Comments on: New geek gear! http://erikseo.com/blog/2009/reviews/new-geek-gear/ Recent publishings, other photos, and other random events. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 04:08:19 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: SEO http://erikseo.com/blog/2009/reviews/new-geek-gear/comment-page-1/#comment-773 SEO Mon, 21 Dec 2009 07:50:17 +0000 http://erikseo.com/blog/?p=557#comment-773 Thank you for your article Thank you for your article

]]> By: Erik Seo http://erikseo.com/blog/2009/reviews/new-geek-gear/comment-page-1/#comment-484 Erik Seo Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:15:43 +0000 http://erikseo.com/blog/?p=557#comment-484 Yes, it is a bummer. Guess that's what happens when they take over Maxtor and their prices drop. Now we are getting Maxtor's I guess. Back to WD it seems... Yes, it is a bummer. Guess that’s what happens when they take over Maxtor and their prices drop. Now we are getting Maxtor’s I guess. Back to WD it seems…

]]> By: Turbo http://erikseo.com/blog/2009/reviews/new-geek-gear/comment-page-1/#comment-482 Turbo Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:46:43 +0000 http://erikseo.com/blog/?p=557#comment-482 Seagate has really disappointed recently, and I and still holding my breath for my 1TB FreeAgent drive as its twin, my brother's, already failed completely once. WD has had some rocky points in its past, but it's been pretty consistent for a long time. RAID is definitely not optional for your storage needs. Seagate has really disappointed recently, and I and still holding my breath for my 1TB FreeAgent drive as its twin, my brother’s, already failed completely once.

WD has had some rocky points in its past, but it’s been pretty consistent for a long time.

RAID is definitely not optional for your storage needs.

]]> By: Erik Seo http://erikseo.com/blog/2009/reviews/new-geek-gear/comment-page-1/#comment-466 Erik Seo Thu, 02 Jul 2009 07:24:38 +0000 http://erikseo.com/blog/?p=557#comment-466 If you want something that's just easy, the WD My Book Studio Edition or a Drobo is the way to go. Simple, mindless. Drobo is a bit pricey though. http://www.drobo.com If you want something that’s just easy, the WD My Book Studio Edition or a Drobo is the way to go. Simple, mindless. Drobo is a bit pricey though. http://www.drobo.com

]]> By: Julien Dorol http://erikseo.com/blog/2009/reviews/new-geek-gear/comment-page-1/#comment-465 Julien Dorol Thu, 02 Jul 2009 07:21:07 +0000 http://erikseo.com/blog/?p=557#comment-465 Thanks for sharing your experience erik. Not backup thing can be quite complicated...I have work it out soon !! Thanks for sharing your experience erik. Not backup thing can be quite complicated…I have work it out soon !!

]]> By: Erik Seo http://erikseo.com/blog/2009/reviews/new-geek-gear/comment-page-1/#comment-464 Erik Seo Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:19:55 +0000 http://erikseo.com/blog/?p=557#comment-464 Hey Jamie, it depends on if you want to go with a external or internal solution. Also if you are looking for external, if you want an eSATA, or FW800 depending on if you are plugging into a laptop, or a desktop machine. There are pre-built external drives out there that are setup to do a RAID 1 right out of the box but offers no scalability. Western Digital makes a few of these. The solution for an external, scalable system is out there but you have to buy the enclosure (which usually comes with it's own eSATA interface card that you'd need to plug into a desktop) that allows you to put whatever 3.5" desktop hard drives into the enclosure. If you have a Windows machine there are a lot of options out there. If you are running a Mac system, I'd recommend sticking with things you really know were designed for Mac's. One of which is the <a href="http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-drives/RAID/Desktop/" rel="nofollow"><strong>OWC Mercury Pro</strong></a> - it is very scalable, allowing you to put in 4 hard drives to run 2 seperate arrays as well as having options for everything to plug it into your computer. FW800/400, eSATA and USB 2.0. A smaller but not as scalable solution is the <a href="http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/usb/raid_1/Gmax" rel="nofollow"><strong>Guardian Maximus</strong></a> - This enclosure offers the same input options to the computer but is only for 2 drives. It is however something where you can easily swap out drives with for scalability options. Those are a few, there are more out there of course. If you just don't care about scalability then I'd go with the <a href="http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=621" rel="nofollow"><strong>4gb Western Digital My Book Studio Edition</strong>.</a> It has all the computer interfacing options the enclosures above have, but there are quality drives already built in there and ready to go. Plug and play. You can run it as a single drive-like setup using both 2gb drives in a normal read/write mode (JBOD) for a 4gb setup or run them in RAID 1 and have a mirrored drive setup for 2GB. Hope that helps. Hey Jamie, it depends on if you want to go with a external or internal solution. Also if you are looking for external, if you want an eSATA, or FW800 depending on if you are plugging into a laptop, or a desktop machine. There are pre-built external drives out there that are setup to do a RAID 1 right out of the box but offers no scalability. Western Digital makes a few of these. The solution for an external, scalable system is out there but you have to buy the enclosure (which usually comes with it’s own eSATA interface card that you’d need to plug into a desktop) that allows you to put whatever 3.5″ desktop hard drives into the enclosure. If you have a Windows machine there are a lot of options out there.

