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That's my next alternative if I can't find a suitable (for me) alternative. However I would prefer not to have the NAS on all the time, mostly because I only b

That's my next alternative if I can't find a suitable (for me) alternative. However I would prefer not to have the NAS on all the time, mostly because I only backup seldomly (since I don't really generate that much data, so losing a month or so is not that bad. Really critical stuff I backup directly to tarsnap though), and because where I live, the quality of the electricity is really bad. I get unexpected blackouts once a month at least, if not more, and voltage/current changes a few times a week, so even though I use voltage regulators and such, I like to be extra safe with my backup hardware, so the less time they spend connected to the grid, the better for me. Maybe I'm paranoid, but I believe (can't confirm) I've lost data over the years due to electricity issues.

cweagans 9y ago
Ah, you and I are in the same boat. I finally pulled the trigger and racked up all of my network equipment and put everything behind a nice NAS and power conditioner. My backups run hourly, and I have ~5 devices regularly backing up to this NAS, so my requirements are a bit higher than yours. That aside, the Synology is just a linux box with a nice chassis. You don't necessarily need it to always be running. Shut it down when you're not using it and boot it up when you need it.
- saganus 9y ago
  I would love to have a setup like yours, I just can't justify the cost for the type of data I have. I mean, yeah sure, my pictures and personal stuff are very valuable, but I already have a few copies in my parent's home, etc, and I don't produce much photos or videos anymore so my space needs grow very slowly. However I would prefer to just have one more layer just in case. I thought Synology products were meant to be kep on so I came to believe that startup times and such would be a pain, but maybe if they are not it could work fine for my needs... I'll definitely consider it! Also.. yeah, once I get a nice chunk of money I too would love to have a line conditioner... but dayum those things are expensive. Btw, can you recommend a particular model you like? Thanks!
  - cweagans 9y ago
    This is the one I have: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000XJLLKG https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000XJLLKG It's not a dedicated power conditioner, I guess, but it does handle voltage irregularities, and it switches to battery and back fast enough to not be an issue in brownouts.
    - saganus 9y ago
      Great! Thanks, I'll dig into it a bit more.
ValentineC 9y ago
> However I would prefer not to have the NAS on all the time, mostly because I only backup seldomly (since I don't really generate that much data, so losing a month or so is not that bad. Really critical stuff I backup directly to tarsnap though), and because where I live, the quality of the electricity is really bad. I get unexpected blackouts once a month at least, if not more, and voltage/current changes a few times a week, so even though I use voltage regulators and such, I like to be extra safe with my backup hardware, so the less time they spend connected to the grid, the better for me. In this case, why not a standard external hard disk over USB?
- saganus 9y ago
  That's basically my current setup, however since I rather have a "good" HD (currently a WD Red) as an added layer than only a run-of-the-mill USB drive (which for several reasons I've come to believe aren't as reliable), I setup a cheap Celeron-based computer for this. I still use my USB drive, but it's used much more frequently so I fear it might break some day. That's why I opted for the NAS-rated HD as a second layer backup. As a last resort I also use tarsnap for my very critical files though, so yeah, USB drives are good but I wanted a bit more peace of mind on top :)
  - ValentineC 9y ago
    What's the Celeron-based computer for? I share the same sentiment as you regarding off-the-shelf external drives — I believe they're usually bottom-binned stuff. You could consider getting a 3.5" enclosure and installing a NAS-rated drive in it.

cweagans 9y ago

Ah, you and I are in the same boat. I finally pulled the trigger and racked up all of my network equipment and put everything behind a nice NAS and power conditioner. My backups run hourly, and I have ~5 devices regularly backing up to this NAS, so my requirements are a bit higher than yours. That aside, the Synology is just a linux box with a nice chassis. You don't necessarily need it to always be running. Shut it down when you're not using it and boot it up when you need it.

saganus 9y ago
I would love to have a setup like yours, I just can't justify the cost for the type of data I have. I mean, yeah sure, my pictures and personal stuff are very valuable, but I already have a few copies in my parent's home, etc, and I don't produce much photos or videos anymore so my space needs grow very slowly. However I would prefer to just have one more layer just in case. I thought Synology products were meant to be kep on so I came to believe that startup times and such would be a pain, but maybe if they are not it could work fine for my needs... I'll definitely consider it! Also.. yeah, once I get a nice chunk of money I too would love to have a line conditioner... but dayum those things are expensive. Btw, can you recommend a particular model you like? Thanks!
- cweagans 9y ago
  This is the one I have: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000XJLLKG https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000XJLLKG It's not a dedicated power conditioner, I guess, but it does handle voltage irregularities, and it switches to battery and back fast enough to not be an issue in brownouts.
  - saganus 9y ago
    Great! Thanks, I'll dig into it a bit more.

ValentineC 9y ago

> However I would prefer not to have the NAS on all the time, mostly because I only backup seldomly (since I don't really generate that much data, so losing a month or so is not that bad. Really critical stuff I backup directly to tarsnap though), and because where I live, the quality of the electricity is really bad. I get unexpected blackouts once a month at least, if not more, and voltage/current changes a few times a week, so even though I use voltage regulators and such, I like to be extra safe with my backup hardware, so the less time they spend connected to the grid, the better for me. In this case, why not a standard external hard disk over USB?

saganus 9y ago
That's basically my current setup, however since I rather have a "good" HD (currently a WD Red) as an added layer than only a run-of-the-mill USB drive (which for several reasons I've come to believe aren't as reliable), I setup a cheap Celeron-based computer for this. I still use my USB drive, but it's used much more frequently so I fear it might break some day. That's why I opted for the NAS-rated HD as a second layer backup. As a last resort I also use tarsnap for my very critical files though, so yeah, USB drives are good but I wanted a bit more peace of mind on top :)
- ValentineC 9y ago
  What's the Celeron-based computer for? I share the same sentiment as you regarding off-the-shelf external drives — I believe they're usually bottom-binned stuff. You could consider getting a 3.5" enclosure and installing a NAS-rated drive in it.