Rule of Thumb
If you want reliable on-site backup, expect to spend up to 30,000 PHP. Only individuals with workflows that generate high-value media and data should invest in this level of backup. The cost should be trivial in comparison to the earning potential of the data, ideally around 20% or less of the revenue it can generate, multiplied by how critical it is to your work.
Who Needs This Level of Backup?
- IT Professionals: Critical systems and files that require redundancy.
- Video Editors & Media Artists: Large media files that are vital to work.
Expected Costs Breakdown
- Storage Costs
- Base cost: ~2,000 PHP per TB.
- Real-world pricing fluctuates.
- RAID 1 (mirroring) doubles storage needs and cost.
- Minimum recommended: 7TB (an 8TB drive offers ~7TB usable space).
- Recommended Enterprise-Grade Storage Drives
- Western Digital (WD) RED
- Seagate IronWolf
- Toshiba N300
- Warning: Seagate drives have a higher failure rate (up to 3-5x more failures). 1 in 20 fails. Check Backblaze drive failure statistics before purchasing.
- NAS System Costs
- Choose from Synology, QNAP, or TrueNAS.
- Typically supports 2 to 4 drives.
- 2,000 – 5,000 PHP per drive slot.
- Setup & Learning Curve
- Learn best backup practices.
- Ensure an easy recovery process in case of failure.
Conclusion
- Valuate your data: If it’s critical, it’s worth protecting.
- Budget at least 30,000 PHP for a solid backup system.
- Plan for 2.4 – 3k PHP per TB, factoring in RAID redundancy.
- Use enterprise-grade drives for reliability.
- Understand failure rates to avoid unreliable brands.
Invest wisely in backups, because when things go wrong, you’ll be glad you did.