some of the better players though:
http://reviews.cnet.com/best-network-attached-storage/

 

[Weaselboy]

I am looking for a good central storage solution for my house (all MAC). I am looking for an option that would be:

• Central to all computers
• Scalably/expandable
• solid option to back up this data (with or without a machine to conduct the backup)
• Option to be used for time machine
• automatically ensure data is mapped
• secure remote access (Bonus)
  
  
  I have ipads, iphones, MacBook Pro, mackbook air, Imac on my network
  
  
  Any help or input is appreciated

• 
  
  A used Mac Mini with OS X server and some external drives would be perfect for this. Also, this would have support for Time Machine.

 

[kashirat]

I'll echo the recommendations for a NAS, either Synology or QNAP.

I have a QNAP myself, running Crashplan. It's rock solid, does its own power and disk (RAID) management, and can run all sorts of other applications (if that's important to you). Nothing more freeing than having 4 3TB disks presenting you with a massive volume so that you can just stick files in without having to worry too much.

If you're feeling more adventurous, you could also setup your own ZFS NAS...

 

[Benjamin99]

I will second those recommendations for the Synology, I had a 4 bay for a while that worked great, however I was really just using it for a media server. I have since sold it as I was "simplifying", but now and considering another one.

My current setup is an iMac w/ 3x 2tb external drives that house my media, CCC bootable clones, and Time Machine backups. I also use Crashplan for all devices as well...may be a little overkill but I feel ok about it

 

[markcookky]

thank you

I am still looking through all the information posted here. I wanted to add a little about my situation. I have a 2nd Gen Drobo (with Firewire) but have been burned once with data loss and it is quite a bit slow. I do like the idea of flexibility to expand but with expansion comes the hurdle of backing up..

My question would be are the solutions mentioned much different than Drobo or about the same or more advanced, etc...

thanks again

 

[dimme]

A used Mac Mini with OS X server and some external drives would be perfect for this. Also, this would have support for Time Machine.

I went the used mac mini OSX Server route after trying WHS, Linux, free nas. IMO it was the best and most scalable option. I just added another 2 TB drive for a total of 13TB. I run iTunes and home sharing, It is a central spot to up day and sync our iPhones and iPads. Bullet proof time machine solution. VPN support and bit torrent download.