www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

This what you wanted?

Yep, that's the one.

someone-else wrote:

wrinx wrote:........I've been looking for some too but can't find any that cheap...do you have an item number I could search for?

wrinx

This what you wanted?

Thanks...that didn't come up in my search!

wrinx

I'm not sure a manufacturer refurbished drive with a three month warranty is where you want to keep your memories.

If they're that important I'd go for for belt and braces, cheap external HDD and backups on USB drives. I get mine on Amazon

As for compatibility USB 3.0 is fully backwards compatible and I think USB ports will be around for a few years though everything gets superceded eventually

I got a USB 3 1TB external hard drive from Aria for about £120.00, will hold anything you want and can plug into virtually any computer.

The alternative is cloud, we use Dropbox and Google for our manuals, but I still think it can get lost if there's a storm so we have back up on the portable HD as well.

Plus my Raid 0 backs up one of my HDs in the computer anyway

On my Hols in Asia, I had a new memory stick and each day I would load the camera memory card photo's onto it, using the Hotel room pc.
Picked up a virus and soon after lost all the pictures, except those I had e-mailed to Family, then the stick crashed big time; a company in UK does repairs
but the cost for a few holiday snaps was not worth it; Cloud might be useful in those circumstance but I still don't trust 3rd part computers with passwords.
Now I keep originals using a bigger camera card and copy to USB stick when I have my own laptop available.
At home external HDD and memory sticks which is where USB3 has impressed me.

thescruff wrote:
Plus my Raid 0 backs up one of my HDs in the computer anyway

Raid 0 isn't strictly even a Raid Scruff it makes it more likely that you're going to lose data!

Hope you mean Raid 1 or do you keep an image somewhere?

Ask Richie P it's 2 x 3TB hard drives as a raid he helped set up on here.

It say one or more drives is backed up everytime I start the thing.

That's Raid 1 - 2 drives mirroring each other - 3TB of space from 6TB of drives.

My "concern" with a big backup device (even though I have one) is that if you rely on it and put everything on it, if /when it goes wrong, you will loose the lot. I would suggest that it is better to have several smaller devices (or big devices and don't fill to any where near capacity)

I just looked, I have used 100gb with 364gb empty of my solid state external back up drive

I've just had an email ad that offers 16Gb USB keys for £5.99 each....... can't be too fussy at those prices.

someone-else wrote:I just looked, I have used 100gb with 364gb empty of my solid state external back up drive

Is it actually solid state, or are you referring to a hard disk?

I can see why people are using the sticks, but I'm not entirely convinced it's the way to go for backup purposes. Yeah, it's cheap, but it's more common than you would think for them to fail - same for SSD tech too.

I had a look for the photo of some giant bins of failed SSDs and Flash memory (cards, sticks, etc) that were being recycled but I can't find it. They said they ship 1/2 a week of each bin.....

I've been through this with parents and the inlaws and this is where BOTH of them are at today, bear in mind they are the most un-tech savvy folk known to man kind.

My parents: 2 laptops, 1 tablet, 2 phones (family pictures of all grandkids, holidays and some other personal stuff)

In-laws: 2 laptop, 2 smart phones and a tablet and a PS3 in the mix - backup: holidays and BUSINESS ACCOUNTS!!

The solution? A home server.

I hear a lot of you thinking straight away - yeah, yeah, this is a geek talking here......but it's really not. It's also not as expensive as you might imagine, nor is it out of anyones grasp to setup if you have ever installed Windows before.

It works like this......the server, is a small low powered jobbie that lives in a cupboard. It's connected to their respective routers with a cat5 cable so it's got network and internet access. It's headless (no monitor) and is quiet. It also has no keyboard or mouse once it's set up.

A client goes onto each PC - they automatically backup the PC each day or it can be called manually if needed (like when they have just done accounts, or whatever). Backup is SUPER quick - it's a differential backup, so it only takes what's changed so it's quick over Wifi. Its' also smart too.

