Interesting device for backups

Dual drive dock with USB-C; see https://www.anandtech.​com …rive-dock-with-usb-type-c.

I have a similar one that's just USB 3. It's a great way to quickly plug/unplug drives. I've been meaning to pick up some more SSD drives now that prices are coming down to use as project-specific backups (in addition to my main backups). USB C would be even better than mine given the increased speed potential.

I use something similar, an Sabrent dock. It's not the absolute latest, but it works ok.

I put my backup disks into Orico disk cases for storage. They're handy, reasonably well padded and tough, and reasonably priced.

I got sick of hard drive enclosures, which I find last a year or two even if you only use them once a month.

tim wrote in post #18770583
I use something similar, an Sabrent dock. It's not the absolute latest, but it works ok.

I put my backup disks into Orico disk cases for storage. They're handy, reasonably well padded and tough, and reasonably priced.

I got sick of hard drive enclosures, which I find last a year or two even if you only use them once a month.

I hear you on enclosures, somehow they never seem to last. I've been toying with the idea of a similar case for an SSD, plus a cable like this, for a real cheap, handy portable external drive. I need to do some more research to see if there's any downside I'm not considering, but it seems like it should work in theory, and there will be less to go wrong than getting an external enclosure.

I suppose those docks would work if you rely on a stack of loose HD's as your backups. I prefer an organized stack of external drives that I know what is on it and is chronological plus is paired to another stack for redundency.

Why do external docks and enclosures fail?

And fail, they do. But they're simple to build. Infant mortality,

I could see, but beyond that an electronic device that works beyond infant mortality tends to keep working.

Why do docks and enclosures always fail so quickly.

RDKirk wrote in post #18795314
Why do external docks and enclosures fail?

And fail, they do. But they're simple to build. Infant mortality,

I could see, but beyond that an electronic device that works beyond infant mortality tends to keep working.

Why do docks and enclosures always fail so quickly.

I would think that most failures (beyond "infant mortality") are due to inadequate cooling. There are a number, however, that just have latent issues that can cause a failure beyond infancy but long before they should. The most concerning are failures that cause a total loss of data, but I would think that would likely be due to problems with the drive itself rather than the enclosure.

RDKirk wrote in post #18795314
Why do external docks and enclosures fail?

And fail, they do. But they're simple to build. Infant mortality,

I could see, but beyond that an electronic device that works beyond infant mortality tends to keep working.

Why do docks and enclosures always fail so quickly.

Methinks that often the external enclosures are cheaply designed, and when made by outfits like Western Digital, they primarily exist as a means of increasing volume of harddrives. They do not care if a 'failed unit' means another enclosure with harddrive, even though the harddrive itself in the failed unit is truly healthy.

I had a WD Mybook that I powered up only to backup data, then power down. I do not consider its failure to be 'infant mortality' as I had left it powered up constantly before I converted its use into backup service (with power only when needed). It failed to initialize itself after a power up, and I hacksawed the harddrive out of the enclosure and put it into a docking unit and the harddrive worked fine; it still works even now.

Wilt wrote in post #18798462
Methinks that often the external enclosures are cheaply designed, and when made by outfits like Western Digital, they primarily exist as a means of increasing volume of harddrives. They do not care if a 'failed unit' means another enclosure with harddrive, even though the harddrive itself in the failed unit is truly healthy.

I had a WD Mybook that I powered up only to backup data, then power down. I do not consider its failure to be 'infant mortality' as I had left it powered up constantly before I converted its use into backup service (with power only when needed). It failed to initialize itself after a power up, and I hacksawed the harddrive out of the enclosure and put it into a docking unit and the harddrive worked fine; it still works even now.

I have a Seagate external that suddenly failed to be recognized by my computer when plugged in. Maybe I'll try the hacksaw "repair" as well.

Wow never even thought that could work, thanks for the tip

bolocal wrote in post #18802894
Wow never even thought that could work, thanks for the tip

You'd definitely want to be careful not to damage the drive when you pull apart the enclosure. Rather than just sawing it, I would think trying to gently pry apart the enclosure would be less likely to harm the drive inside.

el_duderino04 wrote in post #18802897
You'd definitely want to be careful not to damage the drive when you pull apart the enclosure. Rather than just sawing it, I would think trying to gently pry apart the enclosure would be less likely to harm the drive inside.

I had dissassembled the WD MyBook housing as far as I could...removed all screws, brackets, etc. that could be removed. The two halves were joined in a rather inexplicable way, that only could be separated by hacksawing the metal bracket joining the two halves. I was very careful in verifying that this was all that prevented to removal of the harddrive itself. Hacksaw allowed separation of the two halves and easy removal of the harddrive from its connector in one of the halves.

Wilt wrote in post #18802921
I had dissassembled the WD MyBook housing as far as I could...removed all screws, brackets, etc. that could be removed. The two halves were joined in a rather inexplicable way, that only could be separated by hacksawing the metal bracket joining the two halves. I was very careful in verifying that this was all that prevented to removal of the harddrive itself. Hacksaw allowed separation of the two halves and easy removal of the harddrive from its connector in one of the halves.

Interesting, I'll keep that in mind in case mine has a similar construction. Thanks!

Wilt wrote in post #18802921
I had dissassembled the WD MyBook housing as far as I could...removed all screws, brackets, etc. that could be removed. The two halves were joined in a rather inexplicable way, that only could be separated by hacksawing the metal bracket joining the two halves. I was very careful in verifying that this was all that prevented to removal of the harddrive itself. Hacksaw allowed separation of the two halves and easy removal of the harddrive from its connector in one of the halves.

"Shucking" drives from enclosures can usually be done without having to destroy the case. I have shucked 4 WD Easystore HD's (using just a credit card) to put in my Unraid NAS as for some reason the drives are much cheaper to acquire that way than just buying them bare. There are a number of videos on youtube showing how to do this, including for the MyBook.