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Author Topic: external hard disks  (Read 18271 times)

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« on: August 08, 2019, 01:47 »
0
Hi.

I have some storage problems (and have seen that increase mi pc hard drives again and again is not a good option). Could you recommend me external hard drives for stock? I'm thinking in 6 TB and several years of use. This is important to me, my external units have worked for years and intense use with no problems (seagate and iomega, about ten years and hard work -one have started to make some noise) but I need a better one as my main drive and would keep the others as backup. I don't want a very expensive one, if possible.

Thank you.



« Reply #1 on: August 08, 2019, 01:57 »
0
Well, "inexpensive" is relative to the buyer, but...

I would consider a 6TB a waste of money and something that I would need to replace way too soon. The smallest I use currently are 12TB drives.  My preferred is G-Tech --

    https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1360172-REG/g_technology_0g05383_g_drive_pro_12tb_7200_2x.html

For my serious work, I use a 96TB drive though.  These 12TB drives are on my wife's laptop, one for external storage and a second one for TimeMachine.  (I haven't decided what to do yet when that TM is no longer large enough -- ran out of space on a 8TB TM last month...)

georgep7

« Reply #2 on: August 08, 2019, 02:07 »
0
As a general comment, i prefer to buy smaller that currently trending opacities.
E.g. this summer 4Tb of (personal favour) WD "mybook" and "elements" prices droppped 30%
Takes some more time to double data in two HDDs but assuming that
when full they will sit on the shelter, and a new couple of disks will replace them,
perhaps it's the most economic way.

« Reply #3 on: August 08, 2019, 02:43 »
+4
Any disk can break. From the cheapest to the most expensive.

So keep everything in at least two places - one disk + online, or two disks.

4TB drives are quite affordable and if one breaks, it's a lot faster to replace the content (that you of course would have a copy of) than 12TB...

I organize my content by location and year, so it's easy to find the right disk when I need it.

Chichikov

« Reply #4 on: August 08, 2019, 02:47 »
+3
Well, "inexpensive" is relative to the buyer, but...

I would consider a 6TB a waste of money and something that I would need to replace way too soon. The smallest I use currently are 12TB drives.  My preferred is G-Tech --

    https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1360172-REG/g_technology_0g05383_g_drive_pro_12tb_7200_2x.html

For my serious work, I use a 96TB drive though.  These 12TB drives are on my wife's laptop, one for external storage and a second one for TimeMachine.  (I haven't decided what to do yet when that TM is no longer large enough -- ran out of space on a 8TB TM last month...)

I prefer to use smaller disks, as main disks and as backup disks.
If a smaller disk fails the risk to lose a huge quantity of data is less.

dpimborough

« Reply #5 on: August 08, 2019, 02:52 »
0
Well, "inexpensive" is relative to the buyer, but...

I would consider a 6TB a waste of money and something that I would need to replace way too soon. The smallest I use currently are 12TB drives.  My preferred is G-Tech --

    https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1360172-REG/g_technology_0g05383_g_drive_pro_12tb_7200_2x.html

For my serious work, I use a 96TB drive though.  These 12TB drives are on my wife's laptop, one for external storage and a second one for TimeMachine.  (I haven't decided what to do yet when that TM is no longer large enough -- ran out of space on a 8TB TM last month...)

I prefer to use smaller disks, as main disks and as backup disks.
If a smaller disk fails the risk to lose a huge quantity of data is less.

Quite right and also you can back up finished stock photos on to cloud based storage too

« Reply #6 on: August 08, 2019, 03:41 »
0
Thank you for your answers.

I'm thinking in 4tb or 6tb maximum. For me It's easier to make a backup because my computer is fine but not new, the usb transfer could be faster.

« Reply #7 on: August 08, 2019, 15:23 »
+1
I highly recommend you also use online backup. I use backblaze.com. Recently my computer had a power failure and shutdown abruptly which caused my external hard drive to become unresponsive. After I turned my computer back on, I couldn't figure out how to mount my external hard drive despite hours of google search. So I spent about a week non-stop downloading 3TB of data from cloud backup.

« Reply #8 on: August 09, 2019, 05:03 »
0
I'm thinking about it too.

Thanks for the web.

« Reply #9 on: August 09, 2019, 05:37 »
+3
I buy two of whatever the current WD MyBook drives that are around $80 or so.  I just bought two 2TB at Best Buy for $70 each.  Takes me about six months to fill them (one is a backup of the other).  Never had an issue.

« Reply #10 on: August 09, 2019, 06:24 »
0
The brands seem to be a lottery. Some brands have no issues in one size and the other disks have a lot more problems (in the tests I mean). I have used cheap disks for ten years with intense use and no problems at all.

I'm going to buy some well known brand as Toshiba, Seagate or WD.

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #11 on: August 09, 2019, 06:32 »
0
I've in the past bought two which were literally DoA, but their identical replacements are still working today.  ::)

Uncle Pete

  • Great Place by a Great Lake - My Home Port
« Reply #12 on: August 11, 2019, 12:21 »
0
I highly recommend you also use online backup. I use backblaze.com. Recently my computer had a power failure and shutdown abruptly which caused my external hard drive to become unresponsive. After I turned my computer back on, I couldn't figure out how to mount my external hard drive despite hours of google search. So I spent about a week non-stop downloading 3TB of data from cloud backup.

Which validates the  opinions of people who say use redundant local backup?  ;D

Just because you didn't find something on Google, doesn't mean it doesn't exist? There are plenty of storage recovery tools available. Some might have cost you $50 would take overnight to recover all your data.

Sounds like you lost the table of contents, which means all your data was still there, just no way for the computer to identify and find it. Sad but, yes, your sudden power fai;lure would be a likely cause, if the TOC was being written at that moment. Terrible mess, bad luck.

