Pi music - storage and access

[mikmas]

Just to move the Pi storage discussion as requested ....

Any suggestions, warnings and advice on RAID use that would make a Pi system safe and economical

[Juha]

Keep it simple

Store your music on two disks. The main and a copy.
Keep the copy in another location.

No need for RAID
RAID gives a false sense of security. It only helps if you have disk failure.
Your RAID controller may break rendering everything useless.
If you have burglary, fire or electrical problems, RAID does not help.

External disks are cheap, fast (USB 3) and you can get them anywhere.

[Ali Tait]

An easy solution for me, not being an IT expert, was to use a Drobo. Good thing with this is it automatically backs up files between the hard drives installed in it. Does this all by itself, no input needed from the user, other than to monitor how much capacity is being used. Drives can be hot swapped with no loss of data, though it can take a while for the new HD to be intergrated, depending on how much data is stored. Mine has been on 24/7 for the past three or four years with no issues. I recently swapped the four original 500GB drives for 3tb WD reds.

I still use separate USB drives as a back up though..

[Krisbee]

I would second Neal's post - RAID is not a backup system.

I will even go as far to say you maybe better off with a single high reliability drive for your music store and perform regular incremental backups to a second and third drive...like I do

If you were thinking of using a typical two disk NAS in RAID1, do you really need real time sync of data for a collection of audio files which is probably pretty static in nature? If you accidentally delete something from your disk, it's gone from the mirror too. Neals' suggested strategy is the one I've adopted.

[mikmas]

I already use umpteen HDDs as backup and have a twin drive Mac - SSD for the OS and 'daily' files and an HDD for initial backup.

From what I understand from Marcos' thread on the Pi the real benefit is using a NAS array is so your songs are readily accessible throughout the house. As I understand it the NAS takes the form of a twin drive RAID where you can dump all your tunes (and more) - the only drawback being that this would require backup unless the raid is 'self healing' which is not the case according to Neal's points. So the issue for me is that not only would I need a networkable RAID (i.e. not USB) but also a second drive set for backup of equal size.

This makes the whole 'cheap as chips' philosophy of the Pi pretty much redundant - it wouldn't really add any real benefits above what I already have but would simply cost a fair smack.

Or am I missing something?

[Desmo]

I already use umpteen HDDs as backup and have a twin drive Mac - SSD for the OS and 'daily' files and an HDD for initial backup.

From what I understand from Marcos' thread on the Pi the real benefit is using a NAS array is so your songs are readily accessible throughout the house. As I understand it the NAS takes the form of a twin drive RAID where you can dump all your tunes (and more) - the only drawback being that this would require backup unless the raid is 'self healing' which is not the case according to Neal's points. So the issue for me is that not only would I need a networkable RAID (i.e. not USB) but also a second drive set for backup of equal size.

This makes the whole 'cheap as chips' philosophy of the Pi pretty much redundant - it wouldn't really add any real benefits above what I already have but would simply cost a fair smack.

Or am I missing something?

Nope - NAS does not mean nor even imply RAID. It means "Network Attached Storage" a single disk drive would certainly qualify as NAS, yet would rule out RAID. As people have said before in this thread KISS.

[mikmas]

OK ... I think what's confusing things is that the terms seemed to be used interchangeably from the outset and links were put up to twin drive NAS arrays (for example) with the inference that the second drive provides a safe backup - which has now been kicked into touch.

Equally the discussion has moved to USB drives which for me would be pointless - my router only has ethernet or wifi so would mean I would need to connect a USB drive to a networked computer in the house and leave it on. It would be quicker just toting a USB drive to the shed when i want some sounds....

[r100]

I already use umpteen HDDs as backup and have a twin drive Mac - SSD for the OS and 'daily' files and an HDD for initial backup.

From what I understand from Marcos' thread on the Pi the real benefit is using a NAS array is so your songs are readily accessible throughout the house. As I understand it the NAS takes the form of a twin drive RAID where you can dump all your tunes (and more) - the only drawback being that this would require backup unless the raid is 'self healing' which is not the case according to Neal's points. So the issue for me is that not only would I need a networkable RAID (i.e. not USB) but also a second drive set for backup of equal size.

This makes the whole 'cheap as chips' philosophy of the Pi pretty much redundant - it wouldn't really add any real benefits above what I already have but would simply cost a fair smack.

Or am I missing something?

You are missing that you dont even need a HD to run a Pi. You can just stick a USB stick into it with your songs if you want to use it as a music repository.

[mikmas]

An easy solution for me, not being an IT expert, was to use a Drobo.

Which one?

I went on the Drobo website and it suggested a Drobo 5N to meet my needs - costs about £390 on ebuyer
http://www.drobo.com/resource-center...robo-is-right/

[mikmas]

You are missing that you dont even need a HD to run a Pi. You can just stick a USB stick into it with your songs if you want to use it as a music repository.

I already figured that - but wouldn't need a Pi for that situation either .....