External Storeage

gregers05 · Apr 27, 2016

So, I need a some additional storage space to back up my hard drives and store my gopro videos and pictures on. Looking for the cheapest, but still reliable option. Was looking at the WD My Book backup drives...is it worth $115 for 4TB? I was originally looking to just buy a internal desktop drive and put it into an enclosure, but not sure that route is any cheaper.

Any recommendations?

EarthDog · Apr 27, 2016

You would just need to compare prices. Can't say I know off the top of my head without looking.

I have one of those WD My Book things and do not have an issue with it.

JrClocker · Apr 27, 2016

I assume you mean 4 TB, as $115 for a 4 GB drive is pretty steep!

I use a Toshiba Canvio external USB 3.0 drive as a backup for the critical data storage on my RAID array. I've had the drive over 5 years, and used it as a general storage drive before I got my RAID array.

I've had no issues with it.

ATMINSIDE · Apr 27, 2016

Worth noting: a lot of internal drives will be faster than an external drive.

Almost every time an external drive is a low speed drive where you can buy a higher speed internal and put it into the enclosure.

JrClocker · Apr 28, 2016

Additionally, if you are going to use an external USB drive...make sure you enable "write caching" within the device manager for the drive. This greatly improves the write performance.

The only downside is that you have to use the "safe remove" USB feature before unplugging the drive.

I assume that your PC is connected to a UPS. With external hard drives, it's always a good idea to connect them into the UPS too to avoid data loss.

gregers05 · Apr 28, 2016

JrClocker said:
I assume you mean 4 TB, as $115 for a 4 GB drive is pretty steep!

I use a Toshiba Canvio external USB 3.0 drive as a backup for the critical data storage on my RAID array. I've had the drive over 5 years, and used it as a general storage drive before I got my RAID array.

I've had no issues with it.

LOL! Yes, 4 TB not GB. I dont think they even make 4 GB flash drives anymore lol.

ATMINSIDE said:
Worth noting: a lot of internal drives will be faster than an external drive.

Almost every time an external drive is a low speed drive where you can buy a higher speed internal and put it into the enclosure.

What speeds are most external drives? 5400?

JrClocker said:
Additionally, if you are going to use an external USB drive...make sure you enable "write caching" within the device manager for the drive. This greatly improves the write performance.

The only downside is that you have to use the "safe remove" USB feature before unplugging the drive.

I assume that your PC is connected to a UPS. With external hard drives, it's always a good idea to connect them into the UPS too to avoid data loss.

Thats a good tip, however I am terrible about doing the safe remove thing. I would be worried my wife would forget to do that and screw it up. I actually don't have a UPS :screwy:

ATMINSIDE · Apr 28, 2016

gregers05 said:
What speeds are most external drives? 5400?

Yes, or thereabouts.

JrClocker · Apr 28, 2016

gregers05 said:
Thats a good tip, however I am terrible about doing the safe remove thing. I would be worried my wife would forget to do that and screw it up. I actually don't have a UPS

As long as you don't unplug it right after you write to it, you will be safe (like a few seconds or so).

You should get a UPS...otherwise, you are just living on the edge...and not the Microsoft EDGE!

RPM speed for an external drive only really matters if you are going to be running programs off it. If you are just using for data storage, you won't really notice the difference.

gregers05 · Apr 28, 2016

ATMINSIDE said:
Yes, or thereabouts.

Pretty much what I figured

JrClocker said:
As long as you don't unplug it right after you write to it, you will be safe (like a few seconds or so).

You should get a UPS...otherwise, you are just living on the edge...and not the Microsoft EDGE!

RPM speed for an external drive only really matters if you are going to be running programs off it. If you are just using for data storage, you won't really notice the difference.

Alright thanks. Ill probably just grab whatever I can get the cheapest (between WD and Toshiba) and go from there. Ill probably upgrade anyways every few years as price per GB falls.

wade7575 · May 1, 2016

I have a lot of external HDD's and I always build my using Vantec case's and sometimes a few from china that I have tried and they work really well,but as far as the Hard Drive I like to know what's in the case because I ran into a roblem a few year's back when Netbook's were the big thing and a lot of the Compaq's came with WD Blue drives and were failing only after 3 to 8 months of use and I replaced a lot of them that year.

What I'm really trying to say is this if you build it you know what's in it when it's pre-made who knows what in it and how long it will last plus there goes your data.

gregers05 · May 4, 2016

wade7575 said:
I have a lot of external HDD's and I always build my using Vantec case's and sometimes a few from china that I have tried and they work really well,but as far as the Hard Drive I like to know what's in the case because I ran into a roblem a few year's back when Netbook's were the big thing and a lot of the Compaq's came with WD Blue drives and were failing only after 3 to 8 months of use and I replaced a lot of them that year.

What I'm really trying to say is this if you build it you know what's in it when it's pre-made who knows what in it and how long it will last plus there goes your data.

Valid point sir. I still havent made up my mind. I keep hoping one of these Newegg emails I get every day will have a killer price on something. Need to decide soon so I can wipe my computer and reinstall windows.

gregers05 · May 4, 2016

ended up going with a 3TB WD Blue for $90 and the Vantec enclosure that Wade suggested. $112 total.

gregers05 · May 7, 2016

Alright got the drive and enclosure together. Plugged it in, it said the device software was successfully installed, and it shows up in my devices in control panel, but not as a drive in my computer. How do I get it to show up in my computer so i can save stuff to it?

ATMINSIDE · May 7, 2016

Assign a drive letter in Disk Management

wade7575 · May 8, 2016

You most likely need to Initialize the HDD just look at this google result and it will tell you how to do it.

https://www.google.ca/search?source...=hp..2.0l5.0.0.0.7844...........0.bpksDomYDUg

gregers05 · May 8, 2016

got it figured out thanks!

So it appears my HD is partitioned int ~2TB and 750GB. Can i reformat it so that it isnt partitioned or do I need to leave it partitioned? I figured I could just reformat to get rid of the partition.

gregers05 · May 10, 2016

ATMINSIDE · May 10, 2016

Just extend the partition

wade7575 · May 10, 2016

If you not sure how to do it in Windows use Partition Master it's the one I use for some things and it's very easy to use.

gregers05 said:
got it figured out thanks!

So it appears my HD is partitioned int ~2TB and 750GB. Can i reformat it so that it isnt partitioned or do I need to leave it partitioned? I figured I could just reformat to get rid of the partition.

View attachment 178973

ATMINSIDE · May 11, 2016

wade7575 said:
If you not sure how to do it in Windows use Partition Master it's the one I use for some things and it's very easy to use.

From the screen he's on you right click once and it's done...

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