Well, they are faster.
And, I have yet to have one crash.
B
And, I have yet to have one crash.
B
Vault 2i, etc.
As a purchaser of the Bluesound Vault 2i, I received a question from Amazon from a guy contemplating purchasing one. He noted that “all mechanical drives eventually fail”, so is it possible to connect a solid state storage device to the Vault, as a more permanent storage medium?
Which got me to thinking: I know that drives fail — Bluesound recommends backing up the Vault’s contents to other storage to preserve the music in event of the Vault drive’s failure. But, over the years, I have not had a problem with drives failing — other things stopped working, but I was able to access the drive’s contents to import over to a new computer/drive. I have an external hard drive that I still use more than 10 years later and it works fine. Even so, I plan to back-up the music on my Vault. I was thinking of just backing up to another mechanical drive. But this question makes me think: Would it be better to back-up to a solid state drive . . . are they really that much better, more durable?
Which got me to thinking: I know that drives fail — Bluesound recommends backing up the Vault’s contents to other storage to preserve the music in event of the Vault drive’s failure. But, over the years, I have not had a problem with drives failing — other things stopped working, but I was able to access the drive’s contents to import over to a new computer/drive. I have an external hard drive that I still use more than 10 years later and it works fine. Even so, I plan to back-up the music on my Vault. I was thinking of just backing up to another mechanical drive. But this question makes me think: Would it be better to back-up to a solid state drive . . . are they really that much better, more durable?
7 responses Add your response
@oddiofyl I have been researching SSDs and found a article where a guy wrote that while hard drives do fail, so too do SSDs. Depending upon usage, he said that any drive can fail after a few years. Given how much more SSD costs compared to hard drives with the same capacity, I sure wouldn’t want to replace one every 4 years or so (though I don’t put heavy use on hard drives I have had and still have an external hard drive that is working after 10+ years). I saw a Samsung SSD (said to be very reliable) with 2 TB capacity for $350. |
If you are that concerned about your digital music, and you should be, perhaps what you should invest in is a USB or NAS drive that supports dual drive RAID mirroring. If one drive fails in the unit you simply replace it and the RAID software takes care of copying the data from the other disk in the background. You can also listen to the music while this is going on. I have three such units. - one for general backups of my computer systems - one for my music - one for my photo’s I have had a drive fail on the music NAS, but I was using standard hard drive for desktop computers. So I plugged in a new drive rated for data servers and pressed the ON button - Voila - completely restored ! Now both drives in that NAS are rated for data server use :-) RAID requires a hard drive that is specifically for data servers- they are more robust and can handle the load RAID places on them. They are not much more expensive than a regular hard drive and provide faster data transfers. HDD's rated for data servers are running 24/7/365 at server farms and they do fail after a few years, but RAID makes it easy to replace and more importantly recover the data on the failed hard drive. By comparison - my NAS runs maybe an hour a day - it will last a very long while. You should also keep an offsite backup just in case of a bad house fire - but that can be kept on a smaller single drive USB unit As for the choice between solid state and mechanical drives... - I have been using mechanical "server drives" for around 10 years. - never experienced a problem - YET :-) - and they are fast enough for the music I play Solid state technology can partially fail but the drives have the smarts to recover & block failed memory areas - to some extent. But this too will get better with time Personally - I will continue with the mechanical drives - until they disappear from the market place, which could be sooner than later Hope that helps |
williewonka ... perhaps what you should invest in is a USB or NAS drive that supports dual drive RAID mirroring. If one drive fails in the unit you simply replace it and the RAID software takes care of copying the data from the other disk in the background. You can also listen to the music while this is going on.RAID is a useful protocol, but it is not intended to serve as a backup. RAID can't protect against human error, malware or viruses, or something like a deadly power spike. RAID requires a hard drive specifically for data servers ...That is mistaken. You can easily setup RAID using pedestrian hard drives - at least on a PC. (I'm not sure about Mac.) You should also keep an offsite backup ...Agreed! |
That is mistaken. You can easily setup RAID using pedestrian hard drives - at least on a PC. (I’m not sure about Mac.)Whilst RAID works with any type of hard drive, it will cause HDD failure of "standard" desktop computer drives, because of the way it uses the drive. When I consulted guys in the computer manufacturing industry they told me NOT to use just any old drive and upgrade to the server drives - I’ve never had a problem since :-) Drives rated for data server use are built to withstand the extra demand.and specifically; RAID protocols, so I have been told. I initially started using "pedestrian" drives from computers and one of the drive failed within a year. RAID is a useful protocol, but it is not intended to serve as a backup. RAID can’t protect against human error, malware or viruses, or something like a deadly power spike.That is why I recommended an offsite backup Regards |
