#NAS VS EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE PORTABLE#

Aside from a red light on your RAID hardware to warn you of a drive failure, your computer, connected to the RAID drive, will continue to see the RAID drive in your file browser as usual. Essentially the RAID system falls back on the copy of your data spread amongst the remaining drives.Īlso noteworthy is that when a drive fails, you can still access all of your data on the RAID without immediately needing to insert a replacement drive. Importantly, if a hard drive fails, you do not immediately lose your data. Aside from RAID 0, which I will talk about separately, all other RAID modes include some amount of protection against drive failure. RAID systems can be configured in several modes detailed in the following sub-section. Let’s talk about these in a bit more detail: RAID for Business Continuity So you might be asking what the point of a RAID storage system is if it is not a backup of your data? A RAID drive serves two primary purposes: The first is business continuity, and the second is data transfer speed. In other words, the duplicated data can never be used to restore deleted or damaged data. If the file system on one drive becomes corrupted, the file system on the other drive becomes corrupted simultaneously. If you accidentally delete a file, the copy of that file is deleted simultaneously. While some RAID storage systems create duplicates of your data, this duplication is done in real-time. A RAID is not a backup.Ī backup is a copy of your data that can be used to recover lost or damaged data. All my photos are on a RAID drive.” This assumption is not true. When asking photographers how they back up their photos, I can’t begin to tell you the number that tells me, “Oh yes, I have a backup. One of the most common misconceptions is that a RAID storage system counts as a backup.

Misunderstanding how a RAID works is one of the leading causes of photographers losing all of their photos. Before I get to the list of recommended RAID drives for photographers, I want to make sure you know the basics. Unfortunately, many people misunderstand how these devices work and their true purpose. When discussing photo storage devices and backup, RAID is a buzzword.

This guide covers the best external drives for photo storage, and when you combine it with an understanding of the industry-standard 3-2-1 backup system, your precious photos will be protected. They gamble with their hard-earned photos and only realize it was a bad idea when it’s too late. Far too many photographers do not bother to create a sound backup system for their photos. Following this, I will discuss my recommendations for the best external hard drive and, finally, the best full-blown RAID storage systems for photographers, including NAS systems.Īlthough this might not be the sexiest gear I have ever covered in our photography gear guides, this might be the most important. These are great backup drives for travel and editing outside your home or office.

#NAS VS EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE PORTABLE#

I will break this down into a few distinct sections: Firstly, I will discuss my recommendations for the best portable drives for photographers. This guide will look at the best photo storage devices on the market this year.

Nas vs external hard drive