Original technical concept was "inexpensive".
"Independent" is purely a marketing term.
Original technical concept was "inexpensive".
"Independent" is purely a marketing term.
What about SSDs? No moving parts on them.
nope no moving parts but limited reads and writes out of them...
but insanely fast...
and it is inexpensive - especially when looking at SATA drives for RAID
it really depends on how much you're willing to spend. The more reliable external hard drives will use more expensive server grade hard drives, which are usually double or triple the price of a normal consumer hard drive.
In the design and video world, we usually buy only LaCie external hard drives. LaCie is pretty much the standard in the video world when it comes to monitors and disk storage. LaCie has recently dived into the consumer market, so I can't comment on their consumer grade external storage, but even their consumer level stuff is a bit more expensive than the others.
In the design and video world, we usually buy only LaCie external hard drives. LaCie is pretty much the standard in the video world when it comes to monitors and disk storage. LaCie has recently dived into the consumer market, so I can't comment on their consumer grade external storage, but even their consumer level stuff is a bit more expensive than the others.
Another thing to consider is that bigger and faster might not always mean better for your purposes.
I've read that the larger and faster drives are more likely to fail. More platters spinning at a higher rate means more heat, and heat is the #1 enemy...well, other than dropping the drive or something like that.
I haven't personally looked up any statistics to back this up, but it makes sense.
I've read that the larger and faster drives are more likely to fail. More platters spinning at a higher rate means more heat, and heat is the #1 enemy...well, other than dropping the drive or something like that.
I haven't personally looked up any statistics to back this up, but it makes sense.
We're replacing all our field laptops early next year and the current plan is to go with solid state drives. We have a few machines in to test but I haven't played with them much yet. Curious to see how they do in a real-world, dusty environment. Hopefully better than spinning drives.
I usually prefer Western Digital, but I have never had a hard drive of any brand crap out on me. I usually find it helpful to read the reviews at Newegg before buying computer hardware.
I have a Western Digital that I took with me to Iraq, and it still works. The end of it is even opening up you can see the guts if you pry a little LOL still works like a champ.
250gigs of porn and family guy LOL. yay for deployment.
250gigs of porn and family guy LOL. yay for deployment.
If you're using an external drive for backup, it's best not to leave it connected to the PC or power unless you need to use it. Power surges can cause failure of computer components even when they're not being used, so I wouldn't chance it.
The major brands all create quality products. I suggest looking at newegg.com and reading reviews. You'll pick up on some good reliability data after doing some reading there.
You can also save to DVD's. More of a pain, but less of a chance for data loss (provided you move them to another format if DVD's become obsolete).
The major brands all create quality products. I suggest looking at newegg.com and reading reviews. You'll pick up on some good reliability data after doing some reading there.
You can also save to DVD's. More of a pain, but less of a chance for data loss (provided you move them to another format if DVD's become obsolete).
Or you could just use a surge protector, or even better a UPS. You should be doing this anyway.
This is more for periodic backups than day-to-day usage.
500GB Seagate died on me today. It barely saw any use but nevertheless is quite dead. I'll probably destroy it as who would want to send it off with a bunch of sensitive data on it. The 5 year warrenty really means nothing. If you open the case you void the warrenty.
I have an older one (Seagate) that has less capacity that is three years old and running fine.
I have an older one (Seagate) that has less capacity that is three years old and running fine.
