I Come to You in Humility, Seeking Data Storage Advice

[Mike]

While I kinda . . . sorta . . . think I understand the ins and outs of data storage in a broad sense, I'm not sure what to do to get my ever-burgeoning data under control. I really just need some practical advice.

 

Here's my deal:

 

I've got a MacBook with a 160 GB hard drive. I keep it hooked up to a 500GB Western Digital external hard drive that holds my backups (I back up regularly using Time Machine). I sync my contacts and calendar through iCloud, but don't use it for any data storage, except insofar as I use iTunes Match.

 

Here's my issue:

 

I'm approaching the 160GB capacity of my hard drive. I'd rather not invest in a new computer at this point, but I also like the notion--perhaps old-fashioned at this point in time--of having my files accessible on my hard drive.

 

So, what's the solution? Should I just install a larger capacity hard drive? Move my stuff over to a cloud storage site? Or . . . ???? I seem to be accumulating data at a pretty rapid rate, and I don't see that slowing down much in the years to come.

 

I humbly seek your advice.

[Selden]

So, what's the solution? Should I just install a larger capacity hard drive? Move my stuff over to a cloud storage site? Or . . . ???? I seem to be accumulating data at a pretty rapid rate, and I don't see that slowing down much in the years to come.

Yes, as big and fast as you can find/afford. Most operating systems start to get a little laggy when disk utilization >90%. I aim for 50% or less.

 

Also, if the current 160gb drive has a standard SATA interface, you can buy an external drive enclosure with a USB interface for under $10, and use it as a portable backup.

[Mike]

So, what's the solution? Should I just install a larger capacity hard drive? Move my stuff over to a cloud storage site? Or . . . ???? I seem to be accumulating data at a pretty rapid rate, and I don't see that slowing down much in the years to come.

Yes, as big and fast as you can find/afford. Most operating systems start to get a little laggy when disk utilization >90%. I aim for 50% or less.

 

Also, if the current 160gb drive has a standard SATA interface, you can buy an external drive enclosure with a USB interface for under $10, and use it as a portable backup.

 

As I've looked around, I've seen 750GB - 1TB hard drives that seem remarkably cheap, like in the range of $130-$160. Am I missing something? If this is all it costs for a quality hard drive with this much capacity, it seems like a no-brainer.

[Rougarou]

I've got a 1TB 3.0 velcro'd to the lid of my laptop in addition to the 320gb internal hdd. Along with that, I have a 750gb external that can be velcro'd as well.

[Ken H.]

So, what's the solution? Should I just install a larger capacity hard drive? Move my stuff over to a cloud storage site? Or . . . ???? I seem to be accumulating data at a pretty rapid rate, and I don't see that slowing down much in the years to come.

Yes, as big and fast as you can find/afford. Most operating systems start to get a little laggy when disk utilization >90%. I aim for 50% or less.

 

Also, if the current 160gb drive has a standard SATA interface, you can buy an external drive enclosure with a USB interface for under $10, and use it as a portable backup.

What about the OS though? Or am I just thinking in the PC world were swapping out your only HD that has the OS on it is a major deal. Is Mac world more straight forward that way?

[Mike]

So, what's the solution? Should I just install a larger capacity hard drive? Move my stuff over to a cloud storage site? Or . . . ???? I seem to be accumulating data at a pretty rapid rate, and I don't see that slowing down much in the years to come.

Yes, as big and fast as you can find/afford. Most operating systems start to get a little laggy when disk utilization >90%. I aim for 50% or less.

 

Also, if the current 160gb drive has a standard SATA interface, you can buy an external drive enclosure with a USB interface for under $10, and use it as a portable backup.

What about the OS though? Or am I just thinking in the PC world were swapping out your only HD that has the OS on it is a major deal. Is Mac world more straight forward that way?

 

I'd have to look up the step-by-step, but my understanding is that I'd restore to the new hard drive from my existing backup. I think what he's suggesting is that, having done that, I could reformat the old 160GB drive and use it an additional external drive.

 

If that's not right, I have no idea what the heck he's saying.

[Selden]

What about the OS though? Or am I just thinking in the PC world were swapping out your only HD that has the OS on it is a major deal. Is Mac world more straight forward that way?

Far easier than Windows, although not as easy as Linux. I've been somewhat shocked at how easy it is to transfer a Linux backup image to different hardware, maybe 15 minutes.

• How to Transfer Your Data From Your Old Drive to a New Drive
  
• I want to clone my entire hard drive to a new hard drive or a new machine

One other thing: Although you are constrained by the rest of the hardware, all other things being equal, a fast hard drive (even a hybrid SSD/HDD can make a huge performance difference, mainly through improved access times. As an example, on a 3-year old low-spec Atom netbook with a SATA II interface, a SSD cuts boot time from over a minute with a HDD to about 20 seconds, and almost every application launches in 2 seconds. A pure SSD gets expensive pretty quickly as capacity increases, but hybrid drives offer much of the performance benefits at lower cost.

 

Amazon Reviews (including step-by-step Macbook transfer instructions

[randy]

yes for the most part it is that low cost. not sure about the mac world, but in PC language 7,200K spin

 

SSD top of the line most expensive and much faster than SATA

SATA 7,200 spin 1 terabyte size with good seek time would meet most users demands

As noted by Selden the hybrid drives are very nice and a lot cheaper than pure SSD.

 

Overall I would (if hardware allows) have a small 150 - 200 gig SSD to boot from and store my applications, and to handle my current files,

 

then back up 85% of my files to a hybrid 1 terabyte HDD. You will notice a big difference in the SSD as your operating system and application storage.

 

It will cost a little more than a single large hybrid HDD, but I do believe the boot time, application load time and multiple current file usage will be such that you will notice it and appreciate it, and the old saying "the quality is remembered long after the cost is forgotten" is in the case I believe true.

[AviP]

Buy this LG NAS. It plugs into your network and and can be accessed from any computer. You can plug your printer into it and make it a network printer. It's got multiple RAID and backup options. I have it and it's the best $400 I spent.

[Mike]

Well, I took the easy way out...at least the way I could wrap my head around. I upgraded to a 750MB hard drive and doubled my RAM while I had the Mac opened up. Relatively easy, but time consuming; there's a lot of time used while things spin, twirl and click.

 

I now have a serviceable computer again. It should serve my needs for quite a while, and the cost was about 1/10 of upgrading to a new Mac with comparable storage and memory.

 

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions!