Quality music storage with high reliability?????

[Tom Swaman]

I am told that music storage devices, namely hard drives and NAS boxes set up with mirrored frives (RAID 1 or better) vary widely in quality and reliability. I also know first-hand that different drives get hotter than others and different drives are much more easily ruined at higher temperatures. Finally, I am told that a major difference in reliability exists between today' 1tb to 2tb drives and today's 3th to 4tb drives.

I am looking to buy, in the USA, a top quality set of drives and a top quality NAS. If I can, I would prefer to use 3tb or 4tb drives is I do not have to sacrifice music quality and system reliability.

1) Please tell me how to purchase top quality hard drives, preferably what models are top quality?

2) For music streaming, what speed drives should I purchase to optimize reliability?

3) How do I identify a top quality NAS with top quality electronics that promote long term reliable operation?

4) Can I reliably purchase 3tb or 4tb drives or am I far better off purchasing 1tb or 2tb drives for long term reliableservice?

5) I have heard that the best drives and BAS boxes meet a requirement called "medical grade". Is there any truth to this or is this just the usual marketing gossip?

Thank you ever so much for helping me to find top quality hardware for top quality music wioth reliable delivery.

With appreciation,
Tom

[garym]

Re: Quality music storage with high reliability?????

keep in mind that no matter the quality of the drives you get or the NAS unit you get, RAID is NOT A BACKUP. Even with a RAID system, one must have the data backed up to OTHER disks, and preferably stored in a different physical location. Think fire, theft, electrical storm, etc. Any of these things would wipe out all your data if it is ONLY on the RAID device. Read the forums at ReadyNAS (major NAS manufacturer) to see the occasional sad, sad stories of NAS users who *thought* that all they needed was the NAS with a RAID system and had no other backup data.

RAID is designed to be able to stay in service even if one disk fails (think Banking, online shopping, or other functions that can't afford to be "down" for repair). Listening to music is not mission critical in terms of being down to replace a disk with data backed up elsewhere. I've been using computers daily since about 1978. The bottom line is that ALL DISKS WILL FAIL, IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF WHEN. This said, I've never lost more than 1 hour of work in that time period, because I've always been careful about backup procedures.

[garym]

Re: Quality music storage with high reliability?????

also keep in mind that streaming music across your local network is not at all demanding on the computer or disk (even large WAV or FLAC files). So any reasonably modern computer or disk is more than enough. Even HD movies are not terribly demanding on a local network. And as for music quality. If the files are quality rips to begin with, the only effect on "music quality" is whether the network is robust (no buffering, etc.). If the "bits" are delivered properly to the player, particularly if the player is the one decoding the bits (no soundcard involved), then the music quality is unaffected by the server. Of course, your server could have a really noisy power supply, or you could have incorrectly installed ethernet that causes a bad "connection" that creates interference, but these are not typically a problem, particularly if the computer server is in a different room from your stereo setup.

[Tom Swaman]

Re: Quality music storage with high reliability?????

Gary,

Thank you.

1) If I understand you correctly, you are telling me to use low speed drives for music storage with the streaming component in a RAID mirror array and the storage component offsite. Is this correct?

2) I understand that all EHDs will fail at sometime. However, I have to believe that some drives are better made and will last predictably longer than others. I am trying to identify these better drives and how best to set these up. Any suggestions are most welcome and appreciated.

I hope I am being clear. If not, please feel free to pick on my very limited knowledge.

Beast regards,
Tom

[garym]

Re: Quality music storage with high reliability?????

Gary,
1) If I understand you correctly, you are telling me to use low speed drives for music storage with the streaming component in a RAID mirror array and the storage component offsite. Is this correct?

I'm not following your point 1. Unless you are a bank, an online radio station, etc., I'm not in favor of a RAID mirror (other than RAID = 0 for combining multiple disks as one large disk, which is how my VBA 6TB works). And don't understand what you mean by streaming component vs storage component. I'm saying that keep your computer with the storage located far away from listening room (whether it is inside the computer, in attached USB drives, in a NAS, etc.). And that computer would also have your music server software (whether that be ASSET from dbpa or LMS/SbS, etc. Then STREAM (via wifi or ethernet) to your player (i'm assuming your SB TOUCH units here). Please clarify what you mean in statement *1.

Regarding your second point, I've used most major manufacturer's brands of drives (internal and external, USB, eSata, etc.) and honestly don't have any opinions good or bad. I doubt you'll get an answer to that question here, but you should be able to google to find ratings & experiences of drives. There is NOTHING about storing audio files that is special with regard to how well a drive works and how reliable it is. The audio files are simply data like any other data on the drive. Ones & Zeros....

[Tom Swaman]

Re: Quality music storage with high reliability?????

Gary,

Thanks for all your time and effort. You have pointed me in the directions that will now enable me to put together a new, quality digital music system. I deeply appreciate your time and efforts.

Best regards,
Tom

[garym]

Re: Quality music storage with high reliability?????

you're welcome. good luck with getting it all together to your liking so you can enjoy the music!