In another thread, I have asked somequestions about a cd ripping project. My question here is:

I am considering converting over 1200 cds to a lossless format. I am not sure what storage space that would take, but I am guessing that it could be over 300GB. Any suggestions for cost efficient ways in which to store the archival files? I suppose that the convenience of a single hard drive location might be preferable to a stack of dvds, but the size of the project may be too large. Thoughts?

i personally store my mp3s on 2 hd.

ext 250 for my lossless
then internal 200 for my lossy

i listen to my lossy and just keep the lossless files on my external turned off unless i need them for a transcode or burn.

to me its just easier than shuffling dvds.

Worst case scenario it might be closer to 400.


The Buffalo Terastation has some mixed opinions, but mine, which I gave to a friend because I did an about-turn for an on-PC array (little point in spending the money for a fast PC to handle syncing and something-like-real-time transcoding duties if your storage is not immediately to hand), is apparently giving him no problems bar some Windows limitation issues with very large files. You'll be storing tracks though so that should not be an issue. For both of us using Gigabit yielded some problems, but when I'd dropped the switch segment to 100Mbits, and when he replaced his wiring arrangment for a 100Mb switch, the problems went away. The Terastation was ludicrously cheap compared to what I paid for a 1Tb Dell NAS (too noisy to use at home) just a couple of years back.


Configured with RAID 5, the Terastation will give you ~700Gb or storage.

I archived about 650 CDs to FLAC which resulted in about 200GB. Mostly rock, so if you have jazz/classical you can expect a better compression ratio. I would agree that you're looking at about 400~450GB for lossless depending on your codec and program material.

I backed my FLACs up with DVD (about 50 DVDs), but I would recommend another hard drive stored offsite. The DVDs are nice, but pretty inconvenient.

I also play my lossy files regularly and have the lossless for backup only. MP3 format takes the whole collection down to about 40GB which fits nicely on the desktop HD with room to spare.

Have a look at this thread.

Wow. That thread makes my head spin!

I guess I didn't realize the landmine I was stepping on. I was sort of hoping I could just buy some big external hard drive, plug it in, download the lossless files to it, turn it off, and rock on. But, I guess the problem is, there are not yet cost efficient models for storage in excess of 400gb.

thanks for the thoughts.

I am only worried about storing the lossless files. I don't need daily back up etc. I would like to just plug the device in, download the files, and then turn it off until I buy some more cds, rip them, and decide to add them.

So, why don't options like this or that work for this purpose?

Thanks

Those would work nicely for that purpose.

I recommend the new Western Digital RAID edition 2 SATA drive coupled with an external enclosure: the drive, USB->SATA Enclosure, SATA->SATA Enclosure (another link).

This solution seems faster, cheaper and the drive is extremely reliable. I am an owner of one such WD drive and the FirmTek SATA->SATA enclosure and am extremely happy with them. Very important: Whatever enclosure you choose make sure the enclosure has fans and is well ventilated.

If your motherboard supports SATA2 hot plugging, you should be able to hot plug your drive using the FirmTek enclosure. Otherwise if you want to hot plug you need a USB drive/enclosure. You can also consider Western Digital RAID edition drives with EIDE interface to be coupled with more conventional USB2->EIDE enclosures. They will be cheaper although not SATA. Using SATA drives might be useful for future compatibility + NCQ support (slightly faster if your motherboard supports it).

I don't get it. It does not matter how often you back up or if you turn the drive off. If you don't have any backup, it's likely you will lose your data at some point because you only have one master. Of course, you can rerip your music then but it will cost you a lot of time. Also you would like to benefit from your lossless archive every day (by playing on your computer, transferring to your portable drive, etc.). This is one of the main reasons why you rip your music in the first place: added convenience of access. Otherwise you can as well use your CDs, right?

Therefore as recommended in the other thread: have two drives, one for daily use and one for backup. You don't need to keep the backup drive online all the time. Indeed I'd recommend you otherwise: keep the backup drive offline and somewhere safe until you decide to sync the drives. The original drive is the one you use every day and add the music when you rip. Then synchronize your drives every few weeks -- there're software like Beyond Compare for this purpose as mentioned in the thread I gave you.

Buy two 300GB ones. (your collection will get bigger)

NB: I back up to DVD with PAR2 data, and also to a 300GB external harddrive. I only have around 400 albums. The hardrive is only half full.

However, you could do DVDs and use two external harddrives (2x300GB = 600GB) and you have a simple, cheap, double-backup system.

It may not be as flashy as some of the others, but if you are like me, and find it difficult to persuade your wife that you are not mental sometimes, then it is at least affordable.

I only recently added the harddrive, as I was uncomfortable with the DVD backups.

Sorry, I really didn't really mean to post to say "I do it this way", and imply that you should also. My actual purpose was to suggest that, if you don't have the budget, there are basic alternatives.

I started by buying a DVD burner for under £40, and 50 discs. A year later I got the harddrive.

You could start with burning to DVD. When you have more money buy one 300GB external drive (belt and braces). When you can afford it, or you need the space, buy a second....

I guess I didn't explain my goal in the initial post. I initially undertook this project simply because I bought a new 60gb ipod and wanted to rip most of my cds. but, after thinking about it, i wondered if i should try to achieve more since i am going to the trouble of ripping 1200 cds. based on responses in the other thread, it seems like making a lossless back up might make sense, though I am not entirely sure why i would do it. I guess it will give me protection if my cds get damaged or my house burns down, etc. Likewise, if I ever need/want to transcode to another format, no rerip will be necessary. Last, I guess it gives me the option to, at some point in the future, use the losses the files as the actual music I listen to, but right now, I plan to simply use the cds for that purpose. I don't have any sort of sophisticated set up for playing the lossless files--i just use a laptop, no speakers etc.). So, the lossless files will basically just be a back up. I don't plan to use them. Hopefuly, since the back up will not be actively used, I won't really need a back up for the back up (and besides, how much money can I throw to this project).

Thanks to you all for you thoughts and ideas. This is really helpful. I am still unsophisticated regarding these issues, but I think I am a little smarter, thanks to this board!

I think a simple large (500gb) external might work best for me. I have found one by LaCie that seems reasonably priced. Any thoughts on this drive?

I thought you did well explaining your goal. But sometimes people post what solutions they use even when they don't match your goals exactly. No biggie, just ignore it. Personally, I approach it like you. I don't listen to lossless files, seeing as how I can't ABX a single sample on the latest 128k test (except anchor of course). My CDs are my backup because I don't expect them to disappear or get set on fire. And in the very remote chance they do, then they do. That's life, but it's not the end of the world.

We told you what to get but it's up to you. Get a Western Digital or Seagate. You want your drive to work for long years. The RAID edition Western Digitals are therefore highly recommended. If you insist on not buying a separate enclosure you can look into these models: model 1, model 2, other models.

I believe at the end the likelihood something happens to your drive is far more than something happens to your CDs.

Is there a raid that allows you to span multiple drives, making it act as one large drive, but not splitting the data as raid0 (or is it raid1) does? Im not concerned about a speed increase but would like to have a larger drive for my collection without the cost of the larger drives on the market

Solaris ZFS does what you want. I am not sure if there's software for this purpose otherwise.