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Drobo S vs. Drobo FS

Void DragonVoid Dragon
edited April 2010 in Technology
I am seriously considering getting a drobo. I need to have more of a backup than I have right now and the drobo seems like it will require minimal work on my not-networking/not-RAID-savvy part. However, the question is whether to get the S or the FS.

Before you immediately say FS, there is a slight hitch. The house I am currently living in has only wireless internet, and g at that. Yes, I have spoken to my landlord about getting a cable, and it will not happen, so please don't suggest that. This means that if I get an FS, I have to attach it to a router, signal back out of my room from 2 inches to the right of my computer to the network and then back (which I am actually not sure mine can do, since it is meant to be the source of the network, not a relay), all while probably causing congestion of the whole setup since there will likely be lots of data fairly contiguously most of the time. On the other hand, I also travel around with a laptop, and I would very much like to be able to have one big data store rather than trying to keep them synced all the time. As the drobo would be right next to the computer, though, it seems more appropriate that I get a drobo S, which would be connected directly (via e-sata), and then possibly try and figure out how to share via it.

This entire argument, however, is based on two pieces of limited information on my part: I am not certain how much of a load the FS would constitute (or if it has software that compensates for this situation) and I am not sure how either of these setups would perform compared to the other. Also, I have heard good things about the drobo, but never from people, but rather mouthpieces, and thus would like to know if this is even worth further consideration. Anybody have any idea about any of this?

Comments

  • AprecheApreche
    What kind of backing up are you doing?
  • Void DragonVoid Dragon
    edited April 2010
    What kind of backing up are you doing?
    I am not sure what you mean? Do you mean now? I am currently running around with a few external drives and thumb drives, which is getting very annoying. Especially when I grab the wrong one and then realize that I can't work on the file I wanted to on my laptop or vice versa (because I leave my laptop at work a lot).
    Post edited by Void Dragon on
  • AprecheApreche
    I am not sure what you mean? Do you mean now? I am currently running around with a few external drives and thumb drives, which is getting very annoying. Especially when I grab the wrong one and then realize that I can't work on the file I wanted to on my laptop or vice versa (because I leave my laptop at work a lot).
    Like, are you backing up your documents folder, or are you backing up an entire media library?
  • Void DragonVoid Dragon
    I am backing up everything (except programs, obviously), although the documents much more often than the media. My desktop and its drives are getting on 5 years, so I am worried about failure.
  • AprecheApreche
    I am backing up everything (except programs, obviously), although the documents much more often than the media. My desktop and its drives are getting on 5 years, so I am worried about failure.
    Only backup what you can't download again. You can probably re-download your music and movies again, unless they are ones you made. I highly suggest you take the easy road and backup your document and such to the cloud. There are many free and cheap ways to do this, and it's a lot easier than using a hard drive. Amazon S3, Carbonite, Ubuntu One, and many more such solutions exist.
  • Void DragonVoid Dragon
    There is enough stuff I can't download again that this is impractical, given current upload speeds in America. I had considered it, but I'm a photographer, and that alone puts me way over the practicality line for that.
  • Dr. TimoDr. Timo
    edited April 2010
    If you are on a wireless LAN that you share with other residents, don't send your files over it. All it takes is one creepy script kiddie and all your stuff ends up on stockphotos.com. Get the Drobo S and later if your situation changes (i.e. you get a private WLAN) you can always get a router that supports external HD's via USB or even set up an old machine in the closet as a file server with the Drobo attached via e-sata.

    EDIT: Of course you can also just buy an n router that supports dual networks and have it set up a private WLAN on 5GHz and connect to the building's 2.4GHz network.
    Post edited by Dr. Timo on
  • Luke BurrageLuke Burrage
    Only backup what you can't download again.
    Backup everything. Drives are cheap. I once didn't backup something I thought I'd be able to download again, and now it is lost. This was years ago, but I learned my lesson. Backup everything, including programs. There are a few that I downloaded back in 2001 that I still use sometimes, and when I want to use them on a different computer there is nowhere to find them online.
  • AprecheApreche
    Backup everything. Drives are cheap. I once didn't backup something I thought I'd be able to download again, and now it is lost. This was years ago, but I learned my lesson. Backup everything, including programs. There are a few that I downloaded back in 2001 that I still use sometimes, and when I want to use them on a different computer there is nowhere to find them online.
    What kind of weird programs are you using that you can't get again? Have you checked http://www.oldversion.com/? If they're so old, aren't there better alternatives now?

    The only time I save a program is if I paid to download it, and they probably won't let me download it again without paying again. For example, I bought Blood Bowl for PC on Direct2Drive, so I keep that installer. For other things, like AnyDVD, I just backup the registration keys.

    Also, I clearly said not to backup what you can download again. I didn't say, don't backup what you think you can download again. The only music and movies I backup are the weird obscure stuff I was able to download at RIT, but is impossible to find nowadays.
  • Luke BurrageLuke Burrage
    I'm just not sure why you are advocating NOT backing up or archiving something. It's just a no-brainer to have a copy on hand, somewhere under your control, in a place you don't have to search to find it.
  • lackofcheeselackofcheese
    edited April 2010
    It depends on the amounts involved, but backing up a lot of stuff you could download from the Internet is expensive if you're getting into the terabytes.
    Post edited by lackofcheese on
  • Luke BurrageLuke Burrage
    Terabytes are expensive now, but in a year they won't be. Every year I buy a new hard drive which is two or four times the size of the previous, for less money, and copy my entire archive across. This means I have twice as much space every year, for about 80 euro. Most of this is used for video, audio and photos that I create myself, and are never uploaded. The space required for all other data is very small in comparison.
  • AprecheApreche
    Why pay any money at all, even if hard drives are so cheap, to backup tons of gigs of movies or music that you are never going to watch or listen to, and that you can trivially get again?
  • Luke BurrageLuke Burrage
    I don't. I don't download movies. And the only music I have is stuff that I listen to on a regular basis, so have on my hard drive all the time. Archiving other people's content doesn't interest me.
  • ElJoe0ElJoe0
    Why pay any money at all, even if hard drives are so cheap, to backup tons of gigs of movies or music that you are never going to watch or listen to, and that you can trivially get again?
    Most people I know who do are compulsive collectors of comics and manga as well. Maybe it is that mentality.
  • Void DragonVoid Dragon
    I am a photographer and a physicist. While I do have some comics and manga, the majority of my stuff is images and experiment data, both of which are irreplaceable (literally, since at the current time they are maybe stored elsewhere only on one of these several external drives I'm currently using if I remembered to back them up).

    Also, I can save $100 on anything I do get from drobo if I order in April (promo thing I have been able to get). So I'm trying to decide by the end of the week.
  • ElJoe0ElJoe0
    edited April 2010
    the majority of my stuff is images and experiment data, both of which are irreplaceable
    Then sir, you are not doing proper science.
    (just kidding :P)
    Post edited by ElJoe0 on
  • Void DragonVoid Dragon
    When you are working in microelectronics, making duplicates of devices when you are still at the hand production stage that are truly identical is not trivial. In science, we have this thing called experimental error, so you can only ever get arbitrarily close to what you did the last time.

    Anyway, this is splitting hairs based on the original question.
  • ElJoe0ElJoe0
    (just kidding :P)
  • Void DragonVoid Dragon
    edited April 2010
    (just kidding :P)
    AGGGGHHH!!! White text on white page!! My eyes!!
    Post edited by Void Dragon on
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