Question What is the cheapest data storage media?

[hogwarts]

Which data storage media would be the cheapest (1 GB per penny) to make it as cheap as possible? Are external USB drives or pen drives the cheapest? How is it to buy several external USB drives or flash drives, each of them about 1 Terabyte or 1 external disk or flash drive with a capacity of several Terabytes. Is it, for example, to buy 1 external USB drive with a capacity of 10 Terabytes or 10 external drives of 1 Terabyte each. Are external USB drives or pen drives or any other media cheaper? In 2008, I thought that HD DVD or Blu-ray discs will become cheaper, but today's computers are slowly not building optical drives and Blu-ray or HD DVD discs are most often used for games on consoles, but I don't use consoles, I don't know what it's like with these plates. Are blank HD DVD or Blu-ray discs cheaper or more expensive Gigabytes per zloty compared to external USB drives or pendrives. The cheapest is to create free accounts in cloud services and when one free account is full, create a second one and so on, but then you are addicted to the Internet and the administrators of such a service can delete such an account. Why produce external USB SSDs when the most important thing is the price for the capacity, it is only unnecessarily more expensive and USB has high speed limits, it will not use the speed potential of these drives anyway. Servers similar in size to ordinary desktop computers are pointless, after all, the point is to record something and hide it in the closet, why pay for a box and install some server system (usually Linux) on it, as ordinary disks or pendrives take up much less space, but on YouTube I saw that some of them archive data in such servers. I have 1 Terabyte of camera vacation photos and 2 Terabytes of camera vacation videos over the past 10 years, but I could use a few Terabytes to spare. Now I keep my data on various free cloud services, of course, I created several dozen of these accounts so as not to pay for premium. Is it cheaper to get some data storage medias containing 4 or 5 Terabytes in total and wait a year or more until the data storage medias become even more expensive or is it not worth waiting and stock up on 10 Terabytes right away. When there is inflation now, but on the other hand technology is developing, will data storage medias be more expensive or cheaper in terms of capacity per price?
Before I decide to buy a data storage media, which cloud service currently has the most free capacity?

 

[OlyAR15]

The cheapest is still spinning rust. You can buy multi-TB drives for far cheaper than just about anything else. Tape used to be cheap, and may still be for just the media. But consumer tape drives seem to have gone the way of the dodo, and enterprise drives look to be rather expensive, which offsets a lot of the price advantage unless you have an inordinately enormous amount of data to backup.

 

[Tech Junky]

Considering you can get a 20tb drive for just north of $200 it doesn't make sense to wait for deflation or mess around with USB drives.

 

[Paperdoc]

I agree with above. Cheapest storage per GB is a standard HDD, probably in the 4 to 10 GB range. Further, you do not want it permanently installed, but instead as a detachable external drive. For that you do NOT need an expensive HDD with high performance fast specs. Any regular HDD is good for this.

You can buy desktop external HDD units a complete devices that just plug in. They do need their own power supply unit, so be sure it comes with one. Do NOT buy a small "Laptop Hard Drive" for USB3 use with NO power connection. These are made with smaller capacity and are MORE expensive per GB. Just a standard External Hard Drive. MOST come with USB connection systems. I really suggest you get one with USB 3 connection if your computer has a USB 3 port. (By the way, they kept changing the names here, so USB 3, USB 3.1, and USB 3.2 Gen1 are all the same thing. USB 3.2 Gen2 and Gen2x2 are just faster versions and those extra speeds are NOT needed for an external HDD.) Such a device is easy to connect and disconnect - just plug in its power supply and connect the USB cable to a computer USB port. Normal USB drivers will deal with that external device. When you first do this, it is probable that you will need to Partition the drive, just as you would with any new empty HDD installed inside your system. Small note aside: such a unit can be plugged in and use ANY USB port, so you can use this even with someone else's computer that has only USB2 ports - it's just slower performance.

A related alternative is you can buy a standard bare SATA HDD and a separate HDD Enclosure case with its own power supply module. It is easy to open the case, install the HDD into that, close up and connect. This may come out cheaper than a complete unit AND it has the advantage that you can change or replace the HDD unit inside any time.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

Depends on your storage needs: Everyday use vs. non-powered storage (cold back-up).
For the second, nothing beats hard drives. Properly stored and handle, they will keep the contents on those platters safe for decades.

