Low cost storage solution wanted

[theloststory]

Hello! I am looking at a low cost storage solution for my small office. I am a film maker and churn out data bt the TBs. I already have 48 TBs in my office, spread over many 1tb and 2tb FW800 drives. Now i am running out of space and also worry about the hard drives failing.

I essentially require storage and archiving. Performance is NOT an important criteria. Often clients require minor alterations to their videos after 1 or even 2 years, so all my files should be accessible. Perhaps i need a rack mounted kind of storage, the kinds that video post houses have, but i cant afford anything too expensive. I should be able to upgrade capacity as hdds become more affordable. Its not important for this storage to be accessible by more than one computer.

Any suggestions?

[acme.mail.order]

if you are expecting something for $500, it won't happen.

If you are ok with things being spread over several volumes then your current method should work fine. Keep the drives cool and dry and they will last years. Maybe 1-2 projects per drive, then archive it with it's power supply in a anti-static baggie and a dryer pack.

If you want online storage, then look at suppliers like promise.com - they make large storage bays for Apple's server products. Buy the largest rack available and add drives as needed. You maybe want to hire a consultant to set things up, but hire one on the terms of "advice only, no hardware". That way you don't get what's in his basement.

[macosnoob]

And there's the no frills "bare drive" solution: an inexpensive dock such as OWC's Voyager (http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/Newer...ard_Drive_Dock) and as many drives as you need. A dock or two and many bare drives will take up much less space than all the cables, enclosure-specific power supplies, and variously sized external HDDs that I imagine must be now spread all around your workspace.

[acme.mail.order]

They do take up less space, but bare drives require much more care - set them on the desk the wrong way and you can easily damage the circuitry.

Also, bare drive connectors are only rated for maybe 50 plug cycles. That's why cases exist.

[macosnoob]

I hadn't thought about the "plug cycles" issue, but it's a fair objection. I was driven primarily by ideas of lowest cost and infrequency of use. The OP appears to be looking for an archiving strategy for drives unlikely to be used much--perhaps to be pulled from antistatic baggies again only once or twice and some years after a project is completed. Yes, individual enclosures for each drive would be better--even the $20 (or less) USB-powered ones--than just antistatic bags, but there's always that trade-off between cost and data security, isn't there?

[theloststory]

Thanks for all the replies. As of now, all my drives are in their original packing and cases, along with their original cables. There is an online shared sheet which tracks contents, so its easy to know where which file is.

I was looking at some solutions from Synology and Promise.

Something like this from Promise looks interesting. (Promise VTrak M-Class M310P Hard Drive Array
Ultra320 SCSI Controller - RAID Supported - 12 x Total Bays - Gigabit Ethernet - Network (RJ-45) - 2U Rack-mountable). It seems to cost about USD 3700/-, a sum I can afford.

Since I know not much about such storage solutions, is there something anyone wants to advise me on?

Regarding getting a consultant: The local Apple reseller is an over 16 year old friend of mine, and I will probably buy this from him, but I wanted to do my own bit of research before I approach him.

Thanks again for the prompt replies.

[acme.mail.order]

I would give Promise a call to confirm one thing: Can you add drives to increase total storage space withOUT affecting current data.

If yes, then get the biggest cabinet they've got. 12 bays will hold ~24Tb - from your initial description you seem to have more than that already.

[marchutch]

Have you considered a Synology NAS? The are pretty good bits of kit. I have two and one expansion unit.

[theloststory]

@acme.mail.order excellent idea. I had never thought of it! Thanks!
(I was thinking of getting the 16 bay one for a 32 TB option)

@marchutch : you suggest I look at something like the Synology RS812+ (USD 1100 approx) plus an expansion unit (like a DX 1211, about USD 1400, or RX410 for about USD 410 {4 bay})?

What I liked about Synology was the ability to add drives on the fly without having to reformat existing data.

Thanks for all the replies.

[acme.mail.order]

This turned up - 135Tb for under $8,000. Some screwdriver work required.

[BWilliams]

If performance isn't an issue, why not use network storage - as in from a third party company that provides it (and I mean a REAL network storage provider, not iCloud.) The company would be responsible for backing up and maintaining the data, and you could keep most current work locally without the need for so many drives.

I would think that since the higher number of drives you have, the higher the probability of failure, and then the need to troubleshoot the entire system to find the cause.

Just an idea.

[acme.mail.order]

With the solution he wants, the probability of failure is no different than a single drive - we're not dealing with drive-spanning, just lots and lots of near-online storage.

A cloud provider isn't really practical as it would be extremely expensive for this kind of volume and unless the provider is next door the sync times would be measured in days.

[anthlover]

I am fan of crashplan but the amount of data you have this amazing and reasonable product from backblaze is amazing. And Acme posted about it too However I choose to link directly to blackball not an article on it.

http://blog.backblaze.com/2013/02/20...orage-pod-3-0/

[theloststory]

@acme.mail.order thanks! coincidentally, I came across BackBlaze a couple of days ago as well. Looks exciting! I will just have to find someone near where I live to be able to sell me one... I believe the under 8000 USD price doesnt include the HDDs themselves?

Also, some Debian and FreeNAS installation and configuration is required. But that shouldnt be a problem.

@BWilliams : where I live, Network Storage (on hire) is not available. Also, I wouldnt trust it right now, considering the quality of service we get here.