Limited Hard Drive Space! HELP!

[Infamous]

Hi folks!

My notebook is running out of hard drive space; pictures, videos, etc. It seems that our 8 month old son is just hogging up all the space and it doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon.

I currently have an external hard drive that is also extremely limited on space; from backups to more videos.

The ideal solution I had in mind is to purchase a really large external hard drive(maybe a Drobo), placing everything onto that, however that I want to be able to to view the pictures or videos directly to my TV by just opening up a Media Player(ie : Wester Digital Media Player or an AppleTV if possible?) or on my computer; link my Photo Library to the drive as though it's on the internal hard drive but in reality it's on the external.

I am looking at the 'cleanest' and most convenient way to do this, however don't know where and how to start.

Please be advised that my TV is no where near my router is(upstairs), however that I do own a wireless router. I cannot move my wireless router because I need to be hardwired for work on my desktop unit that I do not nor want to put any personal files on.

Thoughts, suggestions, feedback anything?

Thank you in advance!

[wilsonlam97]

8 month old?

Or do you mean 8 year old? He/she just doesn't know what their doing so if you could stop him/her from downloading crap or if this is your primary computer (which it sounds like so) then you should get the kid a cheap laptop.

If you share a laptop with a kid your bound to get every single virus there is out there.

A NAS should suffice your needs for networked storage but I do not believe the kid is actually making good use of space. 90% of it is probably just junk. TEACH him/her how to use the computer properly.

[Infamous]

8 month old?

Or do you mean 8 year old? He/she just doesn't know what their doing so if you could stop him/her from downloading crap or if this is your primary computer (which it sounds like so) then you should get the kid a cheap laptop.

If you share a laptop with a kid your bound to get every single virus there is out there.

A NAS should suffice your needs for networked storage but I do not believe the kid is actually making good use of space. 90% of it is probably just junk. TEACH him/her how to use the computer properly.

I appreciate your post, however allow me to clarify.

We have an 8 month old son - our first child in fact, and because of this my wife is taking LOTS and LOTS oh did I say LOTS of photo's and videos which now a days are 720p minimun and is subsequently eating my hard drive space.

I would love to just be able to put everything on an external hard drive and be able to access it on my computer and media players to play on my TV - that would be ideal.

[wilsonlam97]

OH okay. Much better now. I see.

You may just want to build a raid box. With hard drive prices plumetting i suggest you get right on it.

[Mr Nobody]

Notebook is definately not a place to be storing these. You'll want some kind of backup solution as well.

[0xffff]

Notebook is definately not a place to be storing these. You'll want some kind of backup solution as well.

This +1.

So to protect your data and provide yourself with enough space you should look at implementing 3 things:

1) A NAS for permanent storage of your pictures
2) A backup drive for the NAS, that is stored in a secure location (elsewhere in the house, in a fireproof safe etc)
3) A media streaming device (e.g. WD Live) that will let you view your pictures and videos from the TV it's hooked up to

For #1, I suggest a Synology device. Drobo is overpriced crap. There are all sorts of features with this NAS unit that will let you easily stream your content, as well as a single button on the front of the device to initiate a backup to an external hard drive. Other people here are more familiar with the features and can give you specifics about how to set it up so that everything goes smoothly

For #2 make sure you get an external device that's as big as the capacity of your NAS unit. This is your failsafe device, your source in case something happens to your NAS device. Some people store these offsite. You don't need to backup every day, but you may want to consider doing it monthly or bi-weekly. You may want to look at adding cloud backup too instead of an external drive, or in addition to.


And finally.. do you really need to show baby pictures on your TV? Presumably your baby is going to be right there in the room with you. Do you really need to look at pictures when you can look at the real thing right in front of you? I don't understand you people.

[fred999]

Or, if you don't want to do any work, you could buy something like a WD MyBook LIve, which is a NAS drive and you just plug it into your router. You get the benefit of a NAS without all the setup hassle. 2T drive is about $140 now.

Then get your WD Live and plug that into your TV, and that's all you need.

Of course, you might want a second drive for backup, as mentioned already.

[number8888]

For stuff like kids picture not only should you get local backup but perhaps look into online backup as well.

Anyway, sounds like what you need is a NAS as some people pointed out. You can build one using FreeNAS or UnRaid, or get something prebuilt.

If you don't mind the high price a Drobo FS is an excellent solution as you pay for the ease of use. Most people scoff at its high price of course but it's worth it IMO.

And if you want to play movies/pictures on the TV, many new models of TV/BD Player/Receiver support network access to file servers already so check what you have. Otherwise you will need WD Live or something similar.

[HotYaris]

We have an 8 month old son - our first child in fact, and because of this my wife is taking LOTS and LOTS oh did I say LOTS of photo's and videos which now a days are 720p minimun and is subsequently eating my hard drive space.computer and media players to play on my TV.

Your wife is going overboard with her obsessive need to record everything your kid does. She needs a reality TV show and a video crew to follow the kid around the house.

[sexyj]

build a unraid server and then you can keep adding new hdds to the array for more pleasure