HTPC and Hard Drive Question

albriscoe

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I recently built my HTPC using a Thermaltake Bach case

http://www.overclock.co.uk/product/Thermaltake-Bach-Media-Lab-VB8001BNS-Media-Chassis,-Black_78.html

which has the capabilities of housing 6 hard drives (its a squeeze), the 6 drives I`m using are Western Digital 500 gb caviar drives and they`re full of stored BD/HD material.

Question is I need to replace them with 1 tb drives but which ones, I`ve used WD drives now for a few years atb honest think I`ve only ever had 1 faulty.

Has anyone used these drives

http://www.cclonline.com/product-in...ategory_id=112&manufacturer_id=0&tid=wd10eacs

or does anyone what this "greenpower" drive is all about

http://www.cclonline.com/product-in...egory_id=112&manufacturer_id=0&tid=wd1000fyps

or can you suggest the best way to go about needing more storage, I`ve heard of NAS but don`t know much about it apart from the cases that hold up to 4 drives are really expensive.

Do I need a NAS module when I can fit 6 drives in my case??. Also I`m not bothered about raid and stuff as it halfs your storage capacity (I think)

Ideas very welcome as I`m doing this, this week hopefully :rolleyes:

cheers Al
 
For more info on NAS devices, check out the NAS Sticky in "Hard Drives & Memory": http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=627725

It also tells you about the various RAID options..... And no, you don't lose half your drives with all RAID configurations, only RAID 1, which is not relevent to you with the amount of drives you want to use.

Personally, i'd go down the NAS route(and i did!) as it gives you the ability to share out your data with other devices on your network without the need to have PCs switched on all over the place! Just the NAS.
 
For more info on NAS devices, check out the NAS Sticky in "Hard Drives & Memory": http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=627725

It also tells you about the various RAID options..... And no, you don't lose half your drives with all RAID configurations, only RAID 1, which is not relevent to you with the amount of drives you want to use.

Personally, i'd go down the NAS route(and i did!) as it gives you the ability to share out your data with other devices on your network without the need to have PCs switched on all over the place! Just the NAS.


Hi Mick

thanks for the quick reply, I`ve already read that thread Mick tbh and take the point that a nas is good for sharing on a network but as is I don`t need that facility (I think). Also it mentions the Synology DS-207 as being a good option but at £212 ish do I really need to do that as stated my case holds 6 drives.

I need the HTPC on to watch movies in my cinema room but are you saying that with a nas I could say watch a movie from the nas via cat5 to a plasma located in another room, if so then thats an option I could maybe do with.

Sorry for all the questions but I`m (trying to) learning all the time

Allan :smashin:
 
Hi Mick

thanks for the quick reply, I`ve already read that thread Mick tbh and take the point that a nas is good for sharing on a network but as is I don`t need that facility (I think). Also it mentions the Synology DS-207 as being a good option but at £212 ish do I really need to do that as stated my case holds 6 drives.

I need the HTPC on to watch movies in my cinema room but are you saying that with a nas I could say watch a movie from the nas via cat5 to a plasma located in another room, if so then thats an option I could maybe do with.

Sorry for all the questions but I`m (trying to) learning all the time

Allan :smashin:

Allan,

With regard the latter point, no, you can't just watch files off the NAS to a Plasma, you'd still need a "player", ie your HTPC.

See the NAS as a drive letter on your network that devices can see.

If you don't have a plethora of devices around the house, then maybe a NAS is not for you. Like you mention the cost is prohibitve too, the CS407 that i have holds 4 drives and is currently £364 with no drives!!

If you've just got your main PC that also acts as your HTPC and its all next to the plasma, then maybe the drives in the current case might be the way forward.

What RAID and NAS's give you is protection from a single drive failure. You need to ask yourself is your collection important enough to protect?

How have you got your current drives setup in your system now? Seperate drive letters? combined disks to be one drive? no raid i take it?
 
Hi Mick

as yet the only pc`s I have are my laptop (this one) and my HTPC, the HTPC is located on my AV rack which is next to my cinema room and connected via HDMI to my projectors Digital processor so thats going nowhere.

At the moment with just building the house I have 2 plasmas, one in the games room and the other in our bedroom but don`t really need to have them coupled to the HTPC, having said that I suppose it would be nice if ever bedridden to be able to put a film on rather than freeview.

I take your point regards drive failure as well, I`m not bothered if one of the drives holding movies packs up but the OS drive is another matter as thats where it all happens as I`m sure you`ll know. Maybe I`d better do a ghost of that one to be safe.

They are all as single drive letters atm with no raid facility.

God am I asking for trouble or what :eek:
 
Thats fine then, if you're not too bothered about losing things then i'd go on as you plan to.

ie replace the old ones with the new larger ones.

One thing you could do though is combine all the new drives in windows to be one big drive letter, if that makes things easier for you?
 
learning again Mick

how do I do that and how would I benefit from doing it


Allan

you'd go into disk management, so right click my computer/manage. Be careful though, the disks probably need to be empty before you do this.

no benefit apart having all your stuff on one "virtual drive". Some pieces of media software, ie mediaportal don't like stuff spread over different drive letters.
 
you'd go into disk management, so right click my computer/manage. Be careful though, the disks probably need to be empty before you do this.

no benefit apart having all your stuff on one "virtual drive". Some pieces of media software, ie mediaportal don't like stuff spread over different drive letters.

I`ll look into that Mick this morning, off to get the drives so I`ll let you know how I get on

cheers Allan
 
I'm currently using 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F1 drives, no problems so far and they are very keenly priced. Seem to run quiet enough for a HTPC, and don't get hot either
 
I'm currently using 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F1 drives, no problems so far and they are very keenly priced. Seem to run quiet enough for a HTPC, and don't get hot either

I`ve had to order these drives (DEL IN THE MORNING) as they seem to be very popular, how long have you had them if you don`t mind me asking.

To be honest I was a little sceptical but have saved about 60 quid on 2 drives and they have 3 year warranty same as WD SO FINGERS CROSSED :D

Al :smashin:
 
Only had them a couple of months so far, but no problems yet, and at £90 each they certainly seem to be a bargain.
 

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