Managing Your Storage Data

It's been two plus years since I have migrated all my crucial data into a personal Network Attached Storage (NAS). For those who want a short and sweet answer, get it, and for those who can afford, get one with a redundancy feature, as that would be even better. 

I used to dump my data into multiple portable hard drives and retire them into my cupboard, genuinely hoping that I will never use them. I was naive enough to think that this will work in any case of a hard drive failure. Much to my dismay, I was really unlucky that one of my backup hard drives failed when I needed to retrieve some data. Worse still, the hard drive was only used once during the archiving process and yes, I did check all my files before I kept the hard drive. 

After much research, I realised my mistake in assuming that the service life of a hard drive will remain full when not in use. I mean, logically speaking, if an item is only used once, it should not even spoil when it is not being used right? Reality check: real world items do not work that way. 

The physical design of a hard disk drive (HDD) has its limitations since the whole enclosure functions from a spinning platter (the part that stores your data) and a reader to read and write from it. This mechanical design is much more fragile as compared to a solid state drive (SSD) as there are moving parts that are more sensitive to displacement either caused by accidents or general wear and tear. Normally, it is advisable to replace your HDD after 4-5 years of usage as a preventive measure for a hard disk failure. 

Thus, one might conclude that ensuring the backup drives are well within the recommended time frame of serviceability will do the trick. However, that is only part of the equation because it does not provide any redundancy feature. NAS systems provide a solution that distinctively answers the problem mentioned above. Not only will that provide adequate storage space for your archived files (depending on the system configuration) most of the time, but also most NAS will bundle redundancy features together with the system, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID) or physical USB backup. 

The purpose of this post is to share my experiences in applying and integrating a NAS into my digital life. When I first started out looking for a better solution, I was not ready to invest a good sum of money into NAS. Thus, I chose the WD My Cloud NAS as my backup solution as I can afford it comfortably, and the price per GB (about 0.08 cents) was rather close to a standard HDD ratio.  Setting up the device was rather straightforward if you have some background in computer networking. 

Organising the backed up files was easy as you skipped through all the agonising moments of labelling your hard disk physically and neatly (a little OCD problem of mine). The only essential steps were to store the relevant files to the relevant folders where you can comprehend it easily. Since this is Network Attached Storage, accessibility of files on multiple platforms (Cloud Computing) through The Internet is also possible. This factor has greatly cultivated my habit of using portable devices of average storage size, for example, my 16GB Nexus 5. I would usually store all my critical data on my phone and still retain accessibility to my other files in NAS when needed (e.g. photos, documents). Although one might have to be a little disciplined to manage the consumption of your offline storage space, it does not bother me anymore as of late since I do not have to worry about running out of inbuilt storage space. 

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How I label my disk drives

With the added attributes of NAS system, the initial cost of a simple NAS system will always be higher than a generic HDD solution. However, the increment in price will be justified in the long run as replacement of a failed hard drive is much easier and reindexing a new drive will also shorten system downtime. Although my WD My Cloud does not allow drives to be hot swappable, I used a physical hard disk of larger storage capacity (not necessary) to backup the My Cloud unit in case it fails. 

Another factor that might bottleneck the performance of your NAS will be the data throughput of your network. The download / upload speed of your network will usually determine how fast your NAS performs, henceforth, additional thoughts in planning your networking system are also crucial in optimising your NAS performance. 

Throughout this whole experience, I am really glad to have taken on the NAS solution and make my data more centralised to access. There are also many other solutions such as Google Drive, which provides 15GB of free storage space for your cloud computing needs, and Rack Space, which provides different packing tiers for those who wish to have a private cloud without the hassle of managing the hardware. 

Cloud computing has definitely gained more traction than what I have observed since I started exploring NAS. Advantages of cloud computing are definitely attracting more people into the scene. Nonetheless, such systems should be managed properly to prevent compromise in data integrity. 

YWFU 

Future Proofing Your Technology

In one of my previous posts, I've discussed internal upgradability of laptops becoming a rarity. Most individuals will then do the perceived and most sensible approach: buying the highest end hardware they can afford, hoping to "future proof" the device in the coming years.

With the nature of technology advancement being so rapid, such approach may be deemed unwise. New, faster and more efficient hardware are coming out of the market almost every day. Thus, the best components of today may very well be second best the next day. Hence, it's going take tremendous effort to keep up with the standard financially. This alone makes the approach ineffective unless you are able to afford it financially.

Having a realistic idea of what you are going to use your device for is important. That being said, a realistic goal refers to the list of tasks that you are already doing on a daily basis. This includes the task that is related to your work or hobby. In my own opinion, I will always try to avoid buying additional hardware thinking that I'll utilise them in the future, for example, buying a high-performance graphic card and thinking that it will be used in future video editing work. Unless you are an avid video editor or working in this line professionally, chances of you needing such high-end hardware are low. In general, your machine must be functional and efficient in its tasks and any additional bell and whistle will just incur more cost.