 

[Red Squirrel]

HDDs are probably the cheapest. When looking at them compare similar models in different capacities to get an idea of the price per TB as there is a sweet spot where you get the best value. The last time I checked it around around 8TB that was the best value. When you go bigger then it starts to be more expensive per TB. It will vary between different retailers and what they have available so you'll want to check for yourself.

 

[Tech Junky]

Disk Prices (US)

Comparison of all hard drives and SSDs on Amazon, sorted by price per TB

diskprices.com

Makes things a bit easier to compare price per TB.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I probably wouldn't buy any storage off Amazon though. Lot of fake stuff.

 

[bigboxes]

I probably wouldn't buy any storage off Amazon though. Lot of fake stuff.

So, they're faking hard drives or just SD cards/flash drives?

 

[Red Squirrel]

So, they're faking hard drives or just SD cards/flash drives?

I think they mostly do it with SSDs but can't see why they would not do it with HDDs too. I personally just would rather not chance it.

 

[bigboxes]

I think they mostly do it with SSDs but can't see why they would not do it with HDDs too. I personally just would rather not chance it.

I believe we've had this convo before. I just have never purchased the cheapest off-brand drive. Always, WD/HGST/SanDisk/Samsung from Amazon without issue. How many times have you been scammed with Amazon?

 

[Red Squirrel]

I believe we've had this convo before. I just have never purchased the cheapest off-brand drive. Always, WD/HGST/SanDisk/Samsung from Amazon without issue. How many times have you been scammed with Amazon?

How do you know what you're getting it from the actual manufacturer though? You can kind of use your best judgement call such as price (ex: if you see a WD Black 10TB going for $100 it's probably not real), but for something as important as a HDD I just prefer not to take chances especially since I tend to buy those in bulk like 4+ at a time to do raid. I always buy from a dedicated computer retailer that (hopefully) vets their supply chain better.

I've never been scammed myself as Amazon is always my last resort, just heard lot of stories. That said, the sites that link to Amazon like one you linked to may have their own ways of vetting sellers to make sure they're legit.

 

[A///]

you take the serial and verify it with the manufacturer. I've gotten fakes in original packaging from Best buy and even direct from the company before. there is always tom foolery about.

 

[A///]

Considering you can get a 20tb drive for just north of $200 it doesn't make sense to wait for deflation or mess around with USB drives.

did you push the wrong number? 20 tb for 200+ is cheap. Almost unheard of

 

[Tech Junky]

did you push the wrong number? 20 tb for 200+ is cheap. Almost unheard of

Disk Prices (US)

Comparison of all hard drives and SSDs on Amazon, sorted by price per TB

diskprices.com

$230/ea for refurbs 90 day returns. New as you can see go up to $350/ea.

Now, if there was a way to get our hands on the new dual actuator models from WD/Seagate than it would be like having these monsters with SSD speeds. I think saw some pricing though that puts them upwards of $500+ though. But, grabbing 2 of those and putting them into a R1 saves space and electricity for the same speed. Or going R10 would get you GB/s+ speeds.

 

[bigboxes]

Disk Prices (US)

Comparison of all hard drives and SSDs on Amazon, sorted by price per TB

diskprices.com

View attachment 79787
$230/ea for refurbs 90 day returns. New as you can see go up to $350/ea.

Now, if there was a way to get our hands on the new dual actuator models from WD/Seagate than it would be like having these monsters with SSD speeds. I think saw some pricing though that puts them upwards of $500+ though. But, grabbing 2 of those and putting them into a R1 saves space and electricity for the same speed. Or going R10 would get you GB/s+ speeds.

Refurbed? 3-month warranty? Really? 🙄

 

[Tech Junky]

Refurbed? 3-month warranty? Really? 🙄

3 months to return. The exact warranty from the OEM could be 5 years. Depends on if the person that returned it registered them. Most of them are from idiots that can't figure out how to mount them since the screw holes are different as they're enterprise drives. Most drives are either doa or die shortly after install anyway. If it's going to fail it does quickly. Under moderate use though just about any drive should see 5-10 years of life.

