datahoarder

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We are digital librarians. Among us are represented the various reasons to keep data -- legal requirements, competitive requirements, uncertainty of permanence of cloud services, distaste for transmitting your data externally (e.g. government or corporate espionage), cultural and familial archivists, internet collapse preppers, and people who do it themselves so they're sure it's done right. Everyone has their reasons for curating the data they have decided to keep (either forever or For A Damn Long Time). Along the way we have sought out like-minded individuals to exchange strategies, war stories, and cautionary tales of failures.

We are one. We are legion. And we're trying really hard not to forget.

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Next step in data storage (beehaw.org)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Hi all. I currently have a SFF pc (HP Optiplex-like but smaller) running Plex and some other software. Happy with my software setup for the time being.

However - I'm stuck with what to do next on the storage front. I have a 5TB external HDD that's plugged into the little PC and that's basically what I use for all of my storage. This isn't enough (running out of space) and also doesn't feel very versatile.

Where to from here? I don't know whether to go the RAID route and buy an enclosure that supports it, or just get a bunch of drives and chain them together. A Synology NAS seems way too expensive. What should I do?

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Could look into a home diy nas software like TrueNAS or proxmox

[–] iempqob4 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm in a similar boat, my Optiplex has a small m.2 expansion slot, I believe intended for a WiFi chip.

I nought a dual SATA card for it, just need to find a nice enclosure that will power 2 drives and provide a direct SATA connection to some 3.5" disks.

If anyone knows of some let me know!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Just get an 18-22TB external drive. Cheap easy and can be reused once you outgrow it. Yes, a NAS is pretty cool but unless you need the uptime etc RAID can offer you are just better of getting a single, large drive.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Thanks for responding, appreciate it. I don't really need a "NAS" so to speak because of my mini pc which stays on 24/7 - I just need a place to store stuff. I was thinking a RAID or similar hard drive enclosure might be best because I can find some cheap drives and shove them in. I never considered a single drive with a massive capacity.

Do you think something like this 18TB drive is a good shout? I'm not sure if it's shuck-able...

WD 18TB Elements Desktop External Hard Drive - USB 3.0, Black https://amzn.eu/d/i7Xi05A