Are all external hard drives the same?

RAID technology in a single storage device provides storage redundancy to provide high or constant availability in teh case of certain hardware failures.

Its good stuff but not a good fit for most home users IMHO. Having a physical backup drive is the single best protection for home use. Having a backup at a separate location from the main is the best solution in case fire or other localized disaster is a concern.

If a main fails, the backup can be switched in easily with some but little downtime. Most business applications that use RAID cannot afford ANY down time.

To accomplish that, data is replicated or backed up to additional devices that can be switched in quickly if needed.

RAID alone adds cost and little value for a home user.

Al's points about the vulnerability of RAID technology to certain kinds of "internal" failure are well taken.

And as Mapman notes, the cost of RAID units is significant, and your paying for something home entertainment users don't really need -- minimizing drive failure related downtime.

John

I use an Iomega 2T eSATA connected to my OPPO95 SATA port. Much faster that USB. Then I powered it with a linear power supply instead of the included wall wart.

I have the Oppo BDP-103, but have a HTPC connected to it via HDMI and a Drobo FS Network Attached Storage Unit. I have not tried the network connection from the Drobo directly to the Oppo, but it works great through the HTPC for music and movies.

I think the advantages include large capacity (up to 15TB), ease of setup, redundancy, location flexibility via ethernet cable, and potential multi-room options.

Investigate Wiebe Tech harddrives.