Storage Space

[svx]

Hey!  I'm svx(s)
and I have a problem

I have a LOT of data, all scattered around, and I'm not sure what to do about it!

I have lots of source code I've written (I'd be devastated if a crash lost it all)
I have lots of anime (more than 2 terabytes, and growing whenever I find a show I like)
Lots of movies (will definitely grow to >1 terabyte, though I only download movies in DVD quality rips ~800 MB apiece...)
Lots of ISO images (I store ISO copies of games I like, especially for the PC and PSP)
Etc, etc...

In my arsenal, I have these tools for storage:

One of the fastest SSD's on the enthusiast market - a 60 GB OCZ PCI-E RevoDrive
A truly innumerable amount of 80 GB IBM eServer SATA hard drives
One cheap Western Digital 500 GB hard drive
One cheap Western Digital 1 TB hard drive
A server with around 1 TB of additional storage space at my mom's house (she has 20 megabit/sec internet; I can't get it yet)
A brother who keeps copies of all my anime, music, movies, etc on his computer
A lot of CD's and DVD's, a 512 MB thumb drive, a 1 GB thumb drive

My problem:

One of my 500 GB Western Digital hard drives blew up!  I lost nothing (thankfully) because it happened to be around the time I was consolidating and backing up all of my really important data.  But it got me thinking about my storage problems.  I have a lot of data, and no way to keep it safe and redundant!

My 60 GB RevoDrive is used entirely for operating system files, and for very small/important data (my encrypted bitcoin wallets, my source code) -- everything else is just... everywhere

I'm thinking about going this route - Two 80 GB 2.5" SSD's (my case has mounts for them) - one for Linux, one for Windows.  My RevoDrive could keep the main OS files, but these two additional SSD's could store the other stuff (/var and /opt and stuff for Linux, Program Files and Program Files (x86) for Windows, respectively)

And then, to keep my computer light since I travel to/from my brother's house, my friends' houses, my mom's house, etc, I was thinking about getting two external hard drives, both 2 TB USB 3.0, to store all of the media that I care about (anime, music, movies, etc)

But I wanted OSC input on this.  Are there better options?  Should I burn DVD's / invest in a Blu Ray player instead, and keep what I've got?  Buy a bunch of thumb drives?  Any particular models of external USB 3.0 hard drives that are better than others that I should consider if I do it the way I'm thinking?  Any input will help.  It really is a nightmare to manage as much data as I have over so many tiny units, scattered all over the place...

[Paul]

Hmm, those 2TB drives sound like a nice idea. I'd take WD or Hitachi, based on personal experience (Seagates tend to die quite a lot for me and a friend's Fujitsu also crapped out recently).

The only problem with those large drives is, if the drive dies it takes all the data on there to the grave too. Since those drives are pretty cheap anyway, I'd suggest taking a third 2TB drive and mirroring all the important data from the other two.
Of course you could also look for a used badass RAID solution (HP EVA for instance) if you want such a beast ^^

[NejinOniwa]

I'd suggest Seagate, actually, since WD have been quite bad in my service...

[Red-Machine]

I'd suggest Samsung.  Their Spinpoint F3s are the best on the market.

[NejinOniwa]

Samsungs have a good service record with me, I suppose. I'm just sorta fanboying over my hideously great 1TB seagate external -w-;

[Chocofreak13]

i'm one to agree with paul; after using WD for years i've only had one problem, and i'm more willing to attribute that to rough handling of an internal drive.

also, if you want my input, i once again vote with paul on the trio of externals. however, being the queen of free that i am, i have an alternate suggestion:
if you have access to a computer dump (there was a stockpile of old computers at my high school; they sent all the old computers from the district there to be recycled), try breaking open and taking the spare drives. most of the ones you'll find will probably be on the small side, but i found both my 80gb drives that way, and i didn't pay a dime.

after that, either use them internally or invest in an IDE/SATA to USB converter (even if you don't use this method, they're still useful to have for debugging purposes), thinkgeek has them starting at 35 bucks. after that, use the found internals for extra storage. :3

[svx]

Thanks for all the input guys!

With a bit of hardware, I'll have this all fixed nicely :p

My opinion on HDD manufacturers is a bit skewed too I guess...
I remember back in the day, it felt like there were more options because they were just more accessible
Real IBM hard drives were affordable, Quantum was AMAZING, etc, etc.

Back then, there existed a company called Western Digital.  It wasn't the Western Digital of this age, however;
rather, it was a front from which Vlad Dracula (alias: CyberVlad (MUST BE BOLD)) would operate his data theft mafia.

And they didn't just steal data.  Not like how they'd do it today. No, back then CyberVlad/Western Digital invented a hardware mechanism that they placed on their drives that created a miniature black hole which compressed your data.  It was an automatic feature, really cool actually!  But, CyberVlad is a black hat hacker, and when asked to create an algorithm that uncompressed it back to its original data goodness, he instead created an algorithm that made the drive CLICK and TING and WHIR AROUND SPLENDIDLY FOR HOURS

And Western Digital was cool with that.  And it happened often, sometimes just a week or two of owning the drive!

Maxtor adopted the same technology, except that their TING noise was slightly less metallic and it generally would blend in with the ambient sound of the SPLENDID WHIRRING NOISE IT ALSO MADE AT THE SAME TIME

But like I said, there was IBM, Quantum, Seagate, etc, etc...  You know.  The good guys.  ANTI-BLACKHOLE guys.  Particularly Quantum.  If you find a Quantum hard drive, there's a 96% chance that it is in perfect working order and will remain that way until you try to upgrade the magnets inside with your own special blend of RARE EARTH WHIRLYGIGS THAT WESTERN DIGITAL AND MAXTOR USED TO USE / PROBABLY STILL DO!

But...  I wonder if five year warranties even still exist for any hard drive manufacturer, unless it's rated as a server drive?  That's why I love my 80gb IBM eServer drives (made by Seagate)!  :p  I wish they were bigger...

Back OT, I'm devising a scheme that blends all of your ideas together to solve my storage woes.  :p

[Chocofreak13]

knowing you, you'll comprise some elegantly complicated system that makes sense only to you. xD and that'll be perfect.

i wish bigfoot still made drives, lol.

[Nichi]

Maxtor drives used to be awesome back around '98 or so. After all, the 6.8GB one my mom installed in the Yeti is still alive even after years of heavy use

[Paul]

For Quantum drives... my ProDrive ELS works, but only 1/4 of the time I boot it :/

[Chocofreak13]

at the end of the day, it's all about personal preference. i can't understand why you guys like seagate, while alot of you don't understand why i like western digital. :\

[svx]

It's not that I hate Western Digital, Choco!  I just dislike their desktop hard drives

Their server drives are probably as good as Seagate's, but I've never tried them...  The thing is, Seagate's server drives are so much cheaper, and come with a 5 year warranty as opposed to Western Digital's (unless they changed it!) 1 year warranty.  That just says a lot to me :p

SPEAKING OF THAT

Phase one has been completed!  I've ordered 1x new 2 TB Seagate Constellation ES ST32000644NS nearline server drive, and have potentially found another one to buy in a day or two

And... I've found this, the Thermaltake MAX 5G chassis.  It gets the best reviews for a USB 3.0 chassis that I've seen, and it happens to match my Antec case perfectly with the same style of blue LED fans and mesh!

But that thing is expensive for a chassis...  I'm not going to buy one until I find one for around $29  :p

[Chocofreak13]

maybe you could search for a newegg coupon. :\

either way, good luck with your storage solutions! (and i've only had experiences with WD internals, they've served me rather well ^^)