Adding Additional Drives
Adding an extra hard drive or SSD to your system is the quickest and simplest way to increase your storage capacity, but it’s not without its own issues.There’s two ways to add drives to your system. First, you can add an additional SATA drive if you have a desktop with the required connections and space available. In some cases, internal drives can be a faster, more reliable, and permanent way to increase storage, but this isn’t the best situation for everyone.
You can also choose to add an external drive, and connect it to your computer by USB. If you’re frequently traveling or backing up your video files on location, a small external hard drive is a better solution due to the portability. External drives are also helpful if you have a laptop or computer without space to add additional drives. However, the additional portability increases the risk of accidental damage or loss of the drive, so always make sure to keep an extra copy of your data somewhere else. If choosing an external drive, just be sure your desktop or laptop has the required connectivity to be able to plug it in.
- QUICK TIP: Sometimes you can find external hard drives cheaper than the drives on their own, depending on sales. It is possible to remove a drive from the enclosure and use it as an internal drive, but in some cases this will void your warranty.
Hard Drive vs. SSD
When choosing the drive to add to your system, it’s important to consider what type is best for your needs.Mechanical hard drives are great for storage large amounts of data, but they’re not the best choice for editing off of. Editing from a mechanical drive can easily lead to lag on the timeline, especially when using larger video files. This isn’t as much of an issue if you choose to edit with proxies or your file sizes are small due to camera compression to begin with.
SSDs will typically provide a much better editing experience, but they can cost upwards of 10 times more per GB than a mechanical hard drive. Their small size and lack of moving parts also makes it easier to add them to an existing desktop build. For example, in a case without additional hard drive bays, an SSD can easily be double-sided taped within the case. Their lack of moving parts is also an advantage if you’re trying to keep your computer quiet, such as if your narrating or recording video nearby.
- QUICK TIP: Combine the advantage of both an SSD and hard drive in your workflow. Store your active project files on an SSD in their own dedicated folders. Consider adding an additional SSD if you’re limited with space. 250gb to 500gb is usually plenty as long as your files aren’t too big and you don’t have too many active projects. Once your projects are completed, transfer them to a mechanical drive for permanent storage.
Drive Recommendations:
Hard Drive (Internal): WD Blue 4TB
Hard Drive (External): Seagate 8TB External Hard Drive
SSD (Internal): Samsung 850 EVO 500GB SSD
SSD (External): SanDisk Extreme 500 Portable SSD
Network Attached Storage
When projects get larger and require more, faster storage than a single SSD can provide, or you need to access it from multiple computers, it’s time to consider using a NAS. These small boxes contain multiple (usually mechanical) drives configured in RAID, which can provide additional speed and redundancy against disk failures. A NAS can easily hold 10s or even 100s of terabytes of data in a small box, depending on how many drive bays it contains, your RAID setup, and the capacity of the drives. To calculate how much space a particular RAID array would have, check out this tool.
Properly configured, it’s also possible to map your NAS as a network drive on your computer, allowing you to access all the files and edit your projects directly. NAS devices can in some cases provide faster storage than an internal drive in your computer, if it is properly configured and you have the network hardware to support fast data transfer, such as gigabit or even 10 gigabit.
- QUICK TIP: The redundancy provided by RAID is not a substitute for backups. Ransomware, or accidental deletion of files can leave your data permanently lost, so it’s important to back up your important files on another device. Additionally, RAID isn’t perfect. Multiple disk failures, which can happen when rebuilding a RAID 5 or 6 array after a failure, can leave your data permanently lost.
Choosing a Network Attached Storage Device
There are many prebuilt NAS devices available on the market today. Some are diskless and expect you to add your choice of hard drives, while many have them preinstalled and require minimum setup. Your choice of NAS will depend largely on your storage capacity, drive preference, and price, since the extra convenience of the installed drives comes at a cost.When configuring your NAS, carefully choose which RAID configuration you’ll be using. Certain RAID systems provide redundancy, speed improvements, or both, but they’re not all made equal. Choosing a proper RAID configuration is beyond the scope of this article, but a few to consider are RAID6 and RAID10.
Another option to consider when choosing a NAS is data recovery options. Depending on your RAID configuration, you’ll often need to rebuilt the array in the event of a drive failure. Since this puts additional strain on the drives, you may want to look into data recovery services provided by the manufacturer. This is important mostly if you have a larger NAS where the likelihood of an additional drive failing during rebuilding is higher, and it’s an important consideration if the data is essential and cannot be lost. However, with proper backups as discussed previously, this isn’t as much of an issue.
One option to consider for a NAS is the WD My Cloud EX4100
, which will allow for 4 drives to be installed. If your data is highly important, the ioSafe Solo G3 is something to consider, since it is resistant to fire and water damage.- QUICK TIP: If you’re well experienced with computers, you may choose to repurpose an old computer as a NAS. This can save costs and FreeNAS is an excellent option. Keep in mind, that if things go wrong, you’ll basically be on your own to solve problems, which could result in unexpected downtime or data loss. Also, it’s possible to purchase used server hardware relatively cheap on eBay, as long as you know what to look for.
If your requirements are beyond what can be achieved with a small consumer NAS, consult an IT professional for assistance. A small investment in a professional service can help prevent a major disaster in the future.
Hard Drives for Network Attached Storage
Though all mechanical drives may seem equal, there are some very important differences in their intended use. Conditions inside a NAS are often much harder on a drive than inside a typical desktop computer, and therefore they have been design to handle higher temperatures, vibrations, and 24/7 operation. Putting a standard drive inside a NAS is usually just asking for trouble, so it’s important to stick to NAS or enterprise drives such as the HGST DeskStar NAS 4TB Drive
, or the WD Gold 4TB Enterprise Drive
. Since a NAS is often designed to store large amounts of data and is configured in RAID, most consumer NAS devices aren’t used with SSDs.Backing Up Your Data
Offsite backups are always best. In the event of a fire, flood, or robbery, expensive electronics can be lost, along with all your important data. Even a RAID device isn’t immune to data loss. Though you may consider an additional drive within your computer to be sufficient for a backup, your data is still all in one place, and that only protects against a failed hard drive. For offsite backups, I keep essential documents, templates, and video intros on a USB attached to my keychain that I carry at all times. You can also upload these files to a free cloud storage system, or choose a paid storage cloud storage system for more data. In other cases, storing hard drives in anti-static bags at the home of a friend or family member is an option, but this only works for files that don’t change and can’t be updated regularly. Even in this case, there is a potential for data loss if drives are left unpowered for extended periods of time.Overall, choosing a suitable storage solution for your needs is very important for videographers and editors. A proper storage setup can allow for storage of 10s of terabytes of data while maintaining redundancy and fast read and write speeds.