Reliable External Hard Drive

[Bob_A]

Is the Western Digital 2TB My Book Essential external hard drive (USB) a good choice or should I look at something else?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/641139-REG/Western_Digital_WDBAAF0020HBK_NESN_2TB_My_Book_Ess ential.html#features

[basroil]

If you have esata capability, esata version is better. but should be fine, I have half a dozen WD drives and they work fine.

EDIT: Just reformatted my 2tb WD esata drive and started putting files back on. About 50gb of large video files. Transferring to the disk at 70mb/s.

[mrfixitx]

Western Digital, Seagate and Maxtor are all well respected hard drive lines. The maxtor brand is owned by Seagate FYI and generally is used for lower capacity drives.

[Bob_A]

Thanks basroil and mrfixit.

[basroil]

Update, now onto 500gb of cr2 and xmp files (95110 files total), transferring at 68.5mb/s... got to love eSATA drives. If you can, go with eSATA.

[gjman]

If you really care about your data you need off-site storage with redundancy.

The best solution (IMO) is two bare drives (1TB are about $70 now) of the same capacity that connect to your computer(s) using an eSATA dock and that back up the same files (so you have the same stuff on both the HDD) using something like SyncToy. And when you are done copying, you put the hard drives in a box and store one of them off site (in my case it's in locked drawer at work). Only keep one of the HDD at home, always keep one off site. So you get the benefits of a de-facto RAID with off site storage. A real RAID solution will still be stuck to your computer, unless you plan to lug it off site or store stuff online (which means you need to have an internet connection to recover the data). Here you eject the HDD and take it with you.

If you only have one computer you just need one eSATA dock, I back up relevant data from three computers, so each of them have an eSATA dock/port.....that back up to one drive at SATA speeds which then can be stored off site.

Even the fancy SSD drives use a SATA interface. When I can get a reliable 1TB SSD for $70, this set up will still be the same, only it will back up faster, lighter and can be handled a bit more recklessly.

[basroil]

Even the fancy SSD drives use a SATA interface. When I can get a reliable 1TB SSD for $70, this set up will still be the same, only it will back up faster, lighter and can be handled a bit more recklessly.

Tell me where in the future you buy your stuff ;)

[gjman]

Tell me where in the future you buy your stuff ;)

Oh I am pretty sure that $70 1TB SSD will certainly happen.....the only thing I am not sure about is if SATA would be the interface. :D

At it would be cheaper than this:
http://www.2spare.com/_media/imgs/articles/a155_a1g.jpg

[basroil]

Oh I am pretty sure that $70 1TB SSD will certainly happen.....the only thing I am not sure about is if SATA would be the interface. :D

At it would be cheaper than this:
http://www.2spare.com/_media/imgs/articles/a155_a1g.jpg

Well... IDE was with us for almost 20 years, and my new motherboard for my HTPC had one (and I had to use it to install windows, since the power supply was molex and bluray was sata only). And yes, it'll be around in the future, I just want to know when :D

[joayne]

I have had 2 WD MyBooks fail... but come to find out, the HD's didn't fail the MyBook electronics failed. I removed them from the case and discarded the "stuff" and reformatted them to NTFS.. They work fine.
They were 500GB drives and one is in a new case the other is in my desktop.

[mcluckie]

I have had 2 WD MyBooks fail...
I had one fail, not the drive, but the box.

Is the Western Digital 2TB My Book Essential external hard drive (USB) a good choice or should I look at something else?

Anything else.

[themadman]

Western Digital Drives are very reliable, I would recommend them!

[mckinleypics]

I have a 500G La Cie. I just bought a 2TB La Cie because I can't believe after 6 years the 500G hasn't crashed yet...but it hasn't.

[themadman]

I have a 500G La Cie. I just bought a 2TB La Cie because I can't believe after 6 years the 500G hasn't crashed yet...but it hasn't.
Do you know what drives are used inside a LaCie? I am pretty sure they just make enclosures, not hard drives.

[mckinleypics]

Do you know what drives are used inside a LaCie? I am pretty sure they just make enclosures, not hard drives.

I think Quantum. They hold themselves out as a hard drive manufacturer though.

[Bob_A]

I had one fail, not the drive, but the box.


Anything else.

Too late. Bought a 2 TB one, so hopefully it will be reliable enough.

[basroil]

Too late. Bought a 2 TB one, so hopefully it will be reliable enough.

Hopefully. Just started getting some issues with mine. Doesn't pass SMART, so it's time for RMA... Other than randomly dropping out of the system, works fine and fast as hell though :confused: Luckily WD has an advance replacement program :D

[narlus]

Western Digital Drives are very reliable, I would recommend them!

i've had two go south on me. one seagate. zero maxtors and zero fantoms have died.


i think it's a crapshoot...you will always find someone who had a particular brand fail. i'd check the reviews in newegg or something like that before taking isolated comments from individuals.

[Trique Daddi]

I have been looking at the Fantoms as well. So far so good with a 320GB and new 1TB Seagate and a 500GB WD.

[mcluckie]

I just ordered a 2 TB Fantom (external!) for $135 at Buy.com. I'll yank the drive and put it elsewhere, and throw my last small 500 GB drive in it to clone my laptop (has a 500 GB internal). On the road, I use a bus-powered 250 GB drive to Time Machine my user directory.

[Bob_A]

Hopefully. Just started getting some issues with mine. Doesn't pass SMART, so it's time for RMA... Other than randomly dropping out of the system, works fine and fast as hell though :confused: Luckily WD has an advance replacement program :D

Well the first thing I did was update the firmware and software for the thing. Hopefully if it's the stuff external to the drive itself that has issues the firmware update addresses some of the problems.

Had to get a drive quickly though as my laptop screen is starting to go dark and I didn't have enough external drive space for a second backup. My new laptop (warranty exchange) won't get to me from Dell for a couple of weeks.

[basroil]

Had to get a drive quickly though as my laptop screen is starting to go dark and I didn't have enough external drive space for a second backup. My new laptop (warranty exchange) won't get to me from Dell for a couple of weeks.

Just keep your current HDD and put it in the new machine.

[Bob_A]

Just keep your current HDD and put it in the new machine.

My "friends" at Dell will let me keep my old HD, but only if I pay them for the new one they are shipping with the exchange laptop. It's a 320 GB (2 x 160) HD at 5200 RPM drive anyway, so I won't miss it. The exchange one is a 640 GB (2 x 320) at 7200 RPM.

I'm tired of talking to them so I'll wipe my old drive using a decent approach (different thread) and be done with it.

[basroil]

My "friends" at Dell will let me keep my old HD, but only if I pay them for the new one they are shipping with the exchange laptop. It's a 320 GB (2 x 160) HD at 5200 RPM drive anyway, so I won't miss it. The exchange one is a 640 GB (2 x 320) at 7200 RPM.

I'm tired of talking to them so I'll wipe my old drive using a decent approach (different thread) and be done with it.

Odd.... the HDD policy on the site says 100% that you can request that they not send a new disk. I've had that happen for the one inpsiron that always gave me issues. Sent in the laptop, without the harddisk.

[Bob_A]

Odd.... the HDD policy on the site says 100% that you can request that they not send a new disk. I've had that happen for the one inpsiron that always gave me issues. Sent in the laptop, without the harddisk.

Totally odd, but I'm just happy they came to a reasonable solution by giving me a replacement. My screen is slowly turning dark grey on the left hand side then fading to normal about 1/3 of the way to the right. I've been downloading every 64 bit (or 64 bit compatible) version of the software I use in preparation for it's arrival and I have two complete backups of my files on a 500 GB external and my new 2 TB external.