I am not saying that I do not support the development of new hardware in the computing world. Developments such as these are critical for the industry to progress. However, spending money in unnecessary hardware specification for your machine makes me cringe because it does not "future proof" your machine entirely (remember the best of today may be second best of tomorrow), and that is often a common mistake made by individuals, including me. Back then, when I was purchasing a laptop (Macintosh based) for my diploma studies in audio visual technology,  I also made a mistake in spending the extra cash for an upgrade in a graphic card, thinking that this upgrade will vastly benefit my work. To be honest, in any way you compare it, the additional horsepower from the graphic card does definitely help in my rendering workload. However, the extra processing power from the card is not necessary to complete the task. Many would often equate better hardware to the quality of work, especially in the field of creative works, which is definitely not true in any way. At the end of the day, pick a configuration that will be able to perform the tasks given at a comfortable speed.

In practice, when buying hardware for myself, "future proofing" will never be a criteria that I will consider. No matter how well you planned and budgeted your hardware, it will never truly be "future proof". On the other hand, scalability options in one machine is often a better sought after approach. Not only will it help to compliment your existing system, it also helps to keep your machine up to date with introductions of new hardware (e.g. Network attached storage (NAS) to expand your storage capacity, or raid drives to improve your read/write speeds so as to off load the burden on a single internal drive). Such practices allow the user to only make purchases of new hardware relevant to their needs, and scalability of the system can be done periodically so as not to tax the user financially.

If one insists on "future proofing" his/her new purchase hardware, I would only recommend getting the best processing chip you can afford as this is the only component that is often difficult to switch or be upgraded.

YWFU

Upgradable Hardware

Recently, I have replaced my old Hard Disk Drive (HDD) in my 2012 Macbook Pro 15 with a 512GB Samsung 850 Pro Solid State Drive (SSD). The reason for doing so was to prolong the service life of this machine to its maximum. I disliked not using a device to its maximum capabilities (either by upgrading it or planned configuration) before deciding to either replace it with newer models or retire the unit entirely. The new SSD has definitely brought performance boosts to my machine and the benefits of having one in your system are definitely not new to any tech enthusiast. This post is not about reasons to replace your existing storage media with a new SSD, as there are surely many other dedicated articles on the web, which would address this topic much better.

Upgradeable components (e.g. ram and storage) on portable devices such as laptops were rather common a few years back. My 6-years old Fujitsu laptop was brought back to life by simply switching parts (ram and new HDD) to help cope with tasks such as programming and computer aided drawing. Although laptop's physical specifications are getting thinner and lighter, which is something I really liked, it sacrifices the ability to upgrade components internally, meaning you are pretty much stuck with the component configuration of your laptop from the time you purchased it. This, in turn, will change your considerations in buying a new hardware.

Since upgrading your new beloved machine is out of the question, a sensible approach would be to plan a component configuration that would help ensure the maximum serviceability of your devices before it becomes inefficient in its tasks. A point to note is that this is not "future proofing" your computer; personally, I dislike the term "future proofing" and will discuss that in a future post, if given the chance.

Whenever you buy a new piece of hardware, a common practice would be to ask yourself the purpose of the machine and how fast/efficient you need the machine to perform. If the unit you're looking for provides the potential to upgrade internal components after considering these factors, then purchase a specification you can afford comfortably and upgrade when needed, such as when you need more storage or perform heavier multi-tasking workload.

Assuming that the unit you're interested in does not provide upgradability, then understanding your needs for the machine is at its utmost priority. To illustrate, if you're using the laptop for document processing and occasional video editing, chances are you do not need the most decked out specs laptop out there. Something that is well within the software‘s manufacturer (e.g. video editing) hardware configuration specification would be reasonable. To simplify, take the most intensive tasks you have planned for your machine and consider that with the hardware requirements.

Although majority of the laptops are no longer upgradable, there is a solution that might actually counter this problem. Thunderbolt docking stations have been around the market for quite a few years and its unique approach in terms of connectivity has definitely shown potential in allowing devices to perform intensive tasks that it was not able to execute before. Many thunderbolt stations provide the solution of incrementing i/o ports. This brings forth a suitable configurable "rig" for the heavy workload tasks you wish to execute. For instance, you wish to do some multi-track recording on your machine and process it (or mix) afterwards. A common practice is to connect all your recording peripherals into a docking station (e.g. audio interface, external SSD for recorded audio tracks, and video output for an external screen) and link it with your laptop through a thunderbolt cable. This is possible because of the high bandwidth transmission thunderbolt technology provides. In addition, you can disconnect from the docking station once you're done with your work and the laptop retains its characteristic of being lightweight and portable.

An exciting development in thunderbolt peripheral is the external GPU station by Razer. Such solution allows the device to take advantage of the processing power of a full-fledged graphic card when needed. This is definitely a new avenue to explore as it helps to bring out new capabilities of a machine that is limited in terms of internal processing power.

YWFU