PC 1 starts up running Windows 7 home premium. Client backs up for the FIRST time - 30 minutes.
PC 1 starts up day 2, backup takes 2 minutes in the back ground

PC 2 comes home one day (kid from uni, for example) with Win7 Home Prem - backup takes 5 minutes (server already has most of the files - it just takes what's different, which is why it's quick)

Backup aside, it's a great way of sharing files - you get a new drive in your computer that everyone can see (or private, if you are hiding your smut). copy it on, instantly available to everyone else. This is where you would copy all your pictures - treat it seperate to the backup. You can open/view them anytime you like.

REMOTE ACCESS TO YOUR FILES when you are away, or a mate wants something sending.....

With the in-laws, they also have films on there.....the PS3 sees the server and just lets them play what ever I put on there.

I'm able to log in remotely if they have issues and help out, it also mails me if there is a problem that I need to attend too. With Homeserver 2011 or older, you get a domain like https://donkeyballs.homeserver.net (I forget the domain), it's free and takes 5 minutes to configure via a wizard.

The best bit? It can do a bare metal restore.......so basically, if I get a call......my laptop is dead! HDD failed. Go up, new HDD in and 30 minutes of waiting - machine is back to the day it left. Same with a virus (which is VERY common with my parents.), I just go up and pick a date a day or two before it went TU.

On both of their servers, I've got cloud backup setup too (I've got a paid account, with unlimited storage on a mega service, but there are LOTS of free ones). Overnight, their servers just backup new data (excluding films and crap) to the cloud each night when they are asleep and not using the net. If the server blows up, BOTH drives fail or if it gets nicked/burnt in a house fire - ALL of their data is safely stored off site. Multiple backups, with redundancy.

The cost......well.......try this to get started:

- The server: here (get them when half price, which is VERY frequent - 100 quid cash back on redemption. Makes them usually 99 quid or thereabouts - DO NOT BUY AT FULL PRICE)
- a Second HDD for a mirror RAID setup (320GB drive) 34 quid
- Operating system - Windows Homeserver 2011 36 quid

you can always add more storage late via the 2 internal bays OR external, if you like.

Total (with cashback when the offer is on): £180!!!!!!!

Worth considering.

I've got one I use here daily, I've also got my old one with I used for YEARS. Both of the parents/in-laws have NEVER been touched by them, they auto power on in the event of a powercut and have been running for years without any trouble or thought.

BG

Just to add to the above, I'll share the two that I currently have (for this purpose, at least) that fit my use nicely.

My current home server, but running SBS2011 (a bit more expensive )
Open the front door and there are 4 hot swappable caddies for changing the drives - they have lights to indicate activity/status/fault like most good servers do. This one also has two spaces inside for additional drives.
My old one, which was SUPER cheap and extreamly low powered, barely noticed it on the leccy bill. Setup to sleep from 1am - 6am each day as it wasn't needed (no cloud then) and had the job of running all my music streaming stuff and movie collection:
Left the coke can there for size....it's a bit dusty, it's not in use much anymore - if ever.
The best/most boring gadget you will buy in a long time.

BG

I've used an old PC as a server for years now. Past experience has it that HDD failures occur most often in PCs that are ramped on/off every day but the server I have running 24/7 (at idle the consumption is around 25-35W) hasn't been powered down more than 3 times in the last year and the storage is the most reliable I have! I've had two PCs and a lappy go TU in the interim!

BG - what do you reckon to NAS devices then? or even make-shift NAS devices (ex PCs not normally up to running modern software) running (cough, choke spit) Linux?

BillyGoat wrote:

someone-else wrote:I just looked, I have used 100gb with 364gb empty of my solid state external back up drive

Is it actually solid state, or are you referring to a hard disk?

Now you mention it, I don't know. its called "my passport"

That's it the Goat is going on my ignore list

So at the moment the big beasty is running a 250GB SSD for OS and 4 x 3TB barrucudas in Raid 10 for mass storage

So what would be the benefits of converting to a NAS setup over using this as a home server?

Would moving the barracudas out into an enclosure in't loft and adding a second SSD in Raid 0 for OS and programs backed up to the NAS be a decent option?

Would performance be ok running the NAS and the primary pc on ethernet with the rest of the fixed stuff on powerline adapters and tablets/phones on wifi?

Now you've opened a can of worms

My current disk data transfer is just tooooo slow