Sharkie_Fan
03-02-08, 11:17 PM
A while back, I was looking for a cheap network storage solution for the house... just so we could see photos from all the computers in the house. Nothing fancy, though my 1 requirement was I wanted something that I could put 2 drives in and mirror them, JUST IN CASE something went awry...
So, the Netgear SC101 fit the bill, and I had a store credit at Staples from something, so I got this for about $70, though it was no money out of pocket because of this credit that I'd had sitting forever because I don't usually buy at Staples.
So anyway, it's been a year or so and twice in that time (the second being just last week), I've gotten a message that the mirror was broken. Turns out that the thing isn't really completely happy in a wireless situation and if there's a hiccup in the wireless network (which I had when this happened last week), the mirror can at times break.... Not a huge deal, though there isn't a way to REPAIR the mirror... so I have to pull the data off onto one of my computers, reset the mirror, then recopy the data. A PITA, to be sure, but all my data is still there.
Unfortunately, tonight, disaster strikes... I go to look at the share and it wants me to format the disk. Tried restarting the thing, same deal. Other computers, same deal.... I'm not sure what happened, but it's apparently spit the bit... and the expletives that have been flying around my house for the last few hours could make a sailor blush! I guess that's what I get for going cheap (and proprietary).... I'm so hot right now though... ARGH!
Fortunately I backup pretty regularly to DVDs, so there's just ONE event which I don't have on a computer or memory card anymore... and, even more fortunately (for me, anyway), it was the wedding of a friend. Of the 400 or so pictures I took that day, only 50 or so were of my family (my kids in particular). And, the ONE that was knock your socks off good we had emailed to the office, so I still have it! (my 4 year old was jumping around on the curb, and I got a brilliant shot of him just about to jump and the pond/fountain in the background... just dumb luck, but a brilliant picture)
Anyway... I guess now I'm going to spend some money to get a REAL network storage utility of some sort... Not sure what (I'm open to suggestions). It doesn't have to do anything fancy, just take 2 drives cause I'd like the redundancy - I'd rather plug in a new drive and let the mirror fix itself overnight than have to pull out a dozen or so DVDs and move the photos off them.... And I'd prefer it to not be proprietary like the SC101. I'm adding a mac to the mix, so I need to be able to see it from PC or Mac...
So, the Netgear SC101 fit the bill, and I had a store credit at Staples from something, so I got this for about $70, though it was no money out of pocket because of this credit that I'd had sitting forever because I don't usually buy at Staples.
So anyway, it's been a year or so and twice in that time (the second being just last week), I've gotten a message that the mirror was broken. Turns out that the thing isn't really completely happy in a wireless situation and if there's a hiccup in the wireless network (which I had when this happened last week), the mirror can at times break.... Not a huge deal, though there isn't a way to REPAIR the mirror... so I have to pull the data off onto one of my computers, reset the mirror, then recopy the data. A PITA, to be sure, but all my data is still there.
Unfortunately, tonight, disaster strikes... I go to look at the share and it wants me to format the disk. Tried restarting the thing, same deal. Other computers, same deal.... I'm not sure what happened, but it's apparently spit the bit... and the expletives that have been flying around my house for the last few hours could make a sailor blush! I guess that's what I get for going cheap (and proprietary).... I'm so hot right now though... ARGH!
Fortunately I backup pretty regularly to DVDs, so there's just ONE event which I don't have on a computer or memory card anymore... and, even more fortunately (for me, anyway), it was the wedding of a friend. Of the 400 or so pictures I took that day, only 50 or so were of my family (my kids in particular). And, the ONE that was knock your socks off good we had emailed to the office, so I still have it! (my 4 year old was jumping around on the curb, and I got a brilliant shot of him just about to jump and the pond/fountain in the background... just dumb luck, but a brilliant picture)
Anyway... I guess now I'm going to spend some money to get a REAL network storage utility of some sort... Not sure what (I'm open to suggestions). It doesn't have to do anything fancy, just take 2 drives cause I'd like the redundancy - I'd rather plug in a new drive and let the mirror fix itself overnight than have to pull out a dozen or so DVDs and move the photos off them.... And I'd prefer it to not be proprietary like the SC101. I'm adding a mac to the mix, so I need to be able to see it from PC or Mac...