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DPChallenge Forums >> Hardware and Software >> Desktop RAID solution
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 03/28/2007 07:31:57 PM · #1
I just ordered one of these for work

Thecus N2050

I ordered (2) 320GB drives as well from Newegg. Total cost was right at $300. I plan to mirror the drives for some much needed safe storage.

My post has 2 purposes 1) To inform people that these are out there and 2) To ask if anyone had used one of these before.
03/28/2007 07:44:04 PM · #2
So is this basically a USB 2.0 external hard drive case that you install the drives yourself, it looks like a reasonable price for that much storage.
 03/28/2007 07:54:46 PM · #3
Originally posted by buzzrock:
So is this basically a USB 2.0 external hard drive case that you install the drives yourself, it looks like a reasonable price for that much storage.


I believe the value is that it is eSATA as well and not just limited to USB 2.0.
 03/28/2007 07:55:03 PM · #4
Originally posted by buzzrock:
So is this basically a USB 2.0 external hard drive case that you install the drives yourself, it looks like a reasonable price for that much storage.


Yes but it has 2 additional features, RAID and eSATA.
 03/28/2007 08:18:07 PM · #5
Personally, I think RAID Storage should be done at the Motherboard level for a number of reasons. I'll be interested in a follow up to this thread in performance and long term storage. This is a very economical solution, but you could accomplish this same task with two drives syncing locally.

I have had multiple disc failures over the years, each with a marginal loss of photos. This is always a painful situation.

I currently run a RAID 5 configuration, and I am much more confident about dealing with photos prior to DVD backups. (Makes me lazy)

If you don't have a Hard Copies in your workflow, you are asking for trouble.

03/28/2007 08:28:16 PM · #6
Originally posted by DJLuba:
Personally, I think RAID Storage should be done at the Motherboard level for a number of reasons. I'll be interested in a follow up to this thread in performance and long term storage. This is a very economical solution, but you could accomplish this same task with two drives syncing locally.

I have had multiple disc failures over the years, each with a marginal loss of photos. This is always a painful situation.

I currently run a RAID 5 configuration, and I am much more confident about dealing with photos prior to DVD backups. (Makes me lazy)

If you don't have a Hard Copies in your workflow, you are asking for trouble.


I have implemented about 10 internal RAID solutions. Many using Promise cards and some using high dollar controllers. These all work but I see three benefits of using an external solution like these 1) no driver or OS support required on all modern systems 2) no internal space or hardware required 3) it's portable. You just unplug it and take it with you.

I personally have been waiting for a simple one of these for a long time and this will mark my first trial.
 03/28/2007 08:41:28 PM · #7
I've become a fan of the Buffalo Terastation (that's the 1Tb model, there's a 2Tb model as well.

Bottom line: 1Tb for approx US$500, 2Tb for US$1000, RAID 5 (or 1, and it works. We've deployed these in a number of environments and they've held up very well (ie - they work). Lots of RAIDed space, cheap.

I have not used the one you're going for, I'd like to hear how it goes - good luck! :)
 03/28/2007 08:44:04 PM · #8
Originally posted by TJinGuy:


I have implemented about 10 internal RAID solutions. Many using Promise cards and some using high dollar controllers. These all work but I see three benefits of using an external solution like these 1) no driver or OS support required on all modern systems 2) no internal space or hardware required 3) it's portable. You just unplug it and take it with you.

I personally have been waiting for a simple one of these for a long time and this will mark my first trial.


I have heard nothing but bad news on USB remote drives, due to copy issues and the OS. So let us know how this goes for you. You are trailblazing with your photos!
 03/28/2007 08:50:27 PM · #9
Originally posted by alfresco:
I've become a fan of the Buffalo Terastation (that's the 1Tb model, there's a 2Tb model as well.

So you're a fan of the home version even though it'll be a royal PITA come time to swap out a dead drive? I think it's worth the extra dough to get the Pro version because when (not if but when) a drive fails it's a 5 minute swap not 30 minutes and a bunch of screws.
 03/28/2007 08:53:16 PM · #10
Nope - I like the pro not the home version for that very reason. Thank you for pointing that out EugDude :)

Us link to explore various Terastation options :)
 04/03/2007 05:24:54 PM · #11
Warning: Long post.

