The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/wunderforce on 2024-12-03 13:04:43.

I need to backup quite a lot of data from my Phd. Depending what I want to keep this could be 21TB on the low end and 23TB on the high end. The backup will need to travel via ethernet through my macbook to its destination, so I am assuming an external drive is the only way to go here. This backup will be mostly archival. I expect maybe some light use and would probably transfer important bits off drive onto faster storage if I was going to seriously work with the data. Oh and the data is coming off a gpfs file system interfaced with through linux.

This seems to leave me with two options:

  • WD easystore 22TB for $405
  • Build my own (ie get two drives and an external enclosure)

My requirements

  • Interfaces with my macbook (mbp 2017)
  • Interfaces with a windows 7 box
  • As fast transfer speeds as possible so the backup doesn’t take half a week

WD Drive:

Seems ok, and I’m assuming if I format it to some flavor of FAT it can talk to both mac and windows. I am a little worried about how full it will be and if it can handle getting 22TB dumped on it in one go. It is also fairly pricey.

Building my own:

Never done this before, so this is where I could really appreciate some help. Based on my research I can get two 14TB refurbished Ultrastar HC530’s from goHDD for $125 a piece (so $250). Then I think I’d need a 2 bay enclosure that also supports RAID(?) and a high-speed USB connection. Not sure what would be a good enclosure or how much it’d run me but I’m guessing $100? I’d like it to act like a 24TD disk and not two separate 14TB disks.

So for ~$100-$50 less than the WD I’m getting 4TB more storage and presumably better drives. Does this seem reasonable? My only worry here is how reliable those refurbished drives are. I don’t want to roll the dice too much but I am on a tight budget (~$400-$500 max) and this seems like a good way to save.

Thoughts?

If the self-built option is the way to go I really need advice on an affordable enclosure and how to set it up with RAID 0.

EDIT: The data is pretty important to me but I’m too poor to afford a second backup. Someone mentioned RAID 5 and an third drive which I might be able to swing. I think what I’m looking to build would be a direct attached storage.