I currently have a simple solution for my storage needs. I a rosewill esata enclosure set up as a JBOD. It has 8 2TB disks

However, the enclosure is beginning to fail after 2 years.

I primarily use this as an archive, but do also stream multimedia off these disks.

I am looking for the next solution. I have considered

a) a hot swappable setup (UBS 2.0 would be fast enough)
b) a hot swappable disk dock arrangement
c) another esata enclosure

What you recommend? I'd like to have something reliable.

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Is this in a home or business environment? – Andrew Sep 6 '11 at 3:58
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2 Answers

Drobo.

I have an older one that I got on sale at Amazon, but the ability to use any size hard drives is a big plus for me. As far as reliability, I know a few people that have them and have had no issues with them whatsoever. They are way more expensive than other enclosures, but personally, I think they're worth it.

They support many of the common ways you'd want to connect storage: FireWire 800, USB 3.0, eSATA, iSCSI, and Ethernet.

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The problem with Drobo is the price. They have a number of benefits over other NAS, but you pay for it (significantly).

NAS is a very mature market, and you can grab anything from a 2 disk unit, to a rack mounted Goliath. See http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/ for testing and recommendations.

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