How long does it take you to trust a new HDD

QlimaxUK

QlimaxUK

QlimaxUK

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Hi, i have just ordered a new 1 TB External HDD (seagate)
*from a competitor* sry ocuk their offer was better
it isn't here yet but when i get it, like any other new HDD theres always the question 'will it fail'
so what i am asking is how long do you lot 'keep' a drive for before you decide that its trustworthy for important data? :)
 
No single drive is "trustworthy" for vital data regardless of age. All my media is on A single 1.5tb drive, my pc has 3 x 500gb F3s in RAID0 so little regard to data integrity :)

My work machine however has a RAID1 array which is backed up remotely using a Netgear Readynas Duo, also RAID1. I carry smaller amounts of data on pendrives too, just for extra piece of mind. If I were to loose this data it could well ruin me financially
 
My pc has 2 wd vr 300 gb in raid 0 and 2x seagate 1.5 tb singly 7200.11 for blu rays and then an external 500 gb disk for an image of my wd vr.. was considering buying a 2 tb external for a back up of my 2 x 1.5s and then. Putting the 2 x 1.5s in raid 0
 
back to topic, i'll trust a hard disk pretty much as soon as i've "worn my ass groove into it", basically i'll initialize it using Acronis, create a partition (one,c single partition per disk), copy the stuff i intended to put in it and then leave it a week or so, accessing it at random intervals, maybe delete a few things, copy over some new things, output a few things to it (saved word docs, some encoded video etc). after that i'll delete the old copy and that's me done.

i've only ever lost one diskful of data, a 160gb maxtor ide drive which i (while drunk) moved to install another disk while the computer was still on, molex'd it right up.

still, managed to get an identical disk cheap enough and used it's PCB on the old disk and got all the data back, aces!
 
QlimaxUK said:
Hi, i have just ordered a new 1 TB External HDD (seagate)
*from a competitor* sry ocuk their offer was better
it isn't here yet but when i get it, like any other new HDD theres always the question 'will it fail'
so what i am asking is how long do you lot 'keep' a drive for before you decide that its trustworthy for important data? :)
Click to expand...

I just do a full format. this will uncover any issues.
 
it is for backing up, i will have 2 copys of everything when i transfer everything over, but when i 'trust' it i will be deleting 'less important' data from the internal HDD's to free up space, mostly AVI movies that i downlaod and only ever watch once (dont know why i keep them at all really) that will free up 100 GB anyway, more space for future steam games! :D
 
Keep it disconnected from your PC when you aren't using it. Ideally you want 3 copies of any data but two is a good start; 1 live, 1 local backup (not physically connected), 1 remote backup. I leave an encrypted drive at a mates house and swap it over every so often. Saves having to upload lots.
 
accod said:
Keep it disconnected from your PC when you aren't using it. Ideally you want 3 copies of any data but two is a good start; 1 live, 1 local backup (not physically connected), 1 remote backup. I leave an encrypted drive at a mates house and swap it over every so often. Saves having to upload lots.
Click to expand...

well the 160 GB external i have already i keep connected and ready but don't switch it on untill i need it, i did used to put it back into its box after each use but just found this a lot of hassle :)
 
QlimaxUK said:
well the 160 GB external i have already i keep connected and ready but don't switch it on untill i need it, i did used to put it back into its box after each use but just found this a lot of hassle :)
Click to expand...

I wouldn't bother putting it back in the box because, as you said, it's too much hassle and you'll end up not backing up your data as frequently. I would unplug it from both your computer and the mains though. It means if your PC dies it won't take the drive with it (granted unlikely).
 
You also need to think about theft. If some scroat breaks in and sees the drive next to your PC, they might steal both. That's where a remote backup comes in - fire, theft, flood, etc.

It depends how important the data is to you and what it would mean if it was lost. Drives are so cheap nowadays, and what with everyone having digital cameras taking lots of pictures they want to keep forever, it makes sense to have 3 copies of everything.
 
ok, the drive is here! :D just doing the full format then will be starting the BIG tranfer :D

this drive dosn't come with a power switch it just plugs in then its on, so it looks like i will have to unplug it when not in use, as for security this drive has a 'kensington' socket at the back, i didn't know what a kensington was untill today so i had to look this up *link* so i dont know where to get one of these or if i should just 'hide' it when im out
 
I wouldn't bother with the lock, hide it somewhere instead. I put mine in the shed in a sealed container and all the data on it is encrypted. I'm paranoid about my data but you probably guessed that already ;)
 
QlimaxUK said:
almost formatted, its taking a long time, i have watched a whole movie in the time it has taken so far :)
Click to expand...

Big drives do take ages. I just quick format these days as full isn't really required. The big thing to watch out for with these newer drives are reallocated sectors over the first few months. It won't show during a full format, but give a break in period of random read and writes and if it starts spouting reallocated sectors keep an eye on it.
 
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