"External Drive" tangent

Jonodude · 03-05-2010, 09:07 PM

I didn't want to derail Andrew's other thread too much. I have a question regarding external drives, myself.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobthecockroach

Also, if you are putting important data on an external hard drive, YOU NEED A BACKUP OF SOME KIND.

Are external drives more prone to failure than internal, or what? I'm needing to relocate my computer's musical library, and rather than purchase another internal drive I'm weighing the benefits of getting an external.

The USB connection would be a fair amount slower than the SATA I'm using now (via RAID), but then I'd have portability, and I'm really interested in that.

However, my musical collection is extensive and would take a while to repopulate should failure occur, and I have not the funds for a backup drive nor do I wish to have to bother backing things up anyway--I just need to have one instance of my files and peace of mind that they will be okay (short of apocalyptic drive failure, of course, and I've never had an internal drive lose data on me before).

So... what do we recommend?

ApparentlyNothing · 03-05-2010, 09:18 PM

You'll never really have complete peace of mind unless you do off site backups. If anything were to happen, like a fire or a flood or something that physically wipes out both your computer AND your external drive, you're out of luck. And if it's REALLY important data, it's just stupid not to do off site backup.

I use Backblaze and pay $5 a month for unlimited storage. I've got over 300GB backed up on their servers. Totally worth it. I know there are other companies that offer similar deals for online backups, like Mozy.

Jonodude · 03-05-2010, 11:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ApparentlyNothing

You'll never really have complete peace of mind unless you do off site backups.

I'm not that paranoid! If an external hard drive would be as reliable as the internal drives I've had, then I'll be fine. If they have a reputation for screwing up, then I will probably ditch the idea.

ApparentlyNothing · 03-05-2010, 11:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jonodude

I'm not that paranoid! If an external hard drive would be as reliable as the internal drives I've had, then I'll be fine. If they have a reputation for screwing up, then I will probably ditch the idea.

Haha just telling you from where I stand, I've got data that, as a photographer, is literally my life. If my apartment burned down and I lost all my possessions, I could feasibly replace them all. Even if all my film and prints burn, I've at least got high quality digital scans. But if I lost the 1's and 0's that make up my photos on my hard drives, there's no way they're coming back. I don't know if you personally have data that important to you or not. If I wasn't a photog, it probably wouldn't be that big of a deal.

NoMoreSilence · 03-06-2010, 09:04 PM

Externals are not necessarily more prone to failure, but they are more easily stolen.
I would recommend not putting personal files on it, and I definitely do not recommend installing software on it.

it would be much easier if they offered external hard drives with biometric scanners.

Cam42 · 03-07-2010, 01:03 PM

If someone was inside your house, they'd take your laptop AND your external drive. Depending on how long they've been there, they'd take your desktop too.

**slap_j** · 03-07-2010, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ApparentlyNothing

I use Backblaze and pay $5 a month for unlimited storage. I've got over 300GB backed up on their servers. Totally worth it. I know there are other companies that offer similar deals for online backups, like Mozy.

Also: Carbonite.com

normajean777 · 03-09-2010, 12:52 AM

Do these offline storage sites act like external hard drives in that you can store whatever you want in there, or do they only store as much as you already have for back up purposes? As in can I transfer 500 gb of media to the remote server and delete it off my hard drive to save space, and then download it again from there when I need it?

***BillSPrestonEsq*** · 03-09-2010, 12:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cam42

If someone was inside your house, they'd take your laptop AND your external drive. Depending on how long they've been there, they'd take your desktop too.

I doubt this. I rarely remember where my externals are, and I have far more interesting items to steal...

***Art*** · 03-09-2010, 03:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillSPrestonEsq

I doubt this. I rarely remember where my externals are, and I have far more interesting items to steal...

Agreed... They would go for the shiny black laptop that sits of the table, not the external hard drives that are not easily visible, and only plugged in when I need them.

bobthecockroach · 03-09-2010, 06:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jonodude

Are external drives more prone to failure than internal, or what?

I think so, yes, but both are prone to failure. For a simple reason, consider the comparative likelihood of dropping your laptop versus dropping a little drive (or of accidentally knocking one off your desk). You're also regularly plugging it in and unplugging it, risking damage to the jacks.

But both are prone to failure, and you should have backups for important data no matter what form of storage you use.

ApparentlyNothing · 03-09-2010, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by normajean777

Do these offline storage sites act like external hard drives in that you can store whatever you want in there, or do they only store as much as you already have for back up purposes? As in can I transfer 500 gb of media to the remote server and delete it off my hard drive to save space, and then download it again from there when I need it?

I can't speak for all of them, since there are a lot of different ones out there for different uses and there just may be one that does what you want. But the ones I DO know of generally are more of just a backup service. Backblaze does versioning, so technically you could delete stuff off your hard drive if it's on their servers and you'd have I think 30 days before it gets deleted from their servers to restore it.

***BillSPrestonEsq*** · 03-09-2010, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobthecockroach

I think so, yes, but both are prone to failure. For a simple reason, consider the comparative likelihood of dropping your laptop versus dropping a little drive (or of accidentally knocking one off your desk). You're also regularly plugging it in and unplugging it, risking damage to the jacks.

But both are prone to failure, and you should have backups for important data no matter what form of storage you use.

However, with the plug issue, external cases are cheap to replace and rarely damage the drive within.

I bought my last external case 2 years ago for 3.99 off of newegg. When it fails, it fails.