External Storage

JoshK · « **on:** 23 Mar 2004, 05:30 pm »

I got to thinking a bit. It would be really cool to have a external storage unit for HDs that would be self powered, noise insulated and could connect to your main PC.

There are a number of off the shelf products that you can buy that are meant for this purpose such as large firewire/usb harddrives. There are a number of NAS. I saw a ad on ebay for a SCSI storage unit (here). Many are really expensive.

I was wondering if you guys have any thoughts on building your own. Conceivably you could buy a cheap PC case, add the necessary PS, add your HDs but what interface would you use? What kind of card/device would you use for the interface? If you went SCSI, it seems pretty straight forward but unfortunately the drives are cost prohibitive. The solution is quite elegant though because SCSI drives are really fast and don't take up a lot of system resources.

How would you implement a Firewire or USB 2.0 solution? I have no idea. Is it just best to buy an off the shelf external firewire/usb drive?

Anyway, I was hoping to start a discussion on some cost effective ways of implementing large external drives that would minimize the resources (CPU time, memory, PS draw, etc) on the main system. Solutions that allow the storage unit to be placed relatively far away from the PCs would be even better as they could placed somewhere where the noise is not a factor.

Cost is a factor here, so please keep that in mind. Also flexibility would be nice. My idea for a random case that can hold drives for instance would be nice because one could always buy more HDs in the future to upgrade the capacity.

JoshK · « **Reply #1 on:** 23 Mar 2004, 05:33 pm »

So far, I haven't found a cheaper solution than this.

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #2 on:** 23 Mar 2004, 05:41 pm »

I wonder how quiet those things are. If you're talking just an external drive like that, you could buy an aluminum 3.5" drive case for $45 and use your own drive.

JoshK · « **Reply #3 on:** 23 Mar 2004, 05:51 pm »

Quote from: Rob Babcock

I wonder how quiet those things are. If you're talking just an external drive like that, you could buy an aluminum 3.5" drive case for $45 and use your own drive.

With what interface?

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #4 on:** 23 Mar 2004, 06:07 pm »

I think they use USB 2. I'm gonna head out to the local PC store later, anyway. I'll look at a few of them while I'm there.

The local BB has an instant rebate on the 160 Gig Maxtor drives this week- the price with rebate is $150, which is pretty good. Maxtor isn't as quiet as Seagate but still pretty quiet.

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #5 on:** 23 Mar 2004, 06:09 pm »

I got to thinking just just now, though, that there's probably a reason external drives are mostly used for backup- I'm sure even USB 2 is pretty slow compared to an IDE cable.

Bwanagreg · « **Reply #6 on:** 24 Mar 2004, 12:29 am »

I have a couple of external USB 2.0/1394 enclosures. One holds a DVD RW and another holds my old harddrive. You can get the enclosure for $30-$40 (check newwgg.com), and put in a 200Gig drive - with rebates those can be had for $100. They are as fast as I need them to be with either type of interface, and it is plug and play with XP.

Bwanagreg · « **Reply #7 on:** 24 Mar 2004, 12:35 am »

Check this thread once a week. You'll see $.50/Gig deals every couple of weeks or so.

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/messageview.php?catid=18&threadid=229015&highlight_key=y&keyword1=hard%20drive

JoshK · « **Reply #8 on:** 24 Mar 2004, 12:40 am »

Thanks.

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #9 on:** 24 Mar 2004, 12:46 am »

If you're patient enough to wait on the rebate, BB has a killer deal on a Seagate 160 gig HD- $160 with a $70 rebate! That's dirt cheap. I've always got my rebates, eventually, so the net of $90 is a stellar price on a very good drive. Nobody that I'm aware of makes a quiet drive, which is great since it's harder to silence noise than it is to start with quieter components.

JoshK · « **Reply #10 on:** 25 Mar 2004, 07:50 pm »

Rob, where is this $70 rebate, I have only seen the $50 rebate advertised on their website. Guidance appreciated.

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #11 on:** 26 Mar 2004, 02:11 am »

Maybe it is $50- I was just looking at the in-store sign. Coulda remembered it wrong, but I think it said $70. Anyway, it was at Best Buy. And I'm sure the rebate will only go til Sat.