Hard Drive Bargain Watch

[kstuart]

Now for just an external usb drive, I'd simply get a good enclosure that's got a built in fan - like the AMS Venus series (vary from $39 to $49 depending upon the drive type you want (SATA or ATA)) and pair it up with a nice large 500gig drive from Newegg (~$110) and you've got a great 500 GB USB external drive ready to go for roughly $150.

This is exactly what I was talking about earlier - it is pointless to buy separate enclosures and drives for this use.

You can get an external 500gb hard drive, already assembled, with an enclosure that is tested as working with that drive, for $120-$130 for name brands.

Not only do you save $20-$30, but you don't have to select either component, and you don't have to assemble it (and have a chance of making a mistake).

 

[KAB]

You can get an external 500gb hard drive, already assembled, with an enclosure that is tested as working with that drive, for $120-$130 for name brands.

...with plastic cases, some don't have power switches or fans. If I am going to have an external drive near my 622 (the furnace), I will want a better enclosure than the name brands use.

 

[8bitbytes]

This is exactly what I was talking about earlier - it is pointless to buy separate enclosures and drives for this use.

You can get an external 500gb hard drive, already assembled, with an enclosure that is tested as working with that drive, for $120-$130 for name brands.

Not only do you save $20-$30, but you don't have to select either component, and you don't have to assemble it (and have a chance of making a mistake).

That's fine if you are going to use one drive and leave it hooked up.

I'm not.

I'm going to be building an archive, IF Dish allows that function, so I will need an external enclosure that is not only top notch but also allows me to swap out the drives just like I do on my servers at work.

NOW:

If we can only use one more drive, then I will set up a standalone raid with 4 drives - 3 in a Raid 5 configuration and one as hot spare.

I will still use DB35 drives since they are designed specifically to be used with DVRs and streaming/recording content. The electronics and programming are designed for that kind of behavior. Your desktop drives are designed for a completely different purpose and may be subject to glitch or stutter while trying to perform error correction functions.

It's similar to using UDP protocol for streaming media on the internet versus TCP.

You do what you want, its your drive. Is see NewEgg has a 500gb drive for $99 right now!

 

[John Kotches]

Once they get the > 1 TB option working the Buffalo Drive Station Quattro would allow for 1.5TB of RAID5 storage in a single enclosure.

Cheers,

 

[navychop]

Hard Drive Bargains are a daily reality. That's the subject of this thread. There is another thread about External Drive Support Feature.

Link, please? I can't find it, going back to 6/6.

 

[kstuart]

Link, please? I can't find it, going back to 6/6.

Above the list of threads for this Forum, towards the right, is the word Replies - click on it.

 

[navychop]

Hmmm- I thought your reference was to people setting up external enclosures in anticipation. Thanks all the same.

 

[kstuart]

Hmmm- I thought your reference was to people setting up external enclosures in anticipation. Thanks all the same.

There's a thread about all aspects of External USB support - anticipation, anger, frustration, patience, the lot.

 

[Supercharged_Z06]

This is exactly what I was talking about earlier - it is pointless to buy separate enclosures and drives for this use.

You can get an external 500gb hard drive, already assembled, with an enclosure that is tested as working with that drive, for $120-$130 for name brands.

Not only do you save $20-$30, but you don't have to select either component, and you don't have to assemble it (and have a chance of making a mistake).

That's right! You get the crappiest hard drive they can get their hands on in volume pre-placed into a cheap plastic enclosure with a name brand logo on it with no real ventilation that's not really designed to be operated 24/7. Wow! What a deal!

Trust me, spend the extra $20-30 and get a quality drive with a 5 year warranty and a superior enclosure/case that has a good, quiet fan. If you can brush your teeth all by yourself, you probably have the skills necessary to assemble the two together. Typically a 3-4 minute job. Or go out and buy the cheapest pre-built and don't come crying to the forum boards here when it dies after a few months of use.

--Supercharged_Z06

 

[whatchel1]

Raid

You're already talking about a Raid 5 setup when you don't even know the protocols that they are going to be using. Also if the receiver is talking to the HDD's then it will be going something isn't kosher here. S/W on the board may go where the #### am I supposed to put this stuff. I guess I'll just stick it anywhere. Then when comes back to read it will be bouncing all over the place trying to find it.

 

[Smith P.]

Nay, no way to use SW RAID-5 implementation; it's safe to suggest external HW RAID-X will be good to go.

 

[abricko]

Really?

You're all speculating on how this will work... one guys says I'll use SW RAID, other says no HW RAID still others are arguing about DVR specific drives vs computer drive and we don't know if we'll play off the drive or HAVE to transfer to the internal drive... the fact of the matter is until they release the software allowing the use of external storage all this is just spinning wheels and getting people excited over nothing.

Kind of like this post...

Next time, refrain...

Thanks!

 

[8bitbytes]

Really?

You're all speculating on how this will work... one guys says I'll use SW RAID, other says no HW RAID still others are arguing about DVR specific drives vs computer drive and we don't know if we'll play off the drive or HAVE to transfer to the internal drive... the fact of the matter is until they release the software allowing the use of external storage all this is just spinning wheels and getting people excited over nothing.

There's no speculation involved. If you use a standalone raid that allows you to connect to it by USB, the raid looks like one drive to the DVR. The volume just can't exceed 750GB at this time, supposedly.

 

[8bitbytes]

You're already talking about a Raid 5 setup when you don't even know the protocols that they are going to be using. Also if the receiver is talking to the HDD's then it will be going something isn't kosher here. S/W on the board may go where the #### am I supposed to put this stuff. I guess I'll just stick it anywhere. Then when comes back to read it will be bouncing all over the place trying to find it.

Do you know how raid works?

There are standalone raid devices that you can connect to by USB. The device connecting has no idea that the drive configuration is raid, it sees one drive or one volume. The standalone device does all the work. There is no "protocol".

What software on what board?

Not sure what raid you have used but it doesn't work that way.

 

[Smith P.]

Actually I can show you how to get info about what connected thru USB port. And yes, you can see if it is one disk or a group at least. Some program can reveal details about particular HW RAID config.

 

[micknick]

On the chats they have been very unclear about what brands of hard drives will work. They have said "most" off the shelf USB 2.0 drives. They have also stated that it should support up to 750 GB. I think I will wait, drives may be cheaper in the fall anyway.
Just a thought.

 

[8bitbytes]

Actually I can show you how to get info about what connected thru USB port. And yes, you can see if it is one disk or a group at least. Some program can reveal details about particular HW RAID config.

Yes, I'm very familiar with how to get this information, my point is the DVR is not going to do that. The DVR is not going to administer the RAID bios, it's only going to look for a drive to initialize connected to the USB port.

 

[Smith P.]

Well, I can assure a DVR ( 622 for example ) retrieve disk info by IDENTIFY cmd plus more.
"I'm very familiar with how to get this information" - how deep ?

 

[whatchel1]

Yes

Do you know how raid works?

There are standalone raid devices that you can connect to by USB. The device connecting has no idea that the drive configuration is raid, it sees one drive or one volume. The standalone device does all the work. There is no "protocol".

What software on what board?

Not sure what raid you have used but it doesn't work that way.

Yes. I don't write the s/w but I constantly work on, maintain, & service the h/w at the TV station where I work.

 

[8bitbytes]

Well, I can assure a DVR ( 622 for example ) retrieve disk info by IDENTIFY cmd plus more.
"I'm very familiar with how to get this information" - how deep ?

The DVR is not going to run low level raid subroutines.