Should we move to Networked Storage?

Tape Drives -> Floppies -> Zip Drives -> Optical Media -> External HDD -> NAS -> Cloud Storage

What I mentioned above is the way we kept/keep our backup of our precious data( please correct me if I missed any). currently all of my ~~backup~~ data is kept in my primary hard drives.. I dont know when it will fail. I was thinking about investing in a NAS(Network Attached Storage) but I found a alternate (A Media Player with NAS capability).
External USB HDD are not the safest bet. yes they might be cheap compared to NAS but is the risk of hardware failure worth your precious data?

Also with homes becoming smart and multiple devices accessing internet/personal data.. I feel its smarter to invest in a NAS than on a External USB device. I think hat vendors should start looking at Home segment for cheaper NAS devices. I cant say about Cloud Storage as state of internet is pathetic in India.

so what do you guys say? should we start moving to NAS and Cloud Storage or stick to External HDD Storage?

I just keep redundancy in multiple hdds.

M

I keep multiple copies of important data across hdd and dvd.. Also store important docs and pictures in Picasa, sky net, drop box etc, amazon cloud etc.. In us we can subscribe to crash proof service...

I too keep my Important pics in desktop HDD, laptop HDD, external HDD, DVD, then upload it on flicker,picasa,500px

but a NAS drive idea is good one...whats the cost per GB/month Rcuber

In a country like India? Of course not. Internet connectivity is still slow, unreliable and costly in most of the country. Plus I like the concept of self sufficiency; not relying on a machine you know not where to store my data.

Chetan1991 said:
In a country like India? Of course not. Internet connectivity is still slow, unreliable and costly in most of the country. Plus I like the concept of self sufficiency; not relying on a machine you know not where to store my data.

India is developing.
I'm not talking about bsnl fiber
In some places ISP's like beam offer 20mbps up and down for 1000Rs

So if there is some online storage service like 1Tb for a reasonable price 100-500 Rs per year,
I would definitely go for it

Won't nas have HDD failure???

R

Best is to have clone drive. Use one and store another. There is no way you will lose data.

kARTechnology said:
India is developing.
I'm not talking about bsnl fiber
In some places ISP's like beam offer 20mbps up and down for 1000Rs

So if there is some online storage service like 1Tb for a reasonable price 100-500 Rs per year,
I would definitely go for it

Won't nas have HDD failure???

Our average speed is still somewhere b/w 256-512Kbps. Do you realize that?

rajnusker said:
Best is to have clone drive. Use one and store another. There is no way you will lose data.

Our average speed is still somewhere b/w 256-512Kbps. Do you realize that?

Yep I too faced that in bsnl Bb
These bsnl guys never provide good upload speeds.
But in fiber, Currently I pay 600pm and get 3mbps up and down until 30gb after that 1mbps

I had more than 4 HDD failures
But now it is okay as I'm using good psu
Cloning is definitely a good idea but how many years can we maintain it
Imagine a tsunami, earthquake, or fire or lightning surge or high voltage and the drive is damaged,
You will really feel very sad if you lose photos and videos which you are saving for the future generations

So a lifetime online unlimited storage membership which can be passed on to other family members like wealth will be a blessing!!!

Friendly storage.

Dump your data on your friend's machine who has excess of storage.

ico said:
Friendly storage.

Dump your data on your friend's machine who has excess of storage.

none of my friends have storage more than 250gb.....
anyway if they had, they will buy 1tb hdd for some reason(own use) ...

M

^^ upload small (but important docs to cloud.)
DVD's are pretty reliable too .. and usb drives..

mastercool8695 said:
^^ upload small (but important docs to cloud.)
DVD's are pretty reliable too .. and usb drives..

i have 50gb in box.net , 25gb in skydrive
are there any other services offering huge free storage(not dropbox)

the best form of storage is the internet, make multiple accounts and spread everything via torrents and mega

M

^^ if you have good stuff, try torrents. cuz you are sharing and making your data live longer.. but only if you have things tht people will download and still keep seeding ..

for personal stuff i dont think you need more.. and did you forget Gmail ?? just upload and send it to yourself.. or better , save as draft..

go for gmail..

mastercool8695 said:
^^ if you have good stuff, try torrents. cuz you are sharing and making your data live longer.. but only if you have things tht people will download and still keep seeding ..

for personal stuff i dont think you need more.. and did you forget Gmail ?? just upload and send it to yourself.. or better , save as draft..

go for gmail..

everything has an expiry date.

