storage for pros

[barbican]

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This seems like a cute and easy way to get a little extra protection against hard drive failure, but it won't help against "oops" like overwriting/deleting the wrong things!

 

It can do, if that's what you want it to do, and you want to use the space for it to do that. I have a copy of all my photos on local disks (could double this up if I felt the need), and two copies on the NAS with each copy being on a different share (one which is only ever mounted for the 2nd backup). I have a couple of old copies lying around in case something truly disastrous (read: deleting and not realising for weeks) happens. Oh, and 95% of my pics have negs at this moment in time!

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[ennjott]

Some supplements:

 

-There is no general difference in reliability between "server" and "desktop" type of drives, just in performance.

 

-Most fluid bearing drives emit a low-frequency hum that is impossible to get rid of through damping. I got most of the 250-500 GB drives on the market today (2 machines with SATA mobile racks) and there are only a few that don't exhibit this, for example the 250 GB Seagate. Can change any time though, did so with Samsung when they changed to Nidec motors in late 2005 or early 2006.

 

-RAID5 isn't enough to protect data, the whole RAID volume has to be mirrored one more time (RAID5+1), and even then complete safety would involve one more offline copy. A power supply failure or power surge could kill all drives at once. A fire could destroy the offline copy as well if it's stored at the same place.

 

-RAID is always an additional source of failure through its software implementation. I wouldn't even trust the ones of Linux (LVM) and BSD, let alone some software for Windows/Mac or the firmware implementations of cheap controllers (which frequently involve system drivers to do the real work). There are some (expensive) RAID controllers with implementations that have a good track record. For cheap solutions, mirroring through a simple file copy might be safer.

 

-That g-safe device is not "pro" equipment but clearly a consumer product, see last paragraph. I'd rather use a PC with LVM. Pro devices usually come in a rugged 19" case and not something that looks like a mini stereo for the living room. They also have strong fans so you'd never want to have them around there =).

 

I'm thinking about offering a photo upload service with a separate backup option. The backed up data would not appear in a gallery (although it can be a copy of one) and would be stored at several locations, possibly online as well as offline.

[Guest sirvine]

You should offer this upload service. If the pricing is ok, there is a need for this. The problem is that most offsite upload services assume fairly heavy access for hosting galleries, etc. For pure backup, the bandwidth should be relatively cheap.