How to manage a big itunes library?


I have had a mac mini running itunes for about 2 1/2 years now. The inevitable has happened, my first drive has failed, at least it's icon has stopped showing on the desktop and I can't access the files.

I had a feeling this would eventually happen. I have the files backed up, but this does create a headache to fix it. The files were originally ripped on 250GB drives and the backups are on 500s. I have 5 250GB drives and one 500GB drive, all pretty much full. I have a pretty big collection, about 5000 or so CDs.

I need advise on a solid solution for this type of setup. There are some pretty big drives comming out but I just don't know what would be the best option.

Also this might seem stupid, but I am wondering if there would be any loss in quality in a copy of the original rip vs the original???
ejlif

Showing 2 responses by mlsstl

One other suggestion is consider adding hard drive coolers to each drive. These are fan-based coolers that mount directly on the drive. I picked up 4 recently for my systems; they were $5 each. They went on quickly and lowered the hard drive temp of every drive by 10 to 15 degrees centigrade. Since heat speeds up the failure process it is not a bad idea (though it does not replace backups.)
Keep in mind that about the only scenario a RAID setup helps with is a single drive failure.

There are lots of other things than can take out all the drives or even a whole system: a power surge, theft, fire or smoke damage, a broken water pipe and so on. Even typing the wrong command can take out a RAID.

The primary benefit of a RAID system is for computers that need 24/7 access (web & email servers, systems for businesses) where a RAID will allow a partially crippled system to keep running until a drive gets replaced.

For a large music collection there is no substitute for a backup copy of the drive. Re-ripping and tagging can be a very slow process. I actually keep two backups with one of them off premises. That makes a lot more sense to me than a RAID. I only use that for my business computer.