 

[bigboxes]

3 months to return. The exact warranty from the OEM could be 5 years. Depends on if the person that returned it registered them. Most of them are from idiots that can't figure out how to mount them since the screw holes are different as they're enterprise drives. Most drives are either doa or die shortly after install anyway. If it's going to fail it does quickly. Under moderate use though just about any drive should see 5-10 years of life.

Hard pass on used drives. I don't plan on getting Seagate drives again. I personally use HGST/WD Ultrastar enterprise drives in my server. They are NOT $230 each.

 

[A///]

lol used drives. why don't I stick my head outside the window while traveling at highway speeds alongside the side brush hoping my face doesn't get beat into.

 

[A///]

Hard pass on used drives. I don't plan on getting Seagate drives again. I personally use HGST/WD Ultrastar enterprise drives in my server. They are NOT $230 each.

I've no issues running quality higher end seagates myself. due dilligence is required to look up fail rates for all drives via the parts number. it's not fair to generalize all models from an oem.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Always run a Smart Long test on any drive you buy too. Even brand new. I used to do a dd write and dd read of the entire drive but I think doing a long Smart test is basically the same idea.

 

[sdifox]

I believe we've had this convo before. I just have never purchased the cheapest off-brand drive. Always, WD/HGST/SanDisk/Samsung from Amazon without issue. How many times have you been scammed with Amazon?

He lost the whole town of Timmins to Amazon. True story.

 

[aigomorla]

lol used drives. why don't I stick my head outside the window while traveling at highway speeds alongside the side brush hoping my face doesn't get beat into.

I know im gonna get get spanked for this.
But i say its ultimately on who the vendor is, and what exactly its protecting.

For example, i use Used Enterprise SAS drives.
So i run:

Please note: i can not find the renewed SAS version, they are probably sold out, but they do get them in stock every now and then.

HGST 14TB SAS editions.
These: $120

https://www.amazon.com/HGST-Ultrastar-HC530-3-5-Inch-Center/dp/B08T3PBV57/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3D2EZCI3O3J0&keywords=hgst%2B14tb%2BSAS&qid=1682268623&sprefix=hgst%2B14tb%2Bsas%2Caps%2C126&sr=8-3&th=1

I have 12 of them on a Raid-Z2.
Fault protection 2 drives.
I always have 2 drives on standby incase 1 spits out fault errors.
Tech on Tech has always been good to me, so i trust them, also i trust GoGo Hard drives, and some of the other few sellers on amazon.

New they run: 199.00

https://www.amazon.com/HGST-Ultrastar-HC530-3-5-Inch-Center/dp/B08T3PBV57/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3D2EZCI3O3J0&keywords=hgst%2B14tb%2BSAS&qid=1682268623&sprefix=hgst%2B14tb%2Bsas%2Caps%2C126&sr=8-3&th=1

Cost basis about 70 per drive.
SAS will be a little cheaper, as they are more flooded in the enterprise sector, and tend to have less demand then SATA.

But again i use SAS, as i have a dedicated controller, and a dedicated SAS backplane, and well, SAS's make better drives for NAS. (keep telling myself this because im like a orc from w40k, where whatever the hell i believe, it becomes true.)

So having 2:1, while having fault protection to fall back on, as well as surplus incase of fault, i really see nothing wrong with using renewed drives, as long as you keep your backup's straight, and you have fault protection, along with a spares on hand to toss in immediately should you run into a failed drive.

*knock on wood*

I lost 5 seagate drives in the time i lost 1 renewed HGST He08 drive.
Which is why i never ever ever will buy anything seagate, including nvme's.
And seagate lately is in a lot of trouble by the US for selling drives to companies in china which were on the sanction list.

Seagate fined $300 million for shipping millions of HDDs to Huawei

More than double Seagate’s profits from selling the HDDs.

www.theverge.com

Although i am playing with 4 x Seagate EXO's 18TB edition SAS.

https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Exos-ST18000NM005J-Hard-Drive/dp/B098YCXY22/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2FLXYQTRT658F&keywords=18TB+Exos+sas&qid=1682269361&sprefix=18tb+exos+sas%2Caps%2C137&sr=8-3&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.ac2169a1-b668-44b9-8bd0-5ec63b24bcb5

They are loud, but so far no issues.
My friend told me to try these guys, as a second chance for seagate.

You'll see me setup my soap box and microphone if and when it fails.

