Internal vs External HDD ?

[martixy]

I have a dilemma here. I need a new HDD and I can't decide which type to get.

On one side, the internal drive will probably be faster and cheaper and its unlikely I will have to move large amounts of data often enough to justify an external drive just based on portability.

On the other side, the external drive is portable and will be used mostly for multimedia, streaming and backup, so performance might not be that critical.

So, any tips on choosing would be appreciated.

 

[rsutoratosu]

If you have an esata port it's like internal in an external shell

 

[razel]

Do you have eSATA/USB 3 ports or can add one? If so... external. Keep in mind that there are two types of external HDDs. One is based on desktop drives and always have a power adapter. They need 12 volts which USBs and eSATAp don't provide. The 2nd are smaller ones based on notebook drives and don't require external power. The smaller ones are usually twice as much as the larger ones.

 

[Charlie98]

I have a 500GB 3.0USB Seagate I use as an additional backup drive (I have 2 internal 500GB's as well,) but I also use it to move big files back and forth between my laptops and my other desktop upstairs. It's not the fastest thing on the planet, but it works and is pretty handy.

If there is any question of portability, I would go external... just make sure it's 3.0USB (assuming you can utilize it on your computer.)

 

[martixy]

I have both eSata and USB 3.0, so interfacing should not be a problem.

Feel free to suggest any good drives for me.
I was looking at either a WD my book or Samsung story station for external and maybe a WD caviar green for internal - all in the 2TB flavour.

 

[Anteaus]

If the drive is going to be used for purely backup reasons, then an external will be the way to go. If the drive is going to get regular use, then I agree you should get an internal.

 

[martixy]

Oh, believe me, it's gonna see some pretty heavy use.
If I wanted decorations I'd buy a statue, not a HDD.

I'd estimate ~2-3TB/month throughput on average(mostly reading - streaming, etc...)

 

[Anteaus]

There are many drives that will fit your bill, but my preference is the WD Black series. Great all around drives.

 

[exdeath]

External over USB 3.0 or eSATA.

People need to start getting used to the idea of no more 5.25 and 3.5 internal bays in cases so we start getting some nicer cases that don't include 7 dozen useless 3.5" bays.

 

[groberts101]

LOL.. here we go again.

Personally speaking?.. without all those "useless bays"?.. I wouldn't have room for all my raidcards HDD's to nest up all cozy like.

 

[exdeath]

2.5" devices can snug up flat along the back of the front panel if the cases were designed properly.

And what's 5.25" all about? Might as well just include 2 x 8" bays too, just in case, as long as we are going that route

Yeah here we go again hehe... I'm going on hour four of copying over 100 GB of data off a HDD... god I *hate* data pack rats. It's like Hoarding Buried Alive: Digital Edition. c:stuff\stuff\more stuff\other stuff\old stuff\stuff with date\more useless stuff\stuff\stuff inside other stuff\copy of stuff\stuff\stuff\more stuff\other stuff\old stuff\stuff with date\more useless stuff\stuff\stuff inside other stuff\copy of copy of copy of stuff(4)\.............

/bullettohead

So yeah, if HDD is required for mass storage and backup, then external only, if only so people get used to the fact that HDDs do NOT belong inside PCs, EVER.

 

[Anteaus]

Hard drives that are sold as external drives are generally of lower performance than there internal counterparts, so there is definitely a distinction and I don't mean because of the interface. It's not as simple as saying it just plugged in in a different place.


There are plenty of nice, minimal cases that don't include tons of 3.5 bays. The cases you are talking about are sold to power users, many of which use those bays for raid arrays or just for having tons of storage space. Also, those cases tend to be overly large to allow for advance cooling methods and large addon cards, so why not commit the left over space to hard drives?

Where would you prefer your drives? You might be willing to have all your hard drives sitting on top of your desk next to your optical drive with all the signal and power cords to go with them? I'm guessing you want to get rid of 3.5" drives? You should buy an apple. You seem to be the type of person Thunderbolt is marketed for. You could daisy chain all of your hardware in a sort of figure 8 motiff.

Personally, I like that my drives are protected in my case. I also like the idea that if I want to add more I have space. I could have bought something with only a couple drive bays, but instead I went for the case with 10 drive bays and room for a pony. I love it.

 

[Charlie98]

Yeah here we go again hehe... I'm going on hour four of copying over 100 GB of data off a HDD... god I *hate* data pack rats. It's like Hoarding Buried Alive: Digital Edition. c:stuff\stuff\more stuff\other stuff\old stuff\stuff with date\more useless stuff\stuff\stuff inside other stuff\copy of stuff\stuff\stuff\more stuff\other stuff\old stuff\stuff with date\more useless stuff\stuff\stuff inside other stuff\copy of copy of copy of stuff(4)\..............

HEY! How did you wind up with my HDD??? D:

 

[Charlie98]

OP, there is also the option to use an internal HDD externally...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817404098

 

[groberts101]

my 800D case is used exactly as Anteaus points out. If I could afford to get all my data(near 500 gigs of pics alone) onto SSD arrays?.. surely I would do that.

Unfortunately, 8 x HDD running off one raidcard and 4 x HDD running off another with redundancy from even more HDD in R0 is much cheaper and larger than a comparable setup using SSD only.

as for the OP's question?.. I use this one since it is more versatile having both eSATA and USB 3.0 to leverage from whatever system I decide to hook it up to.
http://www.vantecusa.com/gl/product/view_detail/479