I got the external raid enclosure on Friday and have had a few days to play with it. First results are good, not perfect but good. Here is what I have learned

1) I is a little bigger than I imagined. The foot print is about the same size as two 3.5" hard drives laying next each other. Other wise it is a very nice size.

2) It is nice looking except for the LEDs on the front. The blue ones are very bright and spill over into the green activity lights, almost washing them out. The quick use of a sharpie made things much better. Also, don't have this thing sit eye level with you, it will make you go blind. Typical blue LED issues.

3) It is quite but that is not a great thing. They should have put a bigger fan in it because it gets toasty inside. Around 130f from my measurements. That worries me a little. It is well under the max operating temp of the drives but it is still a bit warm.

4) The LEDs on the front don't show much. You kinda have to trust it to do the right thing when you first set it up. When it is mirroring the drives, it shows no activity. Nor does it show when it is finished. It is supposed to blink the slave light as it copies, and maybe it is, but I think since the drives are matched, the light blinks so fast it just looks like it is solid on. Once it has finished mirroring and you plug it in and use it, the LED info is fine.

5) It is as fast as any other USB drive I have used. I copied 10GB of my photos to it and Vista was showing 19.7 MB/sec.

I have failed it over twice to see what happens. I turned it off, pulled the #2 drive out and turned it back on. The #2 lights blinked to let me know it had failed. I plugged it in to my pc and all the data was there and accessible. While I had the #2 drive out, I tried to read it from a Win2000 machine but windows would not allow me to do anything with it until I formatted it. I am not sure if the NTFS from Vista is 100% compatible with Win2000. Or maybe the RAID controller is writing a non-standard MBR or something. I rebuilt the array and failed #1 with the same results. It seems to be doing exactly what it is designed to do.

My final thoughts are as follows ... I like it a lot but I am worried about the heat issue. Maybe the drives I bought run hotter than I am used to but it worries me. Maybe I will cut a big hole in the side and put in a second fan. With the short term testing I have done so far, I would trust my data to it and I plan to use it for that soon.

Here are a few pics


Yeah I used my crappy old Nikon 2100 for the pics, deal with it.

Message edited by author 2007-04-03 17:30:31.
 04/03/2007 06:42:55 PM · #12
Originally posted by _eug:
Originally posted by alfresco:
I've become a fan of the Buffalo Terastation (that's the 1Tb model, there's a 2Tb model as well.

So you're a fan of the home version even though it'll be a royal PITA come time to swap out a dead drive? I think it's worth the extra dough to get the Pro version because when (not if but when) a drive fails it's a 5 minute swap not 30 minutes and a bunch of screws.


Similar, but different, I have a ReadyNAS X6 box from //www.infrant.com

Message edited by author 2007-04-03 18:43:20.
 04/04/2007 01:07:39 PM · #13
I just now filled up my hard drives backing up old stuff. I've been using two different drives and mirroring them manually for safety so I figure it's time to get a RAID setup and simplify things.

The setup that Gordon listed looks nice especially for adding/swapping drives.

Originally posted by Gordon:
Similar, but different, I have a ReadyNAS X6 box from //www.infrant.com


I was also looking at the Buffalo DriveStation Quattro since it looks relatively simple to setup and use and I'm not sure I want to be dealing with network storage. _eug brought up a good point though, which was the ease of swapping out drives. I'm not sure how well it would work with the DriveStation.

I'm wondering if A) Anyone has any experience with the DriveStation or knows how easy/difficult it would be to swap out the drives, and B) For anyone using the TeraStation is it network-only or can you connect it directly to a computer through USB?
 04/04/2007 01:14:33 PM · #14
Originally posted by TJinGuy:
Warning: Long post.

Maybe I will cut a big hole in the side and put in a second fan.


Hell yes, do it, heat kills!


04/04/2007 04:47:39 PM · #15
-Bump anyone else have experience with any of these drives/enclosures?
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