I think the next logical step would be external hdd>>NAS storage.........................................................then cloud.
For cloud it would take atleast 3~4 years or even more as we know our broadband condition will not improve much in the coming year.
Cheap quality NAS would be safer bet in the long term as it has proven low failure rate.
Even if you cant afford NAS...then you can go for data duplicity....store same data in multiple drives....it will consume your storage...but hey its safe....!

max_snyper said:
I think the next logical step would be external hdd>>NAS storage.........................................................then cloud.
For cloud it would take atleast 3~4 years or even more as we know our broadband condition will not improve much in the coming year.
Cheap quality NAS would be safer bet in the long term as it has proven low failure rate.
Even if you cant afford NAS...then you can go for data duplicity....store same data in multiple drives....it will consume your storage...but hey its safe....!

NAS also uses same HDD as the pc uses
So how will it have a low failure rate?
Can any old pc be turned into a NAS?
I have a old AMD sempron with 1gb ram and 2 SATA1 ports with 100mbps Ethernet... Fairly old enough, right? How much power will it consume???

And if you do frequent backups of big files you need a gigabit connection to be future proof and 5ghz WiFi if you use laptop
I'm planning to buy a gigabit., dual band router soon

ico said:
Friendly storage.

Dump your data on your friend's machine who has excess of storage.

you my friend, are a GENIUS

kARTechnology said:
And if you do frequent backups of big files you need a gigabit connection to be future proof and 5ghz WiFi if you use laptop

5Ghz doesn't means faster WiFi.

W

^^exactly.in fact more the frequency lesser will be the wavelength which in turn means lesser range though higher frequency means more energy ~~so within that lesser range 5GHz wave will penetrate obstacles better than 2.4GHz wave.~~

whitestar_999 said:
5GHz wave will penetrate obstacles better than 2.4GHz wave.

this is wrong i suppose, correct me if i am wrong
5ghz cannot penetrate as good as 2.4ghz thats why it has less range but less suspectibe to interference

How about RAID ??

d3p said:
How about RAID ??

raid1?
what if u get very high voltage
and psu and along with mobo and hdd die?

just thinking all different instances

of course a high quality psu will protect by sacrificing itself

kARTechnology said:
NAS also uses same HDD as the pc uses
So how will it have a low failure rate?
Can any old pc be turned into a NAS?
I have a old AMD sempron with 1gb ram and 2 SATA1 ports with 100mbps Ethernet... Fairly old enough, right? How much power will it consume???

And if you do frequent backups of big files you need a gigabit connection to be future proof and 5ghz WiFi if you use laptop
I'm planning to buy a gigabit., dual band router soon

NAS hdds can be logically arranged (RAID)...Data loss is less when compared to pc storage.
PC can also be configured for Raid...but that will inturn slow your pc down in the long run (more data.....slower the performance).
Your old pc can be used as a data storage server...it would be good...and less costly solution.....totally be configured using OS (windows,linux).

kARTechnology said:
this is wrong i suppose, correct me if i am wrong
5ghz cannot penetrate as good as 2.4ghz thats why it has less range but less suspectibe to interference

Yes, you're right about this. 5Ghz have got weaker penetration against solid objects.

W

i was wrong earlier.5Ghz radio waves indeed have lower penetrating power than 2.4GHz.i was thinking about x-ray & gamma ray but totally forgot about excitation potential.

R

ico said:
Friendly storage.

Dump your data on your friend's machine who has excess of storage.

Have been doing that for quite a while now. Not reliable, but works.

kARTechnology said:
raid1?
what if u get very high voltage
and psu and along with mobo and hdd die?

just thinking all different instances

of course a high quality psu will protect by sacrificing itself

What if an earthquake occurs?

rajnusker said:
Have been doing that for quite a while now. Not reliable, but works.

What if an earthquake occurs?

Asked already in post #8

see this

*www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/how-can-we-trust-google-drive-or-any-cloud-storage-service/