250GB+ External HD w/ Write Protect

[Trompeta]

I need to find a solution for a project I'm doing and would like your help.

I am in need of an 250GB+ external drive with USB 2.0 connectivity. I need to able to write data to the HD and then disable the any writes to the drive. Only read-only access after all data is written to the drive. I could not find anything commercially available. The only solution I have right now is getting a SCSI HD (which have a "write-protect" jumper), SCSI enclosure and a SCSI-to-USB 2.0 cable.

Can any of you think of a better solution?

Thanks,
Trompeta

 

[Roguestar]

In hardware terms the only write-protect solution on a standard hard drive you've already suggested; SCSI.

 

[Matthias99]

If your concern is just 'accidental' deletion of data, you can mark the folders/files you want to protect as read-only at a software level. Of course, anyone with write permissions can just remove the read-only flag, or could reformat the drive.

If you want data that cannot be deleted without physical access to the machine's hardware -- you need an enclosure or controller card that can disable writes to a drive at a hardware level (via a jumper/switch). It's not a common feature these days, at least on cheaper ATA/SATA controller cards.

If the folders are being shared over a network, or just requiring administrative privileges is enough, you can protect it through software. Only someone logged into the server with the admin username/password could actually change the protection on the files or format the partition.