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You are here: MacNN Forums > Enthusiast Zone > Networking > Best storage HDD for use with airport extreme base?

Best storage HDD for use with airport extreme base?
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pete
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May 23, 2007, 09:02 PM
 
I just got one of the new apple airport extreme base stations - what a difference compared to the crappy netgear and linksys routers I've been using for the past few years. They all failed. Anyway, I'd like to take advantage of either the USB2 port to back up my home folders, or use an ethernet drive. MY questions are:

-what are generally considered the fastest and most reliable external drives?

-Would there be a big difference between using a usb2 drive vs. network drive connected to the ethernet port of the router?


Any other advice would be appreciated!

Thanks!
     
ghporter
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May 23, 2007, 09:11 PM
 
I've never had a single issue with Linksys hardware...

Anyway, the first thing you'll notice is that no matter how fast the drive you plug into the AE, it will be VERY SLOW over the network compared to the USB 2.0 speeds you've experienced. 100BaseT is limited to a theoretical maximum speed of 100Mbps, while the theoretical max for USB 2 is 480Mbps.

I don't have any numbers to base an opinion of "fastest" or "most reliable" in terms of USB drives. The USB drive sitting on my desk is one I put together with a $30 enclosure and a $100 drive, and though I don't use it every day, it's pretty fast. My network drive is by CoolMax (the CN550), and it's quite useful, though I do notice the speed problem. It also has a USB 2.0 port, which is very helpful at moving large or numerous files.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
pete  (op)
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May 23, 2007, 09:20 PM
 
so you're saying that it's very slow even when you use the network over ethernet? Hmmm, so sad. I was hoping that my girlfriend and I could both use the same drive to back up our computers over the network, but it's not worth it if it's so slow.

I'll check out the Coolmax - thanks!
     
mduell
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May 23, 2007, 10:15 PM
 
Originally Posted by pete View Post
-what are generally considered the fastest and most reliable external drives?

-Would there be a big difference between using a usb2 drive vs. network drive connected to the ethernet port of the router?
As far as fastest, it doesn't really matter; the Airport's AirDisk performance is so slow it doesn't make a difference what enclosure you connect to it. Reliability isn't generally an issue as long as you stay away from the bargain-basement $10 types.

Yes, there could be, if you buy a hard drive enclosure with decent ethernet performance.
     
Simon
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May 24, 2007, 03:38 AM
 
Don't worry too much about the HDD. 100BaseT won't give you more than 10MB/s and over 802.11n you'll probably not get much more than 6MB/s sustained. Any external HDD you buy should easily reach those speeds. I have a cheap FW400 HDD here that does 35MB/s.

You can buy an inexpensive bus-powered external FW HDD (no cable mess) and attach it to both your Macs whenever you or your g/f want to run a backup. USB2 drives or full size FW disks are cheaper, but you'll have to put up with a power cable and power brick.
     
ghporter
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May 24, 2007, 09:28 AM
 
As Simon points out, a network drive for backup is a traffic jam experience you don't need. Any good external drive (like the one I mentioned above, as well as my network/USB CoolMax) will do fine for backups when directly connected to your machine. I use my network drive for small stuff, backing up pictures, and my iTunes library. My stand-alone USB drive is used for backups and nothing else.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
pete  (op)
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May 24, 2007, 01:51 PM
 
Thanks everybody. I already have a firewire drive that we've been using, but I thought the idea of a networked drive that was always available sounded tempting. I guess it's just an idea and not ready for backup use unless except for small files. I was hoping that I could use it as my main backup, but there's no reason to do it if it's much slower.


Thanks again...
     
galarneau
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May 26, 2007, 01:40 PM
 
There is no reason that wireless backups have to be super fast. Just set your computer up to do it overnight while you're sleeping or at work. Depending on the software you use, if you do incremental backups, only the first one takes a long time.
     
BLAZE_MkIV
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May 26, 2007, 04:07 PM
 
The WD drive I have is energy star compliant and will spin down. Its a nice touch that means your not turnign it on and off all the time.
     
pete  (op)
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May 27, 2007, 04:36 PM
 
Originally Posted by BLAZE_MkIV View Post
The WD drive I have is energy star compliant and will spin down. Its a nice touch that means your not turnign it on and off all the time.

Which drive do you have? I did connect a friend's 2.5" drive yesterday and it really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Not super fast, but not crazily slow either....that drive did not spin down automatically though.
     
BLAZE_MkIV
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May 27, 2007, 07:05 PM
 
Its a 320 MyBook w/ firewire. I havent't hooket it up by USB to see if it will sleep that way.
     
pete  (op)
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May 27, 2007, 09:30 PM
 
Thanks. I wonder if any of the drives will spin down when connected to the Apple airport extreme base station?
     
ghporter
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May 27, 2007, 09:31 PM
 
It's all about access, so I would assume that yes, anything that spins down would spin down whatever it's connected to.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
peeb
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May 29, 2007, 10:59 AM
 
Originally Posted by galarneau View Post
There is no reason that wireless backups have to be super fast. Just set your computer up to do it overnight while you're sleeping or at work. Depending on the software you use, if you do incremental backups, only the first one takes a long time.
Yep - you don't need speed for this task.
     
pete  (op)
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May 29, 2007, 10:21 PM
 
thanks
     
   
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