[Burninator]

I would like to digitize all of my DVD's onto my computer for use in a HTPC (not sure what direction yet, still racking my brain). My computer currently has a 500GB hard drive which isn't big enough for all my files and I would like to have room for future expansion. So I would like to buy some more storage, but I am not sure which direction is best.

My first thought was to buy a 1TB hard drive and dump everything on there. This is clearly the easiest and cheapest solution. Of course if the hard drive fails I lose all my media. This is also when my expertise runs out. I am not really familiar with anything else.

Some other options that I have stumbled upon are Drobo and NAS. The Drobo seems great. It has good redundancy and seems very easy to use. Of course it's $400 without any storage and I don't know if it's worth the expense. I don't know much else about the Drobo and I am not really sure what NAS is.

Also since I am buying more storage I figure it is a good time to include something to backup my non-media files with. I've been flirting with danger as I haven't backed-up my computer in the 2 and half years I have owned it. Yikes, I know. What is a good solution for this as well?

What is the best solution for me that is cost effective? I suppose I should mention I am running a PC, I have a wireless router, my PC case has lots of room for expansion and my MB is the ASUS P5K Premium. I am running Windows Vista Home Premium and I would to upgrade to some version of Windows 7 in the future. I am not a total idiot when it comes to computers, but I am by no means an expert either. So I would like something that is fairly easy to use.


Thanks a lot for the help!