Tinypliny's Journal

02/22/2009 17:56 #47862

External Harddrive Advice/Poll
Category: i-tech

I really need an external HD for backup. I looked at online backup but some of the reliable ones cost a ton of money per year. The better option might be to get 2 HDs - make back ups on both, keep one at home and one in the office. I am really tempted by the < $100 Seagate freeagent 1TB drives but they have recently had a string of failures across the globe. Someone told me to build a RAID1 array instead. What do you all think?

1. Do you currently own (ir have you ever owned) an external hard drive?

2. If yes, has it ever died?

3. What brand was it?

4. Was it a USB harddrive or a RAID array?

5. Would you recommend a RAID array or the USB harddrives?

6. What brand would you recommend? What set-up?

Ended up getting a Western Digital 1TB Elements Harddrive

It has been functioning pretty well - but you can never be 100% sure about when hard drives will throw in their towel. I am hoping for the best since this one seems to have such uniformly good reviews at Amazon.

theecarey - 02/25/09 00:21
I was looking at some sale stuff at Best Buy:
Western Digital 500GB external usb portable for $120
:::link:::

or a heavier version for $90
:::link:::

or for $120, the 1TB- bigger, but I don't need to carry it around:
:::link:::

I dont so much need a TB, but the price seems right..

tinypliny - 02/24/09 23:28
Oh my. I don't think I have such high-tech needs. :) I think owning a time capsule makes you a certified tech-whore. ;-) I don't even have wireless at home. I have a DSL lowest-level modem and I have no aspirations of zooming on the super highway with automatic and silent databanking and maybe global music on demand? ;)

But oooooohh.. I am so going to flaunt my new found time capsule knowledge at my sweatshop office. Hehehee

zobar - 02/24/09 15:56
I bought a 500GB Time Capsule for Christmas/my birthday. Normally I wouldn't have sprung for it but I'm very impressed.

Time Capsule and Airport Extreme are basically the same - they've got everything most people would need for a home network. They've got a 802.11a/b/g/n wireless base station and 3-port Gigabit Ethernet switch for all your networking. They've got a USB port. If you plug in a printer, it'll share the printer on the network; if you plug in a drive, it'll share the drive. [If you plug in a USB hub, you can share both.] Additionally, Time Capsule has a built-in 500GB or 1TB drive so you don't need a spare disk. The whole thing is Mac & PC compatible.

In addition, if you have a Mac, you can target the Time Capsule/Airport Extreme for your Time Machine backups. You don't even need to think about it- your computer gets backed up every hour when you're connected to the network. [You can target an external drive for your Time Machine backups as well, but you have to remember to connect it.]

- Z

tinypliny - 02/23/09 21:26
Wow - that's a ton of detailed opinion. Thanks so much (e:uncutsaniflush), (e:zzzzzobbbbar) and (e:heidi)!

I think I will go with a USB but probably a smaller drive than 1TB. From your opinions - portable/laptop ones might be better. None of you recommended Seagate - so maybe I won't be wise to get those. I guess I just need to decide between a Toshiba, LaCie and Western digital.

Time Capsule is too expensive!! Do you have it??? What is so time capsuly about it? Does it have transcendental space like the Tardis? ;)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TARDIS

uncutsaniflush - 02/23/09 00:36
Oh,yeah, I forgot to mention in my first comment. You also have a another choice for backup if you have a router - Network Attached Storage :::link::: That's what I'm planning to add to my lan at some indefinite point in the future.

uncutsaniflush - 02/23/09 00:14
1. yes
2. no
3. Western Digital portable 80 gb and also I had am usb enclosure that I put in whatever stray h/d I had laying around.
4. usb
5 It depends on how important your data is to you. Multi-location redundant backup is a very good idea for important data; so you might consider a raid array at home with a usb h/d at the office.
6. I think (e:heidi) has the right idea - cheap with good reviews. I think one thing you should consider if you want just an external h/d (i.e. one that just sits on your desk next to your computer) or a portable h/d that (hopefully) is designed to withstand the shock of being carried from place to place.

zobar - 02/22/09 19:40
One drive is probably enough, unless you are working with an obscene amount of data - drives are very high capacity these days, and a RAID array would add unnecessary bulk. If you have a laptop and average-person storage needs, I would recommend a portable, bus-powered enclosure. 'Portable' enclosures contain laptop drives and are significantly smaller than desktop enclosures, but they only go up to half a terabyte. ['Only' half a terabyte is more than me and (e:dragonlady7) use combined, and she's a photo & music packrat.] Portable enclosures are also very convenient for sharing large files.

