Ahoy! My internal hdds are at max with all I’ve been torrenting and I’m considering some type of Docking station for my desktop with several 10Tbs drives in them to allow me to store and backup my data for offline protection.
I was wondering if anyone had done any type of setup like this and if it’s a reliable method for offline data storage. I’d also like it to have a RAID capability but I have software which can mirror drives to each other on startup/shutdown, etc. Also, I’d need it to have a USB-type connection for a USB SSD drive to pop-out & connect to my Smart TV for viewing.
An end goal would be to get a 3-2-1 setup but I can’t find a reliable Cloud storage I’d trust with that much data except maybe Filen.
Any positive input about brands, drives, services, etc. would be most appreciated!
Thanks!
I’d start by noting that raid is more about availability, not backup… I suspect you already have that in mind but just in case. Ideally if you are up for learning ZFS, that is one of the most resilient raid tools out there. Most NAS and Unix or Linux OS will have support for this.
Never connect RAID disks via USB… This only causes headaches.
Avoid SATA port multipliers, these can cause problems in raid.
SAS has the most reliable and flexible options for connectivity. Used JBOD chassis, even small, can be found cheaply and will run SATA disks well.
As to cloud data, I strongly recommend BackBlaze. Many utilities can natively interact with it (API compatible with Amazon s3) and you can handle encryption on the fly with several sync options. They are one of the cheapest solutions, and storage is pretty much all they do.
With pretty much any cloud storage, look at the ingress/egress cost of your data too… That is where many can bite you unexpectedly.
Worth noting that when you get to large storage, a good organization method for your data is key so you can prune and prioritize without getting overwhelmed later… Don’t want several copies of the same thing eating cash needlessly.
Good luck! And welcome to the wonderful illness known as data hoarding!
Wow, thanks for all the insight. I’ve just got to find a good JBOD chassis and then figure out what disk drives to use. I’m really not literate when it comes to RAID. I’d just prefer to use my Sync software to backup to the individual drives and then store one offsite as part of a 3-2-1 plan.
I’ve heard of BackBlaze and I think I looked into it at one point. I just keep seeing bad reviews on just about all the Cloud services with people saying they can’t get access to their data or there is data loss but I will give it a look again.
I appreciate the good wishes and you better believe, I’m a “hoarder”. It only took ONCE to lose everything and now I want like 10 complete backups of everything. LMAO. 😜 Best to you!
I’ve never had issues; maybe been lucky lol.
That said, they provide some amazingly detailed status about drives! Worth looking at the reports they post. Might get you insight into what to expect from the various manufacturers and models… Maybe avoid some junk drives in the process.
One of the most recent of these:
https://www.backblaze.com/blog/backblaze-drive-stats-for-q3-2024/
Raw statistics might help cut through a lot of bias!
Wow, what an invaluable piece of information. Yes, this will DEFINITELY help cut through the “drive shopping” Thanks for sharing this information!
How much are you storing on Backblaze? I love their Desktop Backup, and I’ve got about 20TB backed up with it. But I’m planning to add a significant amount of additional storage on a new machine and I worry that their unlimited plan may not actually be unlimited. I’ve heard good things about their B2 service but the cost would astronomical, way way out of my budget.
edit: Oh, apparently Backblaze Desktop doesn’t support Linux. Well, I’m hosed. Got any suggestions for affordably backing up a significant amount of data on a Linux PC?
Check out storj.io
I haven’t tried it, but apparently if you do a mapped network drive in Windows then BackBlaze will let you back it up as normal.
Unfortunately the client seems to explicitly skip network shares, so unless there’s some trickery I don’t think that is viable.
Seems explicitly against TOS too now:
https://www.backblaze.com/docs/cloud-storage-network-attached-storage-devices
I’m all for any workaround, but worth noting so we don’t get OOP caught out unexpectedly
Tapes are how you back up large amounts of data. A small tape robot can handle petabytes.
This! Tape is still the golden standard for high capacity!
Any specific models you’d suggest?
I use b2 for about 15tb, still one of the cheapest really without being sketchy. Cost isn’t too bad unless you are reading it often.
As another person already noted, if you really need to back up high amounts, tape is the way to go. Plan to keep your critical stuff off site somehow too. For large amounts sneaker net is still best unfortunately.
Oh important note! Check to make sure any drives you’ll use are CMR, not SMR (shingled)! SMR will not function right in raid and will fail from arrays.