Posted by Ed Cordes on January 4, 2009 at 10:07 AM
This is a long post, so I appreciate your indulgence.
I currently have about 500 Gig of data backed up on an external 1 TB drive. My computer has two 500 Gig HDs, one of which I have been using as a primary back up of OS, software and programs and current year's data. Previous year's data is on the external 1 TB drive along with a back up of the current year. So the picture is as follows:
C Drive - OS, Programs and current year's images
D Drive - copy of above
External - copy of all images from previous years as well as those on C and D drives.
For the record images from previous years are also backed up on yet another external drive so I have 2 copies of everything.
I want to change the organization to separate the OS and Programs on one drive and the images and data on another. If I do this I can make an Acronis back up of just the drive containing the OS and programs which can be used as a bootable emergency back up in case of disaster.
My plan would then be to have 2 drives with the data, one internal and one external.
So, first question is does this make sense as a good strategy?
Second question is can I replace one of my 500 Gig internal drives with a 1 TB internal (probably a WD Caviar) for internal data storage and fast access by programs like Bridge and PhotoShop? Is inserting the new drive pretty much plug and play, format to NTFS and add data?
Third question is can I just copy the files from "My Documents" from the C drive to the new 1 TB D drive and when it comes up direct the software (PhotoShop, Bridge, Word, Excel,etc.) to seek data on the D drive?
I will, of course, have another 1 TB drive as data back up for the D drive stored off site in case of emergency.
So, does this sound like a good idea? Am I off base in approach?
BTW, I have looked into Drobo, Burley, and other stack able disk solutions and pretty much decided I don't quite need that much space yet. I already own a 1 TB external for data and a 300 GB external for OS and Program back up, so all I would have to spend is the $ for a new 1 TB internal drive (about $140). When this process is completed I will also have an additional 500 Gig SATA drive I can put in an enclosure for an additional external when I need it.
Thanks or your help
Posted by Jerry Greer on January 4, 2009 at 11:01 AM
Ed,
I'm running a docked mobile workstation and my setup consists of 3 externals for backup connected by Firewire 800 and USB 2.0. My main drives for my images are two 1tb externals in Antec actively cooled enclosures connect by eSATA. These two drives are as fast as internals! I looked at the Drobo but I really want eSATA connection for the true speed of things. If you want speed and the ease of just adding cooled externals get an eSATA card for your system. BTW, I was just reading about WD's new 1.5tb SATA HDD and it sells for about $160! Not bad!
Posted by Ed Cordes on January 4, 2009 at 12:43 PM
Thanks for your response Jerry. I will probably add eSATA in the future. Right now I believe I can get by for about 1-2 years using an internal 1 or the new 1 1/2 TB drive and use the external for back up only. By the time I need to add more capacity I will need a new computer and I will order it with all I need to manage external data access.
I have heard there are issues with the 1.5TB drives from Seagate. Do the WD drives have a better rep?
Discussion
2 repliesI currently have about 500 Gig of data backed up on an external 1 TB drive. My computer has two 500 Gig HDs, one of which I have been using as a primary back up of OS, software and programs and current year's data. Previous year's data is on the external 1 TB drive along with a back up of the current year. So the picture is as follows:
C Drive - OS, Programs and current year's images
D Drive - copy of above
External - copy of all images from previous years as well as those on C and D drives.
For the record images from previous years are also backed up on yet another external drive so I have 2 copies of everything.
I want to change the organization to separate the OS and Programs on one drive and the images and data on another. If I do this I can make an Acronis back up of just the drive containing the OS and programs which can be used as a bootable emergency back up in case of disaster.
My plan would then be to have 2 drives with the data, one internal and one external.
So, first question is does this make sense as a good strategy?
Second question is can I replace one of my 500 Gig internal drives with a 1 TB internal (probably a WD Caviar) for internal data storage and fast access by programs like Bridge and PhotoShop? Is inserting the new drive pretty much plug and play, format to NTFS and add data?
Third question is can I just copy the files from "My Documents" from the C drive to the new 1 TB D drive and when it comes up direct the software (PhotoShop, Bridge, Word, Excel,etc.) to seek data on the D drive?
I will, of course, have another 1 TB drive as data back up for the D drive stored off site in case of emergency.
So, does this sound like a good idea? Am I off base in approach?
BTW, I have looked into Drobo, Burley, and other stack able disk solutions and pretty much decided I don't quite need that much space yet. I already own a 1 TB external for data and a 300 GB external for OS and Program back up, so all I would have to spend is the $ for a new 1 TB internal drive (about $140). When this process is completed I will also have an additional 500 Gig SATA drive I can put in an enclosure for an additional external when I need it.
Thanks or your help
I'm running a docked mobile workstation and my setup consists of 3 externals for backup connected by Firewire 800 and USB 2.0. My main drives for my images are two 1tb externals in Antec actively cooled enclosures connect by eSATA. These two drives are as fast as internals! I looked at the Drobo but I really want eSATA connection for the true speed of things. If you want speed and the ease of just adding cooled externals get an eSATA card for your system. BTW, I was just reading about WD's new 1.5tb SATA HDD and it sells for about $160! Not bad!
I have heard there are issues with the 1.5TB drives from Seagate. Do the WD drives have a better rep?