1. Yes, currently.
2. Not yet.
3. The drive is a 200GB Toshiba laptop drive MK2035GSS and the enclosure is a WiebeTech ToughTech Mini :::link::: - both since updated.
4. USB 2, FireWire 400/800.
5. RAID is probably unnecessary.
6. Go for convenience, because if it's not convenient for you to do a backup, you won't. (e:fi) did a whole lot of research and ended up with a Toshiba HDDR320E03X :::link::: which seems to be a good value. If you have a Mac laptop and $300 to burn, the Apple Time Capsule :::link::: is seriously the best thing ever and I will bend your ear about it if you like.

- Z

heidi - 02/22/09 19:39
1. Yes
2. No
3. LaCie 80 gb HDD (out of date but it backs up the critical stuff - when i bought it, prices were approx $1/gb)
4. USB
5. USB
6. Cheap with good reviews.

(Yeah, I think I need to get one soon!)

02/20/2009 11:00 #47822

Day of loss
Category: tragedy

It's a day of great loss for the community of cancer researchers. One of our best scientists and a close friend of my advisor's was murdered by someone who gained entry to her apartment on the pretence of being an interested buyer.

What a waste of an exemplary scientist! This is additionally painful because this is exactly how my grade school teacher was killed as well. That was the first funeral I ever attended. And how awful that I feel compelled to convey this message to all my friends, family and to you all. Trust no one - unless you really know them and their intentions well. It's not a very balanced world out there.

tinypliny - 02/21/09 08:37
She was not from roswell but is collaborator/consultant on a number of our joint research projects on breast cancer. She has also been here to give talks in the past.

paul - 02/21/09 02:25
Holy crap thats crazy. ,was it someone from roswell.

heidi - 02/21/09 00:30
I'm so sorry, tiny. *warm thoughts*

gardenmama - 02/20/09 19:39
This is so tragic - what an awful thing to have happen - a waste indeed.

theli - 02/20/09 11:39
Oof... Wow...

02/19/2009 22:40 #47819

Question for e:kookcity2000
Category: eating out

Hi (e:kookcity2000),

I remember you telling me that there is a Woodlands at Loehmann's Plaza now. I checked out Rocwiki

and experiences seem pretty chequered. What do you think? How does it stack up against the palace of dosas?

I have got around 3/4th of a month to pick a decent "ethnic" place to eat. "Abyssinia" and/or "King and I" are always my backups but I would really like to hear your impression of this new place at the plaza.

Thanks!
TP

jenks - 03/03/09 17:06
yay tiny! you've been to abyssinia?! You're like the only other person I've met here who will eat ethiopian. Except when I dragged imk and chica... yummmm I want to go back.

tinypliny - 02/21/09 19:03
Thanks for the review!!

Rocwiki is great most of the times, but sometimes, some of the reviews (like the one that says they found cockroaches on their plate) is enough to unsettle me. Nothing beats asking (e:strip)pers of course. ;)

kookcity2000 - 02/21/09 18:52
Hi Tiny
I've always enjoyed Mysore Woodlands. The Southerners I go with like it too.
They are pretty good at keeping your dosa plate stocked and the buffet has a good selection at lunch. I was always happy with how much they fed you at dinner too.

The rocwiki review seems mostly positive except for a few that are obviously looking in the wrong place. (eg someone complains that the waiter wasn't attentive enough and held onto a wine bottle by the neck).

Going to Mysore and expecting to have a waiter fawn over you and play armchair wine snob will leave you just as disappointed as going to La Chateau de Whatever and expecting mountains of dosas and naan and sauces and soup and mater paneer and so on. (Also, decent supply of chicken and mutton stuff too)