If you are running a Mac system, I’d recommend sticking with things you really know were designed for Mac’s. One of which is the OWC Mercury Pro – it is very scalable, allowing you to put in 4 hard drives to run 2 seperate arrays as well as having options for everything to plug it into your computer. FW800/400, eSATA and USB 2.0. A smaller but not as scalable solution is the Guardian Maximus – This enclosure offers the same input options to the computer but is only for 2 drives. It is however something where you can easily swap out drives with for scalability options. Those are a few, there are more out there of course.

If you just don’t care about scalability then I’d go with the 4gb Western Digital My Book Studio Edition. It has all the computer interfacing options the enclosures above have, but there are quality drives already built in there and ready to go. Plug and play. You can run it as a single drive-like setup using both 2gb drives in a normal read/write mode (JBOD) for a 4gb setup or run them in RAID 1 and have a mirrored drive setup for 2GB.

Hope that helps.

]]> By: Jamie Bishop http://erikseo.com/blog/2009/reviews/new-geek-gear/comment-page-1/#comment-461 Jamie Bishop Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:14:11 +0000 http://erikseo.com/blog/?p=557#comment-461 hey erik do you have any recommendations for a raid 1 array? I'm looking at setting one up rather than all the external drives I've been using. Any suggestions would be great. cheers jb hey erik

do you have any recommendations for a raid 1 array? I’m looking at setting one up rather than all the external drives I’ve been using. Any suggestions would be great.

cheers
jb

]]> By: Erik Seo http://erikseo.com/blog/2009/reviews/new-geek-gear/comment-page-1/#comment-458 Erik Seo Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:35:10 +0000 http://erikseo.com/blog/?p=557#comment-458 Reuben, I have (4) 1tb hard drives in (2) seperate RAID 1 arrays. Basically they are (2) 1tb drives, each being mirrored to a backup as they are written to. Also in the tower are a 74gb 10,000 RPM Raptor HD for a startup and another for a scratch disk as well as another 250gb drive for random stuff like music. I have the RAID array's backed up on seperate drives stored on-site in a fireproof safe, and also on a web backup, which is backed up off site as well. Think that's paranoid? Wait till you lose photos for the first time. Reuben, I have (4) 1tb hard drives in (2) seperate RAID 1 arrays. Basically they are (2) 1tb drives, each being mirrored to a backup as they are written to. Also in the tower are a 74gb 10,000 RPM Raptor HD for a startup and another for a scratch disk as well as another 250gb drive for random stuff like music.

I have the RAID array’s backed up on seperate drives stored on-site in a fireproof safe, and also on a web backup, which is backed up off site as well. Think that’s paranoid? Wait till you lose photos for the first time.

]]> By: Reuben Krabbe http://erikseo.com/blog/2009/reviews/new-geek-gear/comment-page-1/#comment-457 Reuben Krabbe Tue, 30 Jun 2009 01:47:03 +0000 http://erikseo.com/blog/?p=557#comment-457 so you've got your running drive, then two mirrored drives in a RAID? no off site backup in case of household explosions or theft? so you’ve got your running drive, then two mirrored drives in a RAID? no off site backup in case of household explosions or theft?

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