Need advice on external HDD

[Alpina]

Hi guys,

so I have ~400gb of video which i really need to keep and my internal HDD is 95% full 😀 Now i consider 2 options;

1. Get an external HDD
2. Burn everything to DVDs

Now I will be traveling that's why i don't consider internal HDD. And i really need reliability, i can't lose that stuff. Btw i know no drives are 100% reliable, but DVDs are reliable. But HDD are so much more convenient

So what do you suggest? Any good 500-1000GB external HDDs which are considered really reliable?

Also if HDD fails, is it possible to recover in some way not?

 

[Hellhammer]

The only way to guarantee reliability is to store the data in more than one medium. That means you either have the data in two (or more) hard drives or in one hard drive and for example DVDs/BRs or cloud. NO single drive is reliable enough.

 

[Alpina]

The only way to guarantee reliability is to store the data in more than one medium. That means you either have the data in two (or more) hard drives or in one hard drive and for example DVDs/BRs or cloud. NO single drive is reliable enough.

Yep, i know, but i won't be buying two drives for that, that's why i ask for best option here 😛

 

[Hellhammer]

Yep, i know, but i won't be buying two drives for that, that's why i ask for best option here 😛

But is storing the videos in one hard drive AND DVDs an option? Because seriously, nobody can guarantee that your data is safe if it's just in one drive. Even enterprise-grade hard drives can die without a warning, so you would really be playing with the fire if you don't have a backup.

If you use dual-layer DVDs, a 50-pack is enough which should set you back by around $50.

 

[Alpina]

But is storing the videos in one hard drive AND DVDs an option? Because seriously, nobody can guarantee that your data is safe if it's just in one drive. Even enterprise-grade hard drives can die without a warning, so you would really be playing with the fire if you don't have a backup.

If you use dual-layer DVDs, a 50-pack is enough which should set you back by around $50.

I guess i just buy a pack of good verbatim DVDs and burn most stuff there because with external drives it looks like you either need to buy 2 HDDs or don't buy any, because 1 is just not reliable enough. ^_^

 

[Blain]

Option 3. Run Steve Gould's CleanUp! (demo mode doesn't actually remove anything).
Run PureRA 1.7, and finally Ccleaner (cleaner module)

 

[jimmybgood9]

DVDs aren't 100% reliable either. They can be broken, scratched, or become delaminated or you can find out after your DVD burner dies that they can only be read on that drive.

Get a 1TB internal drive and put everything on it as your new system drive. Voila - plenty of space. Put your old drive in an external case and use it for backups of all your videos. You'll still have space, since you won't have the system on it anymore. If the videos are that important to you, burn them to DVD, too.

 

[Alpina]

DVDs aren't 100% reliable either. They can be broken, scratched, or become delaminated or you can find out after your DVD burner dies that they can only be read on that drive.

Get a 1TB internal drive and put everything on it as your new system drive. Voila - plenty of space. Put your old drive in an external case and use it for backups of all your videos. You'll still have space, since you won't have the system on it anymore. If the videos are that important to you, burn them to DVD, too.

Hmm idea is good. But i am planning on leaving my pc for several years and i will be with laptop (which i don't have yet) and some kind of drive. Now if i will use that 4 year old HDD to keep all my important stuff, it won't feel secure, cause if drive will fail, i won't be able to reach all the videos i need (i will be in different country).

But still good advice !

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Now I will be traveling that's why i don't consider internal HDD. And i really need reliability, i can't lose that stuff. Btw i know no drives are 100% reliable, but DVDs are reliable. But HDD are so much more convenient

So what do you suggest? Any good 500-1000GB external HDDs which are considered really reliable?

Get an external 2.5" enclosure and put a drive of your choice in it. WD Blue 2.5" should be good enough and are available in capacities from 250GB to 1TB. External drives are usually bottom-of-the-barrel drives put in an external package. The reason for the 2.5" drive is portability. 3.5" drive in enclosure + external powerbrick are quite unhandy for travelling. 2.5" drives can be powered completely from a USB port.

Another thing. Don't ever turn a drive on immediately after it has been subjected to cold temperatures. The temperature change can kill it very quickly... 🙂

DVDs aren't 100% reliable either. They can be broken, scratched, or become delaminated or you can find out after your DVD burner dies that they can only be read on that drive.

Get a 1TB internal drive and put everything on it as your new system drive. Voila - plenty of space. Put your old drive in an external case and use it for backups of all your videos. You'll still have space, since you won't have the system on it anymore. If the videos are that important to you, burn them to DVD, too.

Agree 100%. For any important data always have multiple copies on different media.

 

[corkyg]

. . . Agree 100%. For any important data always have multiple copies on different media.

This! Have a set of DVDs stored in a safe place in addition to the HDD addition. Planned redundancy is good backup.

And, for some of those videos that are really important to you, consider storage in "the cloud."

 

[Alpina]

Insert_Nickname, good advice!

This! Have a set of DVDs stored in a safe place in addition to the HDD addition. Planned redundancy is good backup.

And, for some of those videos that are really important to you, consider storage in "the cloud."

Of course the more the better but all comes down to money. If i had money i would buy 3 HDDs, bunch of DVDs and then order a cloud storage - all at the same time :biggrin: