Author Topic: Failed to spend $400 today  (Read 4280 times)

obstinate

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1147
Failed to spend $400 today
« on: April 22, 2014, 09:37:42 AM »
Had a hard drive failure last night. Kinda sucks, there were probably some pictures on there that hadn't backed up to the internet, although most of it was downloaded digital goods that can be recovered easily. Impulsively, I decided to buy a raid enclosure and a pair of drives so I wouldn't have to feel this pain again (the idea being to mirror the drives).

I was lying down in bed and thinking about it some more. Do I really need this? Let's see, the pictures should all go on Google Drive if I have even an ounce of sanity. Everything else is recoverable with, let's face it, the most tiny modicum of work. Wait, why am I spending $500 on this? I got up right then and cancelled the order.

I do still need to replace the drive, so I picked up a relatively inexpensive external one for $70. But that's about $430 saved, which I might not even have thought about had it not been for this blog. Thanks, MMM!

Cheddar Stacker

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3700
  • Age: 45
  • Location: USA
Re: Failed to spend $400 today
« Reply #1 on: April 23, 2014, 01:26:35 PM »
Every dollar saved counts right? Nice work.

RetiredAt63

  • CMTO 2023 Attendees
  • Senior Mustachian
  • *
  • Posts: 20742
  • Location: Eastern Ontario, Canada
Re: Failed to spend $400 today
« Reply #2 on: April 23, 2014, 04:33:08 PM »
My external hard drive is dying but not dead.  I have transferred all the important backups to my new computer, so finding a replacement is not urgent.  I am going to look for a small cheap USB2-compatible replacement.  The one I have now is way too big.  Right now Staples seems to have the best for my needs, but I will keep looking.  Tigerdirect.ca, which is where I usually find my best deals, is not my best source this time.  Given they seem to only last a few years, this is one thing I will buy new.

Any suggestions? Canadian sources please.

Less

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 178
  • Age: 37
  • Location: New Zealand
    • Journal
Re: Failed to spend $400 today
« Reply #3 on: May 12, 2014, 02:17:18 PM »
Obstinate - I find my self in this exact predicament today.

After hacking around to fix a problem on my very old and very free PC, I finally got it working the way I wanted so covers went back on and in an act of haste and stupidity I lifted the whole thing back into place on the desk. The external which I use for long back ups (and which was running) slipped off and hit the floor. Grrr.

I was looking to see if anyone had a thread on cheap ways to set up a Network based storage system. I still don't like being reliant on cloud storage. Internet in NZ is slow and expensive. I would welcome any suggestions. But perhaps the right answer is replace the one I broke, lean my lesson, and not go for a fancy upgrade in the name of future-proofing.

Cheers.

Scandium

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 2827
  • Location: EastCoast
Re: Failed to spend $400 today
« Reply #4 on: May 13, 2014, 07:07:51 AM »
Local backup isn't backup, neither is RAID. So good call on skipping that. If you have photos or anything else you don't want to loose you should also do something like Crashplan ($60/year I think). Or cheaper; take an external hard drive to a different location (i.e. work, family etc) regularly. I feel that would be a PIA so do pay for cloud backup. Maybe it's a waste, i dunno. But I at least know every digital photo I ever took is safe. Tax documents and the like I can keep on Dropbox, but 100s GB of RAW photos I have to pay to back up.

Should be able to get a cheap NAS enclosure and get deals on HDDs. I did some deals and MIR etc and put together a full Ubuntu server for ~$300 or so, which I can put lots of HDDs into. But again; if the house burns down I'd loose it all so still do cloud backup.

sleepyguy

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 669
  • Location: Oakville, Ontario
Re: Failed to spend $400 today
« Reply #5 on: May 13, 2014, 08:57:42 AM »
I agree, if the data is important at I would get at least 2 devices for storage.  A local backup and offsite (google drive/crashplan/dropbox/amazon/etc).

Local storage something like 2Bay NAS is sufficient.  Drop in a dual 2-4TB HDD and you should be pretty good.  Setup as RAID1 obviously for redudency, add a weekly/monthly script.  Good enough for most users.

If you want to get "fancy", buliding a cheap ITX box with low powered kabini chip and a 2-4bay sata setup would be cool as well.   You would have to pay for OS or go with linux, both have their pros/cons.

I used to setup basic things like this for customers all the time.
« Last Edit: May 13, 2014, 09:00:45 AM by sleepyguy »

Less

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 178
  • Age: 37
  • Location: New Zealand
    • Journal
Re: Failed to spend $400 today
« Reply #6 on: June 23, 2014, 08:39:18 PM »
Thanks Sleepyguy. Building a cheep ITX box sounds like a good idea, or perhaps converting my current machine when I upgrade. I have plans that it will become a linux media server as well. Its a bulky ATX case that it can take enough HDDs that no one is ever going to pick it up and run out of my house with it (as they did with my last laptop and external drive combo).

On a side note, by total fluke my damage hard drive works again. Win! Plugged it in and after a long time thinking it sprang to life. Seems like it found it's reference again after it's jolt. I have been very careful to take all valuable stuff off and store on other media, but will keep using this for expendable/replaceable data like music collection, old uni work etc.

Scandium, I take your point that local backup isn't back up. I wonder if I can find a buddy with the same issue and do a backup hosting swap. Upload to a dedicated drive on one another's servers. Cost of data is still there but it would save on subscription costs from third party hosting.