I think I need a new hobby, preferably one that keeps me as far away as possible from a computer. Having already had the laptop hard-disk go kaputt back in October last year which then cost the best part of £750 to recover the data, Lady Luck appears to have a vendetta against me as the 400 GB hard-disk (in an external enclosure) I used for archiving has also gone south.
Considering there was some 6 to 7 years worth of data on there, I’m still rather numb from shell shock and now in the situation that my laptop is without access to basic backup facilities. Having had a gander on the Internet, even Netgear’s low-end NAS by the way of the toaster shaped SC101 plus a couple of 400 GB hard-disks so I could get a fault-tolerant mirror would set me back £300.
However, Netgear’s SC101 isn’t exactly a great performer which shifting large files so what I’d really like is an Infrant’s ReadyNAS NV as it can take a maximum of 4 disks and can be incrementally upgraded throughout its life, swapping out old disks for new larger ones and increasing the size of the array.
Problem is the bare-bones (hard-disk-less) costs just a little under £500… though it is possibly to get them from a reseller which bundles 3×250 GB hard-disks for 500 GB of storage for a psychologically more palatable £650.
Right now though… had I got £650 to hand, I’d much rather spend £250 on what it costs for a one-way ticket to fly back to 香港 (Hong Kong) with the remaining £400 roughly enough to see me through 1 month there and hopefully get myself out from the doldrums. That doesn’t even factor in the cost of what it’d take to recover the data from the now dead 400 GB hard-disk, which I’d guess it’d be at least another £750 to £1000 for possible services rendered. :(
Since the last donation drive netted a grand total of £0.00 and Google Adsense income barely even covers hosting costs, I think I’ll be stuck between a rock and a very hard place for some time to come yet. I did manage a little smile on further poking about Infrant’s site, as they appear to have chosen phpBB as the package of choice to power their community support forum. ;)
Still, the likelihood of them donating a shiny new ReadyNAS NV to yours truly are around zero… so between now and whenever, blogging will probably come to a complete stop. Feel free to browse the extensive gallery of everything, least not my “World Domination 2005” set which covers my travels last year from Blighty to Reykjavik and southern Iceland; British Columbia, Canada at Vancouver and Victoria; Hawaii; down-under in Brisbane, Melbourne and Northern Territory; Singapore and to date as far as 香港 (Hong Kong).
Would the rest ever make it online now? I really haven’t the foggiest idea as I’ve got no motivation to do anything on this laptop as things stand for fear of something else breaking…
Is there no chance to get the data on the 400GB disc back?
See, that is why Google Storage is a good idea. :)
Comment by Dominik Dröscher — 07:56:40 UTC on the 4th of August, 2006
I think it is a GOOD idea to find a hobby that keeps you away from computers. Have always said so. But obviously you needed some strike of fate to believe me ;-)So what will you go for? I’d suggest hiking or mountain-biking? Or maybe something more british like rowing ;-)?
Comment by SuSu — 09:11:18 UTC on the 8th of August, 2006