Robustness of laptop vs desktop HDDs

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JHZR2

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Hi,

Looking to get an HDD to use for archiving files. The plan is to archive stuff then pure it in the safe deposit box just in case our laptops fail or are stolen. We could just get it maybe once a year and update from other storage HDDs at home.

So this would be a seldom-used drive.

So, which are more robust? Laptop or desktop drives? I'd imagine that desktop drives are designed for greater MTBF, but this drive wouldn't be taking on lots of hours. I'd kind of imagine that the small laptop drives would be more shockproof...

Next, am I better off buying a naked drive or one in a USB integrated addembly like the WD My Passport? I ask because it appears that for whatever reason, the naked drives cost more than those sold as an external storage product. No idea why, but ive seen this many times.

So, what's the best bet? Id imagine that a few TB would work great.

Thanks!
 
I had an external for about 5 years. It was a 2GB in a case w/power supply. Now I just use Carbonite for $54/year. I now have about 45GB in my files there. Way easier and it backs up daily.

I had a total Hd crash and only lost 4 hours worth of work. So I highly recommend offsite automatic back up systems to archive as well.
 
I've always had better luck buying the hard drive and enclosure separately rather than buying a pre-made kit such as the WD Passport. Most of my external drives that were originally purchased as pre-made kits have had their hard drives replaced because the original drive failed.

As far as a 2.5" vs a 3.5"...I would just go for a 3.5" since it's more bang for the buck (more capacity for cheaper).
 
A desktop drive will last as long or just as long. Just by the nature of it running less, and running in an enclosure where it may run cooler, will help it live a long healthy life.

But -all- hard drives are mechanical and could fail, so its always a chance.

Plenty of servers run 3.5" drives just fine for decades.
 
I use a laptop often and use the cloud as well as a 1.5TB USB HD. I have a lot of family photos that I need to ensure are never lost. Covers the bases this way. Not an expensive option either and the portable HD real large capacity yet SMALL in size!
 
The best solution. Buy two of the cheap branded ones that fit(liked laptop) in your storage area. And make sure to backup twice. I use cloning software for 2nd backup.

I happen to use well used drives for my backups.
 
I use a pair of WD Green 2TB drives for backup purposes. I rotate them. Backup to #1 one week and #2 the next. I also use Truecrypt to encrypt the contents as the intention was to store one off site, but I have not actually found a good place to store them.
 
Look for a SSD they have no moving parts and will not fail nearly as easily. More like a memory stick. If it is not too much you might consider backing things up on a memory stick or card. I have done this on memory card numerous times and they are easy to get up to 64gb fairly cheap. They can be found larger but then you really start to pay more when for me it just makes sense to use a few smaller ones.
 
If I had files that were irreplaceable and precious to me (pictures, for example) I'd probably put them on optical media. You don't have to worry about DVDs or BD-Rs getting scratched if they're being kept in a safe deposit box.

You can buy Blu-Ray burners fairly cheap now. A 50-pack of 25gb BD-R disks (1250 gb) is $50-$75. A 25gb BD-R takes 15-20 minutes to write.

It'd be a shame to buy an external hard drive when you'll be using it so little.
 
Originally Posted By: JRed
If I had files that were irreplaceable and precious to me (pictures, for example) I'd probably put them on optical media. You don't have to worry about DVDs or BD-Rs getting scratched if they're being kept in a safe deposit box.

You can buy Blu-Ray burners fairly cheap now. A 50-pack of 25gb BD-R disks (1250 gb) is $50-$75. A 25gb BD-R takes 15-20 minutes to write.

It'd be a shame to buy an external hard drive when you'll be using it so little.


^ This would be my iea truth be told, but the only warning I could give here is back your data up multiple times, preferably using multiple brands of disks; I did this with DVD's years ago and started to discover that certain brands I'd bought were, well, utterly garbage and after a few years the disks became largely unreadable.
 
So here's the funny thing - I can buy a 3TB WD elements USB had for $127 complete. The cheapest bare 3TB drives I've seen are over $130. What gives?
 
Truth be told the market on stuff like that has always been a mixed bag. Here in Canada right now, OEM bare disks are about 8 bucks cheaper then an external. It varies but the difference is often not substantial.

I bought an external WD MyBook just to strip it apart and steal the drive from it...I figure why not?

The bare drive likely has a better warranty though.
 
I'd buy a hard drive that has been on the market for a few months, and have gathered enough good reviews, regardless of desktop vs laptop.

My experience is that it is a [censored] shot and most of the problems (other than abuse or mishandling) are from design error or weakness, that will show up after it is sold for a few months in user reviews.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Optical media does have finite life.


I'm not an authority on SD/CF or memory sticks but in a photo class for homicide scenes (fantastic class BTW) we were instructed that SD/CF, memory sticks, etc... will degrade data over time, especially if certain environmental controls aren't met. Whereas a quality DVD can hold original data for around a century.
 
As others wrote about optical media, I've had CDs and DVDs that I burned myself become unreadable after a few years, despite good storage conditions, while others lasted over a decade. So I don't trust them any more than a hard disk, and they eventually become clutter that I have to keep track of.
 
Everything has a finite life. Magnetic like hard drive is usually designed for 10 years, flash memory is also about the same. Optical I wouldn't trust for more than 5 years.

However it is important to keep multiple backups and refresh them to new media once in a while, or new format when the old media is obsoleted.
 
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