External Hard Drive question

[BossmanKaraokeDisco]

Main playout is Virtual DJ with 1.5TB external hard drive, Back up was SD card player. What I want to know is if I swop my back up system to another laptop based playout can I use a USB splitter on the external hard drive to feed both laptops?

Have searched the net and some say yes and some say maybe, Just wondered if it was possible?

Thanks

[Vectis]

Errrr..... nope!

Easiest way to achieve this is to put the HDD into, or buy a new, NAS enclosure . Then connect the NAS and both laptops via a small ethernet hub (100Mbit should suffice) effectively creating a local area network. Job done. Each laptop can independently access the files on the NAS.

Depending on your operating system and DJ software you might have to "map drives" or similar but that's a very straightforward one-time operation to effectively link the location of the files on the NAS to something that Windoze can address (for example a Z: drive).

If you're running OSX then you'll probably find the whole process much simpler depending on the protocols that the NAS box provides.

You will also need to either give all 3 devices unique IP addresses on the same subnetwork OR set one of them up as a DHCP server to automatically distribute addresses on demand. Most NAS boxes have DHCP facilities but whether you enable this or go with static addressing depends on whether you intend using it standalone forever, or if you intend dropping the NAS into your home network when not gigging.

Either way it's dead easy and all consumer grade NAS kit will come with easy-to-follow setup guides.

[BossmanKaraokeDisco]

Errrr..... nope!

Thanks Vectis, info online was very mixed and confusing , just as easy to create second hard drive and just plug into second laptop seperately me thinks

Thanks for clearing that up

[Vectis]

just as easy to create second hard drive and just plug into second laptop seperately me thinks

Ah, but then you're into ProDub territory...

(but on the other hand you do have a live backup)

[BossmanKaraokeDisco]

Ah, but then you're into ProDub territory...

Yes did think of that and as I dont need Produb at the moment it would be an extra cost

[Vectis]

Yes did think of that and as I dont need Produb at the moment it would be an extra cost

Methinks the NAS solution is cheapest, especially if you rehouse your existing HDD, but of course it's not the most resilient unless you spend serious cash on a RAID solution with multiple internal disks.

However you wouldn't (necessarily) need ProDub if you kept an off-line copy which became 'live' in the event of a failure of the other.

[BossmanKaraokeDisco]

However you wouldn't (necessarily) need ProDub if you kept an off-line copy which became 'live' in the event of a failure of the other.

I was going to say that if I classed the second hard drive as back up and it was only used in the case of Hard drive one crashing then that is allowed as I download directly to Hard drive 1.

I am in the belief that I can make one back up copy, I am sure someone will point out if I am wrong

Sorry if I have gone off topic from my original post

[DazzyD]

I was going to say that if I classed the second hard drive as back up and it was only used in the case of Hard drive one crashing then that is allowed as I download directly to Hard drive 1.

I am in the belief that I can make one back up copy, I am sure someone will point out if I am wrong

Sorry if I have gone off topic from my original post

I would say no you can't but I guess it depends on your supplier's T&Cs. With the download account I have I can't make back-ups but my purchases are held in a "download locker" and I'm allowed to download again should my original purchase become corrupt or I lose it in some other way.

[Vectis]

I was going to say that if I classed the second hard drive as back up and it was only used in the case of Hard drive one crashing then that is allowed as I download directly to Hard drive 1.

Well that sounds like a whole different scenario to...

What I want to know is if I swop my back up system to another laptop based playout can I use a USB splitter on the external hard drive to feed both laptops?

I would say no you can't but I guess it depends on your supplier's T&Cs. With the download account I have I can't make back-ups but my purchases are held in a "download locker" and I'm allowed to download again should my original purchase become corrupt or I lose it in some other way.

[mattydinx]

You may consider this
http://www.netgear.co.uk/home/produc...y/WNR2200.aspx

Similar in theory to the solution Vectis suggested, but a hell of a lot cheaper than buying a NAS box and separate switch!

You simply connect your hard drive to the USB port on the router and connect your two computers via Ethernet cables (or wireless so long as you make it secure!).
Map a network drive to the path given in the router's setup - hey presto, one hard drive shared between two (or more if you wish) computers...all for only £40

You can let the router deal with DHCP so it will be pretty much a case of plug and play, this also means you don't have to faff on with network settings if you want to use the laptops/computers on your home network (if you have one)