 

[Tech Junky]

seagate

The consumer stuff they sell is doomed to fail but, the enterprise exos seem to buck the trend from reviews. I've been burned by Seagate consumer drives before and refuse to buy them but, considering the exos. For $230/ea it seems worthy of consideration at least. Consumers buy them not knowing what they're buying and find something they don't like and send them back with little use on them. It's not a huge deal and the 90 day window helps suss out if there's an issue with them compared to the normal 30. Some people just get stuck on new. It's their money and psyche to go with new + warranty bs just loading them into a system and hammering them with data for years.

Renewed items have some perks in terms of savings. Do I trust the process Amazon uses to resell? It depends on the item and brand. I've bought tons of tech gear renewed and have yet to have an issue with any of it. If there's an issue it's easy to order a replacement and send back the dud as a return.

 

[A///]

I know im gonna get get spanked for this.

we won't judge you for what pleasures you have.

I know im gonna get get spanked for this.
But i say its ultimately on who the vendor is, and what exactly its protecting.

For example, i use Used Enterprise SAS drives.
So i run:

Please note: i can not find the renewed SAS version, they are probably sold out, but they do get them in stock every now and then.

HGST 14TB SAS editions.
These: $120

https://www.amazon.com/HGST-Ultrastar-HC530-3-5-Inch-Center/dp/B08T3PBV57/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3D2EZCI3O3J0&keywords=hgst%2B14tb%2BSAS&qid=1682268623&sprefix=hgst%2B14tb%2Bsas%2Caps%2C126&sr=8-3&th=1

I have 12 of them on a Raid-Z2.
Fault protection 2 drives.
I always have 2 drives on standby incase 1 spits out fault errors.
Tech on Tech has always been good to me, so i trust them, also i trust GoGo Hard drives, and some of the other few sellers on amazon.

New they run: 199.00

https://www.amazon.com/HGST-Ultrastar-HC530-3-5-Inch-Center/dp/B08T3PBV57/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3D2EZCI3O3J0&keywords=hgst%2B14tb%2BSAS&qid=1682268623&sprefix=hgst%2B14tb%2Bsas%2Caps%2C126&sr=8-3&th=1

Cost basis about 70 per drive.
SAS will be a little cheaper, as they are more flooded in the enterprise sector, and tend to have less demand then SATA.

But again i use SAS, as i have a dedicated controller, and a dedicated SAS backplane, and well, SAS's make better drives for NAS. (keep telling myself this because im like a orc from w40k, where whatever the hell i believe, it becomes true.)

So having 2:1, while having fault protection to fall back on, as well as surplus incase of fault, i really see nothing wrong with using renewed drives, as long as you keep your backup's straight, and you have fault protection, along with a spares on hand to toss in immediately should you run into a failed drive.

*knock on wood*

I lost 5 seagate drives in the time i lost 1 renewed HGST He08 drive.
Which is why i never ever ever will buy anything seagate, including nvme's.
And seagate lately is in a lot of trouble by the US for selling drives to companies in china which were on the sanction list.

Seagate fined $300 million for shipping millions of HDDs to Huawei

More than double Seagate’s profits from selling the HDDs.

www.theverge.com

Although i am playing with 4 x Seagate EXO's 18TB edition SAS.

https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Exos-ST18000NM005J-Hard-Drive/dp/B098YCXY22/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2FLXYQTRT658F&keywords=18TB+Exos+sas&qid=1682269361&sprefix=18tb+exos+sas%2Caps%2C137&sr=8-3&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.ac2169a1-b668-44b9-8bd0-5ec63b24bcb5

They are loud, but so far no issues.
My friend told me to try these guys, as a second chance for seagate.

You'll see me setup my soap box and microphone if and when it fails.

I buy plenty of used equipment but drives are where my anxiety rises. a lot of my storage has data that would be a pain in the ass to reload back. I'm sure the drives are fine but an increased risk is a risk to me.

on seagates they have models with high failure rates and ones with low. one must do their due diligence when buying. the exos drives are alright but loud. modern hgst are a ton better than the old hitachi branded drives which were a mistake as a choice each time someone bought one. hgst as a brand got dropped but they're now wd ultrastar iirc. of the greens, blues and blacks and reds the only fancy drives I've used have been the purple wd's for my current security setup. I'm still using the prior owners system about 9 years old.