Chapter 13. Consider Other Hardware Options

Earlier (see Pick a Hard Drive) I explained that hard drives are the best destinations for your backups in almost every case. However, I also mentioned that in some situations, you might not want a plain, stand-alone external hard drive but something with more (or fewer!) bells and whistles. In this chapter, I offer an overview of other types of hardware you might consider:

• Alternative Hard Drive Options: From enclosures with extra features to connectors and adapters that let you attach drives to your Mac without any case at all, there are numerous choices.

• RAIDs and RAID-Like Tech: Hard drive arrays have benefits, but may not be as useful as their manufacturers want you to believe. (The Drobo, which I discuss, is a special—and better—case.)

• Network Storage Devices: Apart from Apple’s Time Capsule, many other devices offer network-accessible storage without a Mac or PC.

• Local Network Servers: If you do have a computer on your network that functions (or can function) as a server, that’s another place you might store your backups.

• Hardware You (Probably) Shouldn’t Consider and Why: Among the choices I can’t recommend for most people are optical media (CD and DVD), tape drives, and flash drives.