Keeping your photos and videos safe... in other words, data backup

I'm embarking on a long search for home data storage. I thnk I'm headed in the direction of a NAS (Networked Attached Storage), or a hard drive that's connected to your home network, not an individual computer. This is much like the network drive you probably have at work.

But what are the common options?

1. Single Computer based:
A) Simple/complex external hard disk backed up manually. (A single USB/eSATA drive or a Drobo)
B) Extra HDD in a computer, backed up manually, automatically or in a RAID configuration
2. Network Based
A) Single Drive (?)
B) Multiple Drive/RAID (Theus)
3. Offsite network storage.

I think a NAS will be preferred choice of the future. It can be used for shared storage and backup, and is independent of any one computer.

Costco has a WD MyBook World Edition II which looks very cool. Its a 2TB NAS that can be RAID 1 enabled for full data redundency. It also has a feature whereby you can access the drive from the internet. I hope it is secure! $600 bucks, but it does it all.






Interesting links:

ExtremeTech.com "Ten Storage Strategies for the Home"

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2212535,00.asp

HP's new MediaSmart Home server

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2704,2212289,00.asp

Interesting home NAS with bells and whistles

http://www.thecus.com/products_over.php?cid=11&pid=48

I'll be adding to this over time.>>