Ok, figure this is the best place to ask. I came across a large HDD and snatched it up because it was to good of a deal to let go.
What recommendations do you have to use it as I would any other sort of backup drive? I'm thinking external drive, etc. I do not want to setup a RAID at this time.
Factory sealed, no obvious signs of damage... I paid 7 dollars for it don't hate me. The owner of the bargin bins place wasn't happy he hadn't found it either.... Thoughts?
(https://i.imgur.com/uwKsvwr.jpg)
It's a drive that's optimized for NAS use though.
True, but seeing as the chances of my finding any more of them for a price anywhere near what I'm comfortable paying is on the bottom side of nil...
What can I do with a single expensive drive... lol.
I mean is there an 'off the shelf' solution to setting it up as a "my cloud" or similar?
Quote from: SCBrian on July 24, 2021, 09:35:38 PM
True, but seeing as the chances of my finding any more of them for a price anywhere near what I'm comfortable paying is on the bottom side of nil...
What can I do with a single expensive drive... lol.
I mean is there an 'off the shelf' solution to setting it up as a "my cloud" or similar?
Well, you could install it in your desktop and partition it out so you have dedicated drives for things like documents, music, and then use the other 15TB for your pr0n collection.
It's NAS-optimized...so I'd put it in a NAS.
You could get something like a Synology DS118, which is a single-bay NAS. Synology in general has a lot of great options, like the ability to encrypt a share. There's a USB connection, so you can copy critical data (as opposed to stuff like game saves and music) to a USB drive (to be stored off-site).
Then you just map your NAS to a drive letter in windows, and you're gravy.
If you go the NAS route, I'd at least consider a two-drive or larger NAS for later expansion. E.g. if you find another 16TB drive, you can slap it in the NAS and set up RAID1 for redundancy; basically just a few clicks and the NAS does the rest. A 1-bay NAS is like $140 on Amazon, a 2-bay like $170, though a 4-bay jumps to around $370; the two-bay seems like a reasonable extra expense, IMO.
I'm not opposed to setting it up as a NAS, but there's no way I'm going ot be able to justify to the wife a full raid array and the related price... It's not every day you find a 16tb drive for $7... :eek1: So being able to tell her I need to spend ~$900+ to setup the Raid, because I saved ~500 will result in a "How about you sell that and use the $ for something else..." :D Which technically is still an option... lol
I've never gone down this pathway before and my media server has been a FrankenPuter hacked together from parts, duct tape, hope and ~$20.
I do have a WD Easystore as well as a number of smaller portable SSD HD's.
What is the benefit of using the DS118 vs a $30 HDD enclosure?
Edit: Ok, Just read up on the DS118. So it acts like a full on server with all the components needed. Cpu/memory etc. where the enclosure would just be a dumb drive...
DSL modem-routers in the UK (even the really cheap ones like this Technicolor TG582n (https://community.plus.net/t5/Library/TG582n-Information-and-Specifications/ba-p/1322590)) almost all have a USB port where you can plug in a USB drive and the router will then make it available as a SMB network drive. Is this the case in the US too?
If so, can you put the drive in a USB enclosure and plug it into your router until you come up with a better plan?
Quote from: SCBrian on July 25, 2021, 08:10:50 AM
Edit: Ok, Just read up on the DS118. So it acts like a full on server with all the components needed. Cpu/memory etc. where the enclosure would just be a dumb drive...
Yup. It's pretty light-weight, but as long as you don't throw everything and the kitchen sink at it they're pretty nice.
If you find the "server" aspects lacking, you can usually buy mid-spec'ed generation or two old servers on eBay for like $200. They may not be enterprise-ready anymore, but more than adequate for home use; load up XCG-NG or some other hypervisor, load up Plex/PiHole/whatever as VMs.
Quote from: sheddi on July 25, 2021, 11:17:23 AM
DSL modem-routers in the UK (even the really cheap ones like this Technicolor TG582n (https://community.plus.net/t5/Library/TG582n-Information-and-Specifications/ba-p/1322590)) almost all have a USB port where you can plug in a USB drive and the router will then make it available as a SMB network drive. Is this the case in the US too?
If so, can you put the drive in a USB enclosure and plug it into your router until you come up with a better plan?
Yes, most good routers in the US will have at least one USB port for this. They're also capable of plugging in a USB printer and now having a network printer for the house. My current router has (IIRC) four USB 3.0 ports. My NAS stations also have USB ports that can be used that way, or as a "quick dump" of the flash drive's contents. Then again, my printer has a couple of ports that can be used either way.