What's the best hard disk brand / model for off site backups in an external enclosure?

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timmmay

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#1202856 23-Dec-2014 19:35

Some changes, some doesn't. 25GB would be a real pain in the butt to work with. Thanks for the idea but probably not practical for me.

nzkiwiman

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#1203074 24-Dec-2014 10:04

I used to do disc (DVD-R and never +R) backups, but then moved to an Intel NUC as my primary computer with no optical drive.
Moved my media onto 2TB WD Green which I only access when required via a Dual Bay Dock over USB 3. No issues yet.

Had Seagates fail on me, no issues with WD Black or Green

timmmay

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#1215270 15-Jan-2015 08:59

Quick update/question: I have a 4TB HGST drive on the way, which BackBlaze rates as very reliable. I'm setting up a mirror. Do y'all think I should get another HGST drive or should I pair with a Seagate/WD drive? Some people think different brands in your array can reduce the chance of failures due to a bad batch. Toms hardware has an article saying they worked well and performance of a mixed array was only slightly behind an array with the same types of drive.

NB: I'm going to be using Microsoft ReFS and Storage Spaces in a mirrored configuration, not a NAS.

BTR

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#1215510 15-Jan-2015 14:25

I run WD drives at work, Have a 60+TB NAS device running WD Red drives which has been running for around 2 years now non stop, ran some tests the other day and all of the drives came up clean, I haven't had any WD drives fail yet touch wood.

One reason for failing drives could be if you purchased any drives in the months after the world wide drive shortage a few years ago they were probably cutting corners in an effort to get them made faster.

I normally only purchase RED, Black or RE4 drives.

Warpath

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#1215550 15-Jan-2015 16:23

IMHO the Seagate surveilance range

They are built to be at 100% utilization 24/7/365 cant beat them.

Warranty seems lower but that's because they are guaranteeing the drive to run all the time at full utilization seems like a no brainer for me ;)

timmmay

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#1215585 15-Jan-2015 17:20

Thanks guys. These will go into a desktop PC, which will park heads reasonably regularly, they won't run 24/7. My PC is often on but they disks won't always be in use. I know NAS disks are meant to run 24/7 without parking, so maybe a desktop disk is better? Does that make a difference?

My first disk for the array is an HGST 4TB Deskstar NAS drive.

Lenovo

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darylblake

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#1215697 15-Jan-2015 22:03

I have had a 2TB green i bought about 3 years ago.

I just had a seagate 2TB fail on me about 3-4 months ago then not long after the green died too.

Didn't really care because all my important stuff is in cloud storage. Infact I am not really a data hoarder anymore, so I never bothered replacing it.

The pro's on the greens is they are cheap and cheap to replace. I wouldnt expect more than 2 years life expectancy out of it.

They take a wee while to seek files initially, but after a few seconds they warm up so they will be fine a NAS if you just want to store data. If you access if frequently you will get a little frustrated with it go and get a WD black.

timmmay

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#1215786 16-Jan-2015 07:11

Thanks for your thoughts Daryl. In my opinion WD Green are unsuitable for anything other than archiving or backup. Unless hacked they spin down after six seconds, which causes the delay you're talking about. They're 5400rpm drives, compared with the 7200 RPM HGST drives, so they'll impact performance. They also have a shorter warranty.

I'll probably go with another NAS drive, maybe a WD red, maybe Seagate. I think I'd prefer a different brand just to avoid simultaneous failures.

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