Portable raid

[No-Me]

Because I'm always struggling with my photo libraries and other large projects I'm looking for a portable raid. I'm using SSD's in a USB enclosure, but have had some drive errors that caused me quite a lot of pain so would like to have something that's a little safer.

I found the Drobo mini and the Western Digital My Passport Pro, are there any others I need to take a look at? Thunderbolt connection is a plus.

 

[CaptainWD]

Because I'm always struggling with my photo libraries and other large projects I'm looking for a portable raid. I'm using SSD's in a USB enclosure, but have had some drive errors that caused me quite a lot of pain so would like to have something that's a little safer.

I found the Drobo mini and the Western Digital My Passport Pro, are there any others I need to take a look at? Thunderbolt connection is a plus.

Hey there No-Me,

WD My Passport Pro is indeed a good portable RAID solution.
I could suggest checking a couple of more Thunderbolt RAID solutions. They are not as compact as the My Passport but are still portable/movable, work great and support RAID0, RAID1 and JBOD.
WD My Book Thunderbolt Duo: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=630#Tab3 (this drive is formatted for Mac, with RAID0 it can reach up to 300MB/s, works at 10 Gb/s and you have the opportunity to swap the drives in case either of them fail).
WD My Book VelociRaptor Duo: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=860#Tab3 (has the same features as the Thunderbolt Duo but comes with 2 10,000 rpm WD VelociRaptor drives, boosting speed even more).

You can always get a 2-bay enclosure, put 2 similar drives and configure them in RAID if you don't want to use a preconfigured and prebuilt device.
Do have in mind that RAID (even Mirror types of RAID) is not a backup itself. It only offers redundancy if it's the only place you store that data. I would suggest backing up that data elsewhere if you are using those portable drives as main drives and not as a backup.

You could always go for a NAS solution.

Hope this helps,

Captain_WD.

 

[No-Me]

Thanks!

I could suggest checking a couple of more Thunderbolt RAID solutions. They are not as compact as the My Passport but are still portable/movable, work great and support RAID0, RAID1 and JBOD.

Yes I've looked at those, but they are not really portable, I want to be able to easily take it on location.

Do have in mind that RAID (even Mirror types of RAID) is not a backup itself. It only offers redundancy if it's the only place you store that data. I would suggest backing up that data elsewhere if you are using those portable drives as main drives and not as a backup.

I already have taken care of that, I back up to a server and 2 NAS'ses automatically, it's the drive failure (and speed) why I want a raid solution.

 

[CaptainWD]

I want to be able to easily take it on location.

I already have taken care of that, I back up to a server and 2 NAS'ses automatically, it's the drive failure (and speed) why I want a raid solution.

Well, in that case, My Passport Pro would be the choice from the Western Digital line of products.
Have you considered portable single SSD in an enclosure? They are much less likely to fail due to physical damage (shaking, droping, vibrations, etc.), work much faster than regular HDDs and since you have everything backed up on the NAS, you won't have to worry about your data. Static electricity would be the only thing you should be worried about.

Captain_WD.

 

[No-Me]

Have you considered portable single SSD in an enclosure?

Yes, that's what I do right now, I'm using OWC enclosures with samsung and crucial SDD's, but every other month I get disk errors and need to repair the disks, really annoying.

 

[CaptainWD]

Yes, that's what I do right now, I'm using OWC enclosures with samsung and crucial SDD's, but every other month I get disk errors and need to repair the disks, really annoying.

That's strange :/

Have you tried those SSDs internally to see if the problem persists? Maybe the problem is in the enclosure itself? If they are faulty, maybe you can go for a RMA.

Captain_WD.

 

[DavidDoyle]

How about the Pegasus2 M4?

http://www.promise.com/promotion_page/promotion_page.aspx?region=en-global&rsn=101

Portable, thunderbolt connected and hardware RAID.

 

[No-Me]

How about the Pegasus2 M4?

http://www.promise.com/promotion_page/promotion_page.aspx?region=en-global&rsn=101

Portable, thunderbolt connected and hardware RAID.

Looks nice, but not really portable as in throw it in my backpack portable
Thats why I was also looking at the drobo mini: http://www.drobo.com/storage-products/mini/

Can also handle 4 drives, does have thunderbolt and it looks like it fits in a bag easily.

 

[phrehdd]

Since you are pretty much looking at SSD or 2.5" laptop drives, you ought to consider for the former that TRIM might not work with USB3. This leaves Thunderbolt as the only option. If there is anyone out there who can refute this reference to USB3 external SSD drives not being TRIM-able, please do. It would be excellent if this hurdle could be avoided.

The Pegasus J4 might be worth investigating and though it costs more than the DROBO...they seem to have a popular following.

You should also investigate whether these external drives require external power via AC or battery or from your source (computer).

 

[No-Me]

you ought to consider for the former that TRIM might not work with USB3.

THAT explains a lot, Thanks!

And it also gives me a lot less options, maybe I'll just go for the WD for now.