Storage/Backup Dilemma

[DJAKO]

I've been ripping a lot of my normal SD and HD-DVD movies lately to keep on my desktop. I have been looking at some possible RAID solutions.

I don't know wether I should just buy a product such as the HP MediaSmart Server EX470 or something like the Drobo (wish it was networkable out of the box).

Or do you think I should just buy a cheap case and mobo and just build my own? If I did go that route.

Don't have to much knowledge around all these products, so any help would be appreciated.

Another note, I have my Macbok Pro as my main computer and also a Windows Vista Desktop I use for a lot of my encoding (see sig). So I'd like both systems to be able to easily use whatever product I end up going with.

 

[tersono]

I'd lean towards Synology's CubeStation RAID 5 solution, which is about the most mac-friendly of all of the options out there. You can start with one or two drives and add extras later if required.

 

[DJAKO]

I'd lean towards Synology's CubeStation RAID 5 solution, which is about the most mac-friendly of all of the options out there. You can start with one or two drives and add extras later if required.

Very nice solution, I'll look into it. Don't know if I need all the features it offers though, web hosting, printer sharing, etc. While all those features are nice, I don't want to pay for something I won't be using.

 

[JrdBeau]

I'd lean towards Synology's CubeStation RAID 5 solution, which is about the most mac-friendly of all of the options out there. You can start with one or two drives and add extras later if required.

I'll second this recommendation. I have the Synology CS407 and it's a great box, especially with the new firmware update!

Jared

 

[DJAKO]

Do you think it's better to go with one of those premade solutions or build my own?

 

[micsaund]

Any idea what the difference between the CS407 and CS407e is? On Amazon, there's a $100 difference between the two ($599 and $499 respectively).

Thanks for the tip - that's a nice NAS for the money it seems. $500 is still quite a bit for an empty case, but it's a big chunk better than the $800+ that many are. And the Drobo, no matter how interesting, is also in that price range once you add the network gizmo, so it's too much as well for an empty case...

Mike

 

[JrdBeau]

Any idea what the difference between the CS407 and CS407e is? On Amazon, there's a $100 difference between the two ($599 and $499 respectively).

Thanks for the tip - that's a nice NAS for the money it seems. $500 is still quite a bit for an empty case, but it's a big chunk better than the $800+ that many are. And the Drobo, no matter how interesting, is also in that price range once you add the network gizmo, so it's too much as well for an empty case...

Mike

The CS407 runs at 500MHz and has 128MB of RAM while the CS407e runs at 266MHz and has 64MB of RAM. Also, the CS407 is all black and the CS407e is white with a black facing. You can see the full comparison here:

http://synology.com/enu/products/compare_spec.php

I think there are some performance comparisons in the forums on the Synology website.


Jared

 

[DJAKO]

Any idea what the difference between the CS407 and CS407e is? On Amazon, there's a $100 difference between the two ($599 and $499 respectively).

Thanks for the tip - that's a nice NAS for the money it seems. $500 is still quite a bit for an empty case, but it's a big chunk better than the $800+ that many are. And the Drobo, no matter how interesting, is also in that price range once you add the network gizmo, so it's too much as well for an empty case...

Mike

Ya, that's what I was thinking...$500 bucks for an empty case when I could buy a box, mobo, processor, some ram, raid card, for less

 

[JrdBeau]

Ya, that's what I was thinking...$500 bucks for an empty case when I could buy a box, mobo, processor, some ram, raid card, for less

Yeah, it was definitely a big pill to swallow up front. I used to have a separate Linux box running all of these services. What attracted me to the Synology box was the physical footprint (9"D x 7.25"H x 6.5"W), electrical footprint (under 50W at idle) and ease of use. Those are tough numbers to achieve with a separate PC. One less thing to worry about for me

However, with simplicity comes compromises.