What would the IDEAL home data storage solution look like? Let’s take a look.
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Expandable - Reliable
- Secure
- Low Power
- Quiet
- Fast
- Simple
- Cheap
Expandable
I need me some storage. I already have 3 terabytes worth of hard drives for storage, almost 4 terabytes if you count the hard drives of all of the computers in my house. But I want more. I want a storage system that, when it fills up, will let me just go buy another hard drive, and just pop it in. Ideally, I don’t want to have to do any extra work, I just want it to take the hard drive and use it.
Bottom line, I need a storage solution that will hold the data I have now, but one that will also grow with me as my thirst for storing data grows.
Reliable
Stuff saved on this system should be safe. I want my stuff to be safe, even if a hard drive dies. For home use, I feel it’s safe enough to expect to survive one hard drive failure, because at home, if one drive fails, I will shut the whole system down until I can replace the failed drive, or make other arrangements.
The hard drive is where the data exists, so that needs to be the focal point when it comes to thinking of failures, but there are other ways data can be jeopardized. If a hard drive controller goes out, for example, the data itself may be safe, but you may not be able to get to it. I’ve lost a motherboard with a raid controller on it before, and when that happened, all of the data on my 2 drive RAID 0 stripped array went out of my reach. To access my data, I had to find another raid controller with the same chipset to install into my new computer just to be able to read my old drives. Yeah, the data was safe, but it took me a while to get it back.
If we were discussing business, it wouldn’t be enough to be able to survive one failed drive… I would need to know that even when one drive fails, the system would keep running and providing my data to whoever needs it, even while it is crippled.
Secure
I have kids. I love them, but sadly, I don’t trust them with my irreplaceable data. I don’t think they’re out to get me or anything, I just know accidents happen. They don’t think clearly. For example, just the other day, my youngest son spent 2 hours typing up a report for his school homework, he hit Print, then immediately closed the document without saving it. Then the printer jammed. I was absolutely aghast at the thought process that led to that predicament, but the point is: it happens.
And I can’t handle that kind of thinking when the kids finish watching a video stored on the home server, and Windows Media Center offers to DELETE it after it’s done. Yeah, it does that. (Microsoft – WTF?)
I need to make sure that certain users can not delete or damage the data, while at the same time ensuring that I myself can do whatever I need to the data. I also need to make sure that my MediaCenter itself cannot delete recordings that I don’t want deleted. I also need to make sure that my in-laws cannot even SEE some of the kinds of entertainment that my wife and I enjoy. (My mother-in-law would probably remove us from the will if she watched Paranormal Activity, for example)
Low Power
My stuff needs to be available 24 x 7. I need to know that I can get to my data, even if I can’t get to the machine to turn it on. Thus, I need this mythical beast of a storage system to be RUNNING all the time. I can’t afford to add yet another power hog to my house that’s going to run 24x7. We already have two full blown gaming rigs that are on almost all the time, plus the other computers and game consoles that the kids neglect to turn off.
Ideally, all of the user computers in the house should be put to sleep when not in use, even the MediaCenter, but the file server still needs to be reachable at any moment – even if I’m out of town, accessing it remotely via the web on my laptop.
Thus, the ideal storage system needs to be extremely power efficient.
Quiet
It also needs to be quiet. If it’s going to be left on all the time, it needs to be unnoticeable. I used to be one of those guys who would overclock all of my computers. I figured: I should get the most I possibly can out of the silicon I buy, even if the manufacturer says it should run slower.
It’s a lot like tuning your car. Auto makers tune cars a certain way, but car enthusiasts know that if you adjust some settings, without replacing a single thing, you can get much MUCH more power out of a car. It may be (a lot) louder, and it may use (A LOT) more gas, but you CAN get more power out of your car with the parts it came with when you bought it.
I’ve lived with the vacuum-cleaner-loud computer. I enjoyed playing video games with the most FPS I could get. But there comes a point in life where you just want some freakin’ quiet. Once you reach that point, it’s not long after until you want that quiet WHILE you use the computer. Well, I’m there. All of the machines I build now are optimized to be as quiet as possible. When you have 8+ computers in your house, each one contributes to the noise. I will not tolerate a storage device that I can hear more than a few feet away.
Fast
Ok, now we’re getting to the factors that counter all the previous factors. I want my storage solution to be QUIET and LOW POWER, but I also don’t want it to be SLOW. It needs to be able to meet some basic demands… For example, at a MINIMUM, it needs to be able to stream a video file to the MediaCenter. Ideally, it should be able to stream that video WHILE being able to also serve data to the other computers in the house as well. The MediaCenter should be able to save a TV show to the storage while it’s streaming data somewhere else.
Since this mythical storage solution is going to be used first and foremost to store VIDEO files, it MUST be able to stream them fast enough to be usable.
Simple
I almost forgot – The ideal system should be as simple as possible to not only use, but also to initially setup, and maintain. I’ve seen some outlandishly complex stuff that people have done to try to achieve all the other factors listed here, but it could literally take a degree in computer storage theory to even comprehend some of these things…
I want a system that my wife could operate. I want to know that if something went wrong while I was out of town, that I could call my wife on the phone and easily walk her through the process of fixing it.
Cheap
Oh, one more thing. (Damn, where did I leave my turtleneck sweater?)
It needs to be cheap. I can’t afford to spend my life savings on some crazy file server, or my wife will kill me. There are plenty of MUCH more important things to spend money on, or so she tells me. Things like Baby Strollers. Car Repairs. Rent. and occasionally, a DVD or two.
Ideally, I want to spend as LITTLE money as possible to make this all happen. Plus, I want to spend as little money as possible to keep it running. I also went to spend as little money as possible when it comes time to expand it.
These are the factors I must consider as I examine each and every possible storage solution. Obviously, I know already that my favorite stands out: Windows Home Server. It isn’t without it’s flaws, but it’s pretty good.
Up Next: I will explore several possible storage solutions, and compare them to the Mythical Holy Grail of home data storage.
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