« Reply #13 on: August 11, 2019, 17:42 »
+1
Yea I'm sure someone smarter than me could have figured out how to mount my non working external hard drive. Since I couldn't figure it out, online cloud backup still saved my butt. Also remember online backup also helps in event of fire or theft.

« Reply #14 on: August 12, 2019, 01:01 »
+2
I buy two of whatever the current WD MyBook drives that are around $80 or so.  I just bought two 2TB at Best Buy for $70 each.  Takes me about six months to fill them (one is a backup of the other).  Never had an issue.


Totally agree, the Western Digital (WD) My Book series are very reliable and affordable.  I have used every size up to 8TB without any problem and plan to buy 3 larger ones this year.

« Reply #15 on: October 02, 2019, 07:09 »
0
I'm taking 3 separate hard disk backup  ;D ;D

« Reply #16 on: October 02, 2019, 11:13 »
+1
If you are a big data consumer, I will recommend to opt for external SSD hard disk.
I have purchased a 1 TB few months back and gets 300 mb/s transfer speed. Big time saver here.


Uncle Pete

  • Great Place by a Great Lake - My Home Port
« Reply #17 on: October 02, 2019, 14:12 »
0
I'm taking 3 separate hard disk backup  ;D ;D

Pretty much the answer. Any disk can go bad. The newer are much more reliable, but stuff happens. Mine is, the computer for working files, the backup as the year goes on an another external that's only connected and running when I need it. There's no need to have the disks spinning all the time. In fact they go to sleep now.

If you are a big data consumer, I will recommend to opt for external SSD hard disk.
I have purchased a 1 TB few months back and gets 300 mb/s transfer speed. Big time saver here.

Good idea, except for the expense, the time and speed is noticeable and less moving parts. Latest desktop and laptop I installed SSD drives. Gotta love that!

Working backups, I imagine the SSD would be good to have. My backups are generally, just storage. I start the backup process and go to sleep, it's usually done by morning. ;-)

« Reply #18 on: October 02, 2019, 14:41 »
0
I'm currently using a Seagate external HD, but have also used WD in the past.  No problems with either.  I generally buy a new HD every year and transfer all my previous files over and then add to that as I go.  Since I live in an area where internet isn't as fast as I'd like, I don't rely on any cloud-based programs. 

« Reply #19 on: October 02, 2019, 14:55 »
0
three copies on external usb disks (wd element 2.5 disks) encrypted with bitlocker (i'm on windows)

« Reply #20 on: October 03, 2019, 01:03 »
+1
Thank you for the answers.

Mi connection ins't too fast, the cloud storage is not a good option (and don't want to pay it every month, maybe if I become a microstock superstar).

Now I'm using two main disks. One ssd 1TB as the main work disk and another internal 1tb to make quick backups. So I copy everything in it and then turn it off. A disk copy it's a good system for me.

And two externals, 1TB too, one for personal pictures backup and the another one for stock backup.

Mi hardware is pretty old so It's a way to feel secure.

I going to replace the externals with bigger and newer ones, maybe next year. When I replace a disk, I keep the old one with all the pictures as a backup too in storage. I use this way because mi personal pictures are there. Don't use my diks til they die.

jonbull

    This user is banned.
« Reply #21 on: October 03, 2019, 06:26 »
+2
Three days ago i had a problem with my tech 8 terabyte external data with thunderbolt connection, a bomb with 350 mb speed, is the thunderbolt 1...iit slowed a lot like impossible to work. i used disk warrior, best software i bought in the last 10 years, and he said the disk was broken and should copy all....i had a copy of all i thought but instead i was not covered for 3 years...began copying very slow the files and after 10 hours the disk began working again normally. i noticed that the macbook pro led charger was very very pale, green pale and near impossible to see, i think it was a problem with the macbook not having enough power at this point...any way bought two more 8 tb wd book and coy bought so i have near three copy and the original. two move in different location.

never stress enough...BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP....losing photos is like losing part of us.

« Reply #22 on: October 03, 2019, 06:45 »
+2
Hard disks can break and accidents can happen.

I like to be safe. I keep my images on three external hard drives, and one of them is always in a different location than the other two. Plus I do cloud backup for my work, plus the most important material.

Backup, backup, backup at least weekly if not daily.

I find small hard drives (min 2TB max 4TB) easy to use and replace, Toshiba being my preferred brand.

« Reply #23 on: October 03, 2019, 07:12 »
0
Friends call me paranoid but heres what I do:
I never delete memory cards before I perform a series of backups.
First, a copy of shot photos and videos goes to internal drive of PC tower.
Then this goes for a brief time, once, to an external HDD but is then deleted.
After that, the unedited material is copied always twice or sometimes three times to single or double side Blu Ray disks, as data.
The same happens with edited material that goes to two or three new Blu Ray disks.
Aside that, the edited stuff is all uploaded to a web drive online and I extra pay for a fast transfer among FTPs.
The cost for Blu Ray disks is the same with buying an external disk but I prefer to spread the danger.
Naturally the Blu Ray data spins slower that the HDD and you have to change disks and use a Blu Ray drive, but the lack of movable mechanical parts promises the disks will last more than the drives.
For those that wish to avoid the hassle, I suggest they buy 2 external HDDs and every two years, that prices drop, buy a new with double capacity to perform a third backup of the two first.

P.S. At day work, we use the 6,25 TB data cartridges for backup but the cost for buing the hardware to backup and restore these is out of the question!
« Last Edit: October 03, 2019, 07:17 by bestravelvideo »

« Reply #24 on: October 03, 2019, 09:34 »
+1
never stress enough...BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP....losing photos is like losing part of us.

+1000


 

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