RE: Re: Mac Mini and External Firewire Drives

["Phil Harris" <phil@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

That's pretty much what I did too ... Some big 8 bay IDE to firewire cases
from www.specialtech.co.uk but they weren't exactly put together to be
quiet
as they had to be able to survive in a room that would regularly hit 35
degrees C.

The Mac Mini is Firewire 400 but Firewire 800 is backwards compatible with
Firewire 400 and so you can use anything that is USB 2.0 / Firewire 400 /
Firewire 800 with the appropriate adaptors / hubs etc...

Phil

> -----Original Message-----
> From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx]
> On Behalf Of Ho Yin Ng
> Sent: 01 January 2008 11:52
> To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: [ukha_d] Re: Mac Mini and External Firewire Drives
>
> Previously I have just purchased empty firewire boxes and
> then just installed the quietest HDs. Either Samsung or WD.
>
> You can get firewire enclosures that can take 2 or more disks
> and hence you could setup RAID 1.
>
> Ho Yin
>
> On 01/01/2008, noel_pilot <HA@xxxxxxx> wrote:
> >
> > I'm looking to do something similar shortly, first thing to bear
in
> > mind is that I believe the mini only has Firewire 400, which
should
> > increase the availability of drives.
> > Cheers
> > Noel
> > Happy New Year!
> >
> > --- In ukha_d@xxxxxxx <ukha_d%40yahoogroups.com>,
> "rb_ziggy" <
> > rb.lists@...> wrote:
> > >
> > > I think this may be a question for Phil Harris but input
> from others
> > > very welcome.
> > >
> > > I use a Mac Mini as a HTPC - mainly for (ripped) DVD
> playback. Thus
> > > far it's been a bit experimental but I'm happy with the
> set up now
> > > so am ripping DVDs.
> > >
> > > To date I've been using a NAS unit with 512Mb (after raid
> 1). This
> > > has been fine for MP3s, storage of photos and general
personal
> > > network storage for the family. But not enough for DVDs
> at 7Gb per
> > > disc (I dont want to compress the Video_TS format).
> > >
> > > So I'm thinking of firewire (800) attaching more storage
> direct to
> > > the Mini (in this case it doesn't need to be directly NAS as
most
> > > duty will be direct to the Mac and if I need further network
> > > access,the Mac can act as a server). So looking for
> suggestions on
> > > SMALL and QUIET external drives of 1Tb that I can attach to
the
> > > mini. These will sit in a small Hi-Fi cabinet in the
> lounge so quiet
> > > (certainly no louder than sky HD box) really is important
> (it's why
> > > I've a Mini doing the work of the HTPC).
> > >
> > > In my case 1Tb will do fine for now and 2Tb will see me
> for a good
> > > long time in future I think.
> > >
> > > In this case I'm prepared to sacrifice Raid 1 capability
> for shear
> > > space. If the drive(s) quit, I'll re-rip.
> > >
> > > If I can't get a quiet local firewire HD then I'll have
> to go full
> > > NAS again and bung them in node 0. So any thoughts on the
cheaper
> > > end of the NAS boxes would also be welcome (i.e. I looked at
the
> > > Western Digital MyBook World II drives but they get mixed
> reviews on
> > > ethernet speed, reliability and the bundled access
> software with its DRM).
> > >
> > > Thanks
> > >
> > > Richard
> > >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
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