Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/11/27
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I have ReadyNAS, so I'm not knocking it. I set up mine just like John suggested. My problem with ReadyNAS is the filesystem. If you're paranoid (and if you're not, why bother with RAID), then it is a little uneasy knowing that the disks are formatted in a proprietary way. That is, even though you are running Linux in the ReadyNAS, if the hardware takes a beating, if lightening strikes, power supply bites the dust, whatever, if that happens, you can't just take out the disks and mount them on another Linux machine --- a spare PC that you just boot directly from a DVD, for instance --- and get to your data. It is locked into the NetGear world. That bothers me a little, because I am paranoid. But I do have one and I do use it and there are advantages to other alternatives. I like that fact that you can download a patch from support groups that allow you to log on to the machine with a remote shell and do somethings that are infinitely easier to do from the command line than by dragging pictures around. I also have another set-up by LG. It uses straight Debian Linux and you can pull out the disks, mount them on a Debian machine (or Ubuntu, or just about any other Linux under the sun) and do things. John can correct me here, because he sounds like he knows more about this than I do, but mirroring disks will give you good protection against disk failure. With a striped set-up, you get quicker access to your data. Since the data is striped around the disk, the sections that are readily available to be read, are read, instead of waiting for the disk to rotate and pick up a section that was on the other side of the head (the "needle" reading the LP). Disks spin pretty fast so that little delay to wait for the right section to come back around is probably nothing you will notice on the network and is affected by some pretty subtle conditions. Bottom line: Get a NAS, ReadyNAS, LG-NAS ... get a NAS with RAID. Once you do, you'll wonder why you ever took so long. It's a pity they don't explain the consequences of the various RAID set-ups in every day language. Paranoid = mirroring, Speed-freak = striped (under certain conditions). I have my images on a NAS and keep my Lightroom catalogues locally on my desktop/laptop. There's a slight delay getting the previews over the first time and it takes a second longer, maybe, to "develop" an image, but it is worth it knowing that all of my images are in the first stage of being pretty safe. Ok, ok ... I back-up to Amazon S3 too, but I'm really paranoid. Daniel You still need an off-site backup though. Never know about thieves and junkies. On Sun, Nov 28, 2010 at 2:23 AM, John McMaster <john at chiaroscuro.co.nz> wrote: > If mixed sized drives are used then it will be a multiple of the smallest > is > used (I think). So putting 2x2TB and 1x500GB would only give 1TB of RAID5, > 3x 2TB would give 4TB. > > NV+ is Ethernet only, a USB HDD can be attached to it but you cannot use an > NV+ as locally attached storage - hence a NAS ;-) > > john > >> -----Original Message----- >> >> John... thanks for the quick answer... you hit on ?the issues right >> away.... >> >> can I put in drives of different sizes? ?Like mix and match 2TB with >> 1.5TB >> with 200GB? >> Must I use Ethernet as the connection to my PC or can I use USB? ?( >> speed of >> transfer is not an issue) >> >> >> Frank Filippone >> Red735i at earthlink.net >> >> >> Put at least 2 disks in and use X-RAID (this is on an NV+). It will >> create a >> RAID 1 (mirror) with 2 (i.e lose 50% of storage), when you add a 3rd >> disk, >> either originally or after a while, this will expand to a RAID 5 >> (striped >> with redundancy) and you will get N-1 storage, i.e adding the 3rd HDD >> will >> double your storage (3 disks total so 2 disks of storage). >> >> If you set it to RAID 1 then it will always be that with no option to >> expand >> when more disks are added. >> >> john >> >> > -----Original Message----- >> > >> > I am about ready to (finally) purchase one of these babies, but first >> > some questions.... >> > Hoping some of you out there have experience.... >> > >> > Which RAID format should I use? ?Raid I, 2,etc.... ?Is this setting >> > done during setup of the box ?on my computer? >> > >> > Is there a preference for the NV models or the Ultra series? ?Why? >> > >> > Note: Windows platform, Vista 32 bit OS >> > >> > > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >