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External Hard drives?

I

imported_browsing

Senior member
What about external hard drives? I've seen a ton of those my books, etc appearing... I'm just not sure how reliable they are. Also, what sort of enclosures do you use or recommend for converting an internal drive? Does the enclosure brand matter, are there any external drives that don't require a big bulky power connector to go with them? I'm just exploring external hard drive storage for backups, as opposed to scratchable dvd-rws and don't know where to turn or if to just buy something off the shelf?
 
I don't really believe there would be all that much to review when it comes to external drives, as they are just regular HDDs in enclosures.

Main differences are design/shape/color/cooling (fans or none), connectors (USB vs. IEEE1394 vs. eSATA), etc.

I personally have a Vantec Nexstar 3 (eSATA & USB) that i use.

It's damn fast when using eSATA, & it's a nice glossy black 😛
 
If you want something more portable, you can go with the 2.5"-based externals, which are a lot smaller & lighter, not to mention they do not require an external power source.
They derive their power from USB.

Of course, since they are notebook HDDs, you can presently only get up to 160 GB, as 2.5" HDDs are still nowhere close to the storage capacity as 3.5" HDDs.
 
Okay, thanks guys. I guess I'll have to start looking at the specs to try and find out what hard drives are actually in these enclosures. Does anyone have experience with these my books? My Book
 
Originally posted by: n7
I don't really believe there would be all that much to review when it comes to external drives, as they are just regular HDDs in enclosures.

Main differences are design/shape/color/cooling (fans or none), connectors (USB vs. IEEE1394 vs. eSATA), etc.

I personally have a Vantec Nexstar 3 (eSATA & USB) that i use.

It's damn fast when using eSATA, & it's a nice glossy black 😛
Click to expand...

n7: what HDD are you using in the Vantec, and do you find it noisey?

Edit: another question Can you read SMART data from the Vantec?


-Bob

 
Also, are there enclosures that read sata drives, or are most of them PATA? What about tape backup, is there any affordable tape solution, and how do they compare in reliability with other formats?
 
Originally posted by: browsing
Also, are there enclosures that read sata drives, or are most of them PATA? What about tape backup, is there any affordable tape solution, and how do they compare in reliability with other formats?
Click to expand...

The one i mentioned i have is for SATA HDDs.

 
Originally posted by: Bob Anderson
n7: what HDD are you using in the Vantec, and do you find it noisey?

Edit: another question Can you read SMART data from the Vantec?


-Bob
Click to expand...

I'm using an older Seagate Barracuda...& since the enclosure is fanless, the only thing making noise is the HDD seeking.

I coulda sworn i was able to read SMART info when using eSATA, but now it doesn't show up in Speedfan, so i guess not?
 
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