External Hard Drive Advice

Russinating

Russinating

Russinating

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Going to be purchasing 1, maybe 2 (depending on these suggestions), external hard drives soon. Been looking at the WD Mybook Pro's and a few others. What I'm basically after is either 1x 1TB drive, or 2x 500GB drives. As far as pros and cons go from what I can see, there's a lot more choice in 500GB's and they can also sometimes work out cheaper than a 1TB. Although having just a 1TB one would obviously be more handy (or risky? depending on if the glass is half full etc :p). Anyway, any advice on what to go for would be appreciated, as I've heard the Mybooks are quite noisy (not such a concern, but these things are only discovered from people who already own them).

The drive(s) will be storing and editing captured video so speed & reliability are important.
 
If you're looking at this for backup then I'd suggest avoiding the current 1Tb devices because they're just a RAID0 array of 2*500Gb HDDs and hence have all the disadvantages of RAID0. Don't get me started on the "RAID for blazing speed" over USB2 hype either.

For video work you're really looking at eSATA being the best option which limits you to a certain extent if you want a pre-built device but there are a couple of IcyBox/Dock eSATA caddies which you could stick your own drives into. They come with eSATA backplate connectors too to allow internal SATA ports to be redirected outside if you don't have onboard eSATA.
 
Sorry, I know you're just trying to help, but it wasn't really what I was looking for :).

I have no\little idea what RAID0 or eSATA are, and as a result am not really interested in either. Firewire is fine for me. The advice I wanted was more with brands, specific models, or as said whether to go for the 1TB or 2x 500GB's.

Can anyone recommend me a WD Mybook or tell me why not to get one? And if not, why not and what other brand\model should I get!? :)
 
HD-020-BT_400.jpg


this would be cool. and you can used which ever hard disk that you want..

it looks good too!!!
 
rghjones said:
Sorry, I know you're just trying to help, but it wasn't really what I was looking for :).

I have no\little idea what RAID0 or eSATA are, and as a result am not really interested in either. Firewire is fine for me. The advice I wanted was more with brands, specific models, or as said whether to go for the 1TB or 2x 500GB's.

Can anyone recommend me a WD Mybook or tell me why not to get one? And if not, why not and what other brand\model should I get!? :)
Click to expand...

Are you sure you dont want to go the the eSata route? The man speaks the truth when he says that it is the fastest interface around. And costs wise it might actually work out cheaper to buy a eSata drive enclosure and any 500GB hard disk of your choice (as opposed to the ready packaged drive you are thinking of).

For reliability there is nothing wrong with Western Digital, Seagate or Hitachi.
 
rghjones said:
{snip}I have no\little idea what RAID0{snip}
Click to expand...
Well regarding RAID, like rpstewart has 'hinted' you have no choice but to be interested in since it offers performance over data redundancy, which by the way is zero (0) :eek:

eSATA not to sure but (sunama & rpstewart), don't you require a compliant mobo? But I'd rather have it there for 'futreproofing' :D

Personally I'd get a Bring-Your-Own disk box kit like this one I recently acquired...



Currently got a 40GB PATA/IDE hard disk in there. Will be putting a 160GB SATA hard disk once I upgrade my rig :cool:
 
I tend to prefer the DIY option, as it is usually cheaper and more flexible - so I have 2 IcyBoxes (one is USB2, and the other is USB2 & Firewire).

But OcUK had a good deal recently on the Seagate 320Gb external drive so I bought one of those too.
 
i think the freecom external drives are pretty good value.

500GB Version can be Had for £95 incl P&P :)

Comes fanless and a nice display showing you how much space its got left.
I dont think you can match that price even if you bought an IDE/SATA drive and use da caddy...
 
photoshop said:
i think the freecom external drives are pretty good value.

500GB Version can be Had for £95 incl P&P :)

Comes fanless and a nice display showing you how much space its got left.
I dont think you can match that price even if you bought an IDE/SATA drive and use da caddy...
Click to expand...

You cant match that price, but you can beat it.

From a competitor I have just purchased a Seagate SATA 500gb hard disk with an external eSATA enclosure. Total cost including delivery: £76.

For my own personal use, I currently have 1 hard disk in the enclosure as described above, but I have another hard disk that is connected to the internal SATA connections of the motherboard using a 1m SATA cable and a long psu cable. The hard disk itself sits about 30cms outside the case. This not only allows me to keep the hard disk(s) out of sight and hidden (reducing noise), but also allows me to switch the hard disks should I need to do this as SATA is hot swappable.

I would never pay for a fancy hard disk enclosure with built in hard disk as I strongly believe they are rip-off. And I hate being ripped off.
 
My bro wanted an external drive but a lof of them look a bit naff and are quite expensive for not much GB so I bought an Icybox IB-360ASTUS-B which has USB 2.0 and SATA connectors and a 500GB Seagate 7200.9 for around £100!

The Icybox also came with a SATA cable and a PC backplate slot thingy to connect to an internal SATA connector!

Icybox2(small).jpg


It looks quite good too - without the silly LEDS glowing on the bottom anyway (gives you the option to turn them off).

<edit> Also I forgot to mention it supports both SATA and PATA drives and there is no size limit for what HDD you can use either :)
 
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What about a Network Attached Storage device? Surely these must be the best things. You can slam in 2 500GB hard disks in them, attach them to your router and pretty much have access to all their content from anywhere in the home?

I've seen NAS's with space for 2 drives, but never more than that. Do they exist? I wouldnt mind having one with 4 drives.
 
I am sure they are quite a bit more and also if you want other computers to have access to your external drive just share it on your computer - if its plugged in to your main computer it would generally be on all the time anyway.
 
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