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external hard drive
- Thread starter wes70
- Start date
cgsigns_jamie
New Member
I've had about 5 LaCie drives with 0 problems.
have a maxtor onetouch 4 500 gig drive. first several months i would give it great reviews. dealing w/ warranty - not so much.
food for thought - no matter what you get - only use it for BACKUPS of items on your computer.
learned the hard way that even thought they are marketed for storing videos, mp3s and computer files the only thing you get under warranty is a replacement drive that is a refurb.
i got into the bad habit of using it for storage and when it the enclosure electronics failed all they would offer is the replacement drive.
luckily the drive inside was fine and i was able to get a certified technician to open the enclosure, pull the files, then i sent the drive back still under warranty.
they would not cover any data recovery - period.
after that I went with carbonite online backup (perhaps the best option since it's off site) and use the maxtor as a 2nd nightly BACKUP ONLY.
both are nice to have - the maxtor will be quicker on bigger files for immediate backup. carbonite will give you pc. of mind that they're at a remote location.
food for thought - no matter what you get - only use it for BACKUPS of items on your computer.
learned the hard way that even thought they are marketed for storing videos, mp3s and computer files the only thing you get under warranty is a replacement drive that is a refurb.
i got into the bad habit of using it for storage and when it the enclosure electronics failed all they would offer is the replacement drive.
luckily the drive inside was fine and i was able to get a certified technician to open the enclosure, pull the files, then i sent the drive back still under warranty.
they would not cover any data recovery - period.
after that I went with carbonite online backup (perhaps the best option since it's off site) and use the maxtor as a 2nd nightly BACKUP ONLY.
both are nice to have - the maxtor will be quicker on bigger files for immediate backup. carbonite will give you pc. of mind that they're at a remote location.
southshoredecal
New Member
it really depends on what you plan on using it for. all "normal" drives will wear out at some point. Best to have at least one for back up if not an array for super important stuff and an off site back up. of course this is for super critical items that you can not lose. also not a bad idea to take the back up drive home with you in case there is a fire or such in your shop.
heyskull
New Member
We are running 2 Western Digital Mybooks with 2TB each for storage.
They are clipped into the network one is for storage the other for backup.
They have run for over 2 years without a glitch (even moving premises!)
Both devices have about 85% free space so storage in the future is no problem.
They are easily accessed over our network or you can access them over the internet.
SC
They are clipped into the network one is for storage the other for backup.
They have run for over 2 years without a glitch (even moving premises!)
Both devices have about 85% free space so storage in the future is no problem.
They are easily accessed over our network or you can access them over the internet.
SC
Thanks for the info guys. Just looking for something to back up my accounting files and job files. Usually, at the end of each week (if I can remember), I save the job files to dvd, so I really don't need anything over 500 gigs. just something to save me in case computer hard drive craps out.
Wes
Wes
jiarby
New Member
Buy a Rosewill Enclosure...then install your favorite drive (Maybe a $100 1Tb 7200rpm Western Digital with 32mb Cache).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817173043
Many external drives fail because of overheating... This enclosure had a jumbo 120mm fan that keeps things cool. It also has an eSATA connection or USB2. I recommend using eSATA if your mobo supports ACPI so you can hotswap. The technical spec for eSATA bandwidth is up to 3gb/sec compared to 480mb for USB. In the real world the eSATA is about 2-3x faster.
The benefit of the USB is instant hot swapability, and universal to every PC you go to.
DON'T buy an enclosure that uses a 5400rpm drive.... or one with no fan, or a fan that sucks. The Rosewill case uses a REAL 120mm PC Case Fan that you can replace.
A 2nd alternative is (and you may want to do both) is to get a teeny 2.5" laptop enclosure that uses USB2. The transfer rate is not as good, but the laptop hdd will draw enough power off the USB cable. Try to get a 7200rpm laptop drive.. about $75 for 320gb (WD Scorpio Black 320). Make sure the enclosure accepts SATA, not IDE.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817173043
Many external drives fail because of overheating... This enclosure had a jumbo 120mm fan that keeps things cool. It also has an eSATA connection or USB2. I recommend using eSATA if your mobo supports ACPI so you can hotswap. The technical spec for eSATA bandwidth is up to 3gb/sec compared to 480mb for USB. In the real world the eSATA is about 2-3x faster.
The benefit of the USB is instant hot swapability, and universal to every PC you go to.
DON'T buy an enclosure that uses a 5400rpm drive.... or one with no fan, or a fan that sucks. The Rosewill case uses a REAL 120mm PC Case Fan that you can replace.
A 2nd alternative is (and you may want to do both) is to get a teeny 2.5" laptop enclosure that uses USB2. The transfer rate is not as good, but the laptop hdd will draw enough power off the USB cable. Try to get a 7200rpm laptop drive.. about $75 for 320gb (WD Scorpio Black 320). Make sure the enclosure accepts SATA, not IDE.
Matt-Tastic
New Member
go with this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16859321013
home server with programmable backup. expandable to 7TB, comes with network access (to get files from home or on site with customer) and more widgets than you can shake a stick at.
for a base price of 400 bucks, its worth every penny.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16859321013
home server with programmable backup. expandable to 7TB, comes with network access (to get files from home or on site with customer) and more widgets than you can shake a stick at.
for a base price of 400 bucks, its worth every penny.