[Atlplasma]

I'm now considering how to store/stream by digital music and looking at a NAS like the My Book World Edition II (2 TB).

The idea of have a NAS/raid setup is appealing. (I could also back up other Airport networked computers.) Any opinions about this approach and/or the Western Digital device?

Steve

[Levi]

I find that My Book World Edition II slow.  Well most of them are SLOW specially the sub $300 price range my experience.  The HDD in those small enclosures (book like) tend to overheat and fail eventually.

Check the the HP Media Smart Servers. 

[Atlplasma]

Looks worth considering, but ideally I'd like something that is OS/X friendly and didn't require buying Vista.

[Levi]

I don't know what you are talking about.   Can you please explain more about Vista requirement?? 

Looks worth considering, but ideally I'd like something that is OS/X friendly and didn't require buying Vista.

[Atlplasma]

I was going by the CNET review, which said you had to have Vista to run Windows Media Server.

[Crimson]

I use NAS (Buffalo and Infrant/Netgear) for real-time playback, and firewire drives for backup. RAID is OK for your playback drives (if you consider music streaming a mission critical process), but I wouldn't recommend it for backup as it cannot ensure the integrity of the archive.

[Atlplasma]

Hmmm... Maybe I should just go with a couple 1 TB external firewire drives (one for storage and one for backup). It would certainly be less expensive than a media server, NAS, or RAID setup.

[JohnR]

I use a WD firewire RAID 1 drive for local storage and a (single-drive) WD NAS for backups. For me, this came out the easiest/cheapest solution (that I am comfortable with). [Edit: I should add that this is for general-purpose use.]

[bpape]

I run 2, 1TB internal Seagate drives in RAID 1 and have an external 1TB for extra backup.

Bryan

[Robert57]

I just bought a new Mac Mini to be my general office computer and server. For large music library BU, I bought from OWC two Icy Dock Firewire 800 enclosures, in which I plan to install WD 2 TB Caviar green drives. One drive will contain my primary music library, the other a clone BU (non-mirrored, but manual BU to avoid random corruptions in iTunes.) A good friend has this Icy Dock system with WD drives, and it is virtually silent. No fan, very compact size, and beautifully made--about $128 each. Icy Dock also offers hot-swappable trays so you can use the same enclosure for multiple drives ( I plan to use one for photography), saving space and AC plugs. I have found both OWC and Icy Dock ( a Calif. co.) to be very friendly and helpful to deal with.

Another plus for buying from OWC is all their firewire HD enclosures have very Mac-friendly chips for reliable mounting and unmounting, usually the Oxford chipset. The Icy Docks are quieter and more elegant than the OWC -made Mercury Alum. enclosures. I have read that the WD enclosures are not very reliable for Mac firewire mounting, but the drives are very good, and quieter than Seagate and other makes. OWC offers very competitive prices for the internal HDs too. I really like dealing with them.

For a bootable back-up up my general office files, and the iTunes database file on my Mac Mini HD, I am using a new portable firewire 320 GB OWC Mercury on-the-Go drive, USB 2 & FW 800. No AC needed-runs off FW or USB power. A very handy, versatile unit.

One other great find is SuperDuper! 2.5 as my Mac BU software. If you buy a license for $27 you get a lot of powerful additional features beyond the basic "erase and copy" function of the free version. The biggest premium feature I like is the incremental " Smart Backup" option, which dramatically reduces the BU time and wear on the drives. It efficiently builds a bootable a clone of the primary drive. The documentation and on-line support are excellent.

The link for Icy Dock model I bought at OWC:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/IcyDock/MB559UEB1S/

Rob

[Crimson]

Good recommendations on both OWC and Super Duper.

[Atlplasma]

Thanks, Rob.

The Icy Dock looks interesting. I like the idea of being able to swap out drive as needed. And the two-disk approach makes a lot of sense as well since drives don't seem to last as long they used to.

I'll check out SuperDuper as well. I've tried Data Backup and another program whose name I can't recall with pretty disappointing results.

Steve

[Atlplasma]

Just to follow up, I purchased an ICY Dock MB559. As Robert57 noted, its a great looking hard drive enclosure (very solid construction and quiet in operation). I was so impressed with the unit I ended up mating it to my iMac for Time Machine duty. I plan to order a second enclosure to go with the Mini music server.

Steve

[Robert57]

Great, news, Steve. So glad you're as pleased with the Icy Dock as I was. They really are amazingly handsome and sleek for just a utilitarian HD enclosure, and they are reputed to be as quiet as any enclosure out there. The swappable trays are only $20 ea., so you might snag one or two of them too for other BU drives. They match the outer case exactly--just specify the original color.

Rob

[Mightyburner]

I admit that I know virtually nothing about hard drives, RAIDS, NAS and such.    I use Carbonite to backup my computer drives.  Isn't that the same thing but just using an off site server?   

The only real advantage I can think of for using Carbonite is that it doesn't have a file limit and being off site I don't have to worry about fire or water damage to my home.  FYI - My digital collection is a combination of FLAC files (80%) or downloaded MP3's if that makes a difference.

Somebody enlighten me please.