Hi Rez File Storage: Best External Drive Setup for Laptop?

[jxo]

I have several TBs of HiRez music files with more on the way with my SACDs getting ripped. I use a laptop with JRiver and various USB DACs from time to time. Up until now, I have had enough internal storage on the laptop for the music files. I will soon be out of space and need to decide on the best storage option for external Hi Rez storage and playback. This will move into a high end system.

 

I was taught to avoid USB connected hard drives with USB DACs-- Synchronous Conflict? That was a few years ago.

 

I need a 5TB drive. With a laptop, there aren't many connection alternatives other than the USB 3.0 connectors. Am I stuck with the DAC and the external drive both on USB connectors or is there another solution?

[dpstjp2]

Try looking at a NAS solution. This will work via an Ethernet connection to your laptop. Ideally you'd want to site the NAS well away from your listening area to make sure the disk noise is not impacting your music.

 

A NAS will protect against single disk failure (if properly set up) but the only true back up solution is to keep a full back up remotely stored somewhere. All my music is backed up to a remote NAS so I can recover it in the event of a fire etc. Is your laptop backed up regularly?

[Audio_ELF]

Try looking at a NAS solution. This will work via an Ethernet connection to your laptop. Ideally you'd want to site the NAS well away from your listening area to make sure the disk noise is not impacting your music.

 

A NAS will protect against single disk failure (if properly set up) but the only true back up solution is to keep a full back up remotely stored somewhere. All my music is backed up to a remote NAS so I can recover it in the event of a fire etc. Is your laptop backed up regularly?

A NAS will protect against a single disk failure, however RAID is no substitute for a backup as (a) the majority of issues requiring recovery are the result of user or software error rather than drive failure, (b) failure of the hardware (apart from the drive) will usually result in complete loss of data and © with RAID5, statistically you are likely to come across a non-recoverable error during rebuilding an array, again causing complete data loss.

[StephenJK]

I have several TBs of HiRez music files with more on the way with my SACDs getting ripped. I use a laptop with JRiver and various USB DACs from time to time. Up until now, I have had enough internal storage on the laptop for the music files. I will soon be out of space and need to decide on the best storage option for external Hi Rez storage and playback. This will move into a high end system.

 

I was taught to avoid USB connected hard drives with USB DACs-- Synchronous Conflict? That was a few years ago.

 

I need a 5TB drive. With a laptop, there aren't many connection alternatives other than the USB 3.0 connectors. Am I stuck with the DAC and the external drive both on USB connectors or is there another solution?

 

As far as I know, the issue with a USB connected drive and a USB connected DAC was that there was concern over the overall processing time and loading of the USB root hub - and whether that would cause issues with playback - possibly resulting in stutter, dropouts or other problems.

 

Personally, I never had a problem. I've used many different flavors of laptops with different operating systems and never had any issues. I am using an eSATA connection for the external drive right now, but that's only because the laptop in use has that connector. The docking bay for the drive has both eSATA and USB 3 connectors, I've used it connected to a USB 2 port without any problems.

 

There does seem to be a lot of people who recently have been promoting the use of Network Attached Storage but that would generally be so that you can access the files from anywhere on your network.

 

If you don't have a network, a laptop with a connected drive and DAC may work just fine. If it works, and it should, you're good to go. It's never taken a lot of processing power to play music files.

[wwaldmanfan]

I have several TBs of HiRez music files with more on the way with my SACDs getting ripped. I use a laptop with JRiver and various USB DACs from time to time. Up until now, I have had enough internal storage on the laptop for the music files. I will soon be out of space and need to decide on the best storage option for external Hi Rez storage and playback. This will move into a high end system.

 

I was taught to avoid USB connected hard drives with USB DACs-- Synchronous Conflict? That was a few years ago.

 

I need a 5TB drive. With a laptop, there aren't many connection alternatives other than the USB 3.0 connectors. Am I stuck with the DAC and the external drive both on USB connectors or is there another solution?

 

What type of computer is it? Do you have any other connection options besides USB? I ask because my MacBook Pro has USB, FireWire, Thunderbolt, Ethernet, and mini-optical ports. It also accepts SD cards. It's not the latest model, but they still sell it.