The not another 'do I need a NAS?' thread with a difference....

[bl0at3r]

I'll start by saying I don't think I do *need* a NAS..... but 2014 is the time to do SOMETHING as my data has got in a bit of a mess.

• I have a laptop with a 256Gb SSD which is filled with the following : Documents, Photos, iTunes, GoPro vids and misc downloads.
• I also have an external 2.5" HDD with another approx 40Gb of photos.
• Total data storage requirement is approx 300Gb - with 100Gb classed as critical files (those I never want to lose).
• I do not 'stream', neither do I download tv shows/films/software via torrents or whatever.
• We also don't have any other computers in the house.

I use(d) Dropbox as my primary 'backup' for the critical stuff - it's offsite, but the sync is problematic as it will obviously sync deletions or moves without prompting and I have lost data - I got it back but now am uneasy as this is not really a backup solution. It is also on someone else's server and out of my control. I also don't want to pay £60 again for another year of extra Dropbox disk space.

This on its own was not an acceptable solution to me, so I then used Time Machine with an external USB drive and also CCC with another drive - but it is all a bit cumbersome and I have to remember to plug in the different drives and pause the Dropbox syncing if I want to tidy or move around files.

So I need a reliable automatic backup, but also maybe a network share to store additional less used files such as the photos because I can't get them on the laptop SSD.

Options as I see them - in no order of preference...

1. Buy a 512Gb SSD for the laptop so I can get everything on the drive and then continue to use the 2x USB drives for Time Machine and CCC backups. Then sync the most critical of critical files (30Gb) to Dropbox as a failsafe.

2. Buy a Mac Mini (with OSX server) to act as a time machine destination for the laptop and also a network share for less used files. Plug the USB disk in to backup the mini using CCC.

3. Buy a HP Microserver with WHS and have network shares for the data and time machine (if OSX will recognise a WHS share?) destination.

4. Buy a 2x bay Synology NAS which supports time machine and also back this up with external USB drive.

5. Buy a time capsule for the laptop backup but not sure about additional data that not fit on laptop SSD.

6. Your suggestion....

I will continue to use Dropbox as a dump for transferring files backwards and forwards between home and work and friends, but I don't want to rely on third party cloud services for my backup routines.

I am also conscious about power hungry devices as I already have a CCTV DVR and a pond pump and filter on 24x7!

Looking forward to your suggestions.....

Thanks

 

[neil_g]

3 - yes it will via smb protocol.

I don't think you need anything beyond another larger USB drive or two rotated off site. And/Or something cloud based, glacier gets mentioned in every thread recently.

 

[bl0at3r]

Thanks Neil

I wonder about crashplan - but I really don't want a cloud based solution - although I know it makes sense for the off-site part of the total backup strategy.

 

[bl0at3r]

A moment of clarity - the realisation that if nothing has changed since the last backup then another backup doesn't need to be done!

I rarely use the laptop these days - everything is tablet based.

I was assuming (wrongly) that I'd need to do some form of backup daily - I don't because if the laptop is used every 2 weeks then nothing will have changed in between.

Hence there is no need to backup daily and no need for a NAS !

Rotating 2x portable external drives between home and the office and between time machine and CCC. It pretty much covers everything I need.

 

[bl0at3r]

Thanks everyone for your help !