Posted: 9/4/2008 6:53:57 AM EDT
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Who makes a good one? How big? 500 GB -1TB or two smaller ones to back up personal data and photos in case of fire or data loss. Bestbuy has 500GB - 1TB for 100.00 to 180.00. What should I look for? |
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Western digital makes one called MyBook which seems to be pretty popular. Get two. Backup your data to one. Take it to work. A week later, backup to the other one. Take it to work. Bring the other home. Next week, backup to the one at home. Take it to work. Basically swap the one at home and work once a week or however you want to do it. This will keep an offsite backup in case of destruction at one of the premises. There are also various services on the net that allow you to install a program on your computer that silently and gradually backs up your data over your internet connection to their servers. These are somewhat cheap and not a bad idea. The only downside is they would be required to give your data to law enforcement if served with a warrant. Get the biggest drives you can afford. USB is sufficient and maxes out at 20-30MB/s. Most will require an external power adapter as USB will not power the drive directly. Be wary of ones that claim they don't need external power (to be fair some don't but sometimes you run into a computer that won't power them via USB). Also, be gentle to them. Hard drives don't like being knocked around and are somewhat fragile. If you are worried about data security I recommend encrypting the drive with TrueCrypt -Foxxz |
I personally like the Mybooks by Western Digital. I have the 1TB model and so far love the heck out of it. I am thinking about buying a second one, but the models that come with eSATA and Firewire on them. -d |
True. Depends if you still have what they want. Things get deleted and overwritten. Or in some cases encrypted. So far, being forced to give up your encryption key is still a controversial matter and it tends to lend itself to the fourth and fifth amendment. I encrypt my backups and store them at my parents. Encrypted because not so much so if law enforcement came after me, but if for some reason my parents were paid a visit by a warrant my data would still be secure. Law enforcement would have no reason or ability to go through my files or even ask me for my keys. PLUS my brother still lives there. Some of the characters he brings over are less than desirable. If the drive gets stolen or tampered with it gives me piece of mind. Those are some of the reasons I can THINK of. What its really for is what I CAN'T think of. -Foxxz |
Thats really a decision you have to make based on your needs. If you need to backup 300gb of stuff then get a 500gb drive. If you can afford to get larger drives then do that so you have plenty of room to grow into. Aside from backing up you can just use them for additional storage as well. -Foxxz |
Heh, I just killed a 500gb external drive by knocking it over while running - getting a click of death now and wont do file writes. Get one that lays down flat instead of standing upright.  |
Just a point of reference I do have one of those drives that can be powered via the USB port on my laptop. It works very well, but is only 160 Gig. Cost was around $75 at BJ's. The drive however won't work if I try to run it from a USB splitter (either from laptop - or the powered one that I have on my server). It' lights up, but the motor won't spin. The drive itself also has a 5v jack in the rear if you want an external power supply, but it didn't come with the supply. |
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I have a 250gb one that doesn't USUALLY require external power either. But sometimes I'll plug it into a computer or laptop that won't start it up. Then if you don't have an adapter you are stuck. I have a few cables that is supposed to draw power from two USB jacks to power the thing but those are usually worthless. -Foxxz |
That's good to know. My Laptop's aftermarket power supply as a 'take off' point where you can attack another cable to drive external devices, but I haven't seen a cable that I could plug into it. I figure I should probably try to fabricate one given that the cables you mentioned don't work. |
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I just picked up one from NewEgg. I bought this enclosure, I got the combo deal with the extra try. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182115 And I bought this hard drive for it. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073 I set it up using the eSATA cable & backed up what I needed. Then after a quick defrag I just reached behind the enclosure & switched it off. I only plan on using that hard drive for backup. I still have the other tray to put another hard drive in if I should need more storage. I didn't want to add another drive to my Antec 900 because it would partially block on of my front fans. |
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I have a 500GB MyBook World Edition, which I bought because I wanted something on Ethernet rather than USB. Western Digital also makes the 1TB version of this, which IIRC uses 2 hard drives that you can run as a RAID array. Plus, sice it's Linux inside, you can tailor it to your liking. Link |
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I currently have 4 external HD's, and I've already had two devastating and catastrophic drive failures for no apparent reason on two of my backup USB hard drives. The first one was a Cavalary 1tb Hd (external power source, eSata USB/Firewire), just up and quit one day for no reason, and the second was a 200 gb lacie drive. After that whole nightmare I learned two very important lessons: 1. always backup/image your hard drive in at least 2 separate backup sources (thankfully I did and was lucky enough to have one of them be on the uncorrupted drive.) and 2. Don't buy anything but Western Digital for external hard drives. AS far as what you think you will need for capacity. It's the exact same rule that people suggest when someone ask's about buying a generator, air compressor, chain saw etc. Figure out what size you'll think you will need, and then move up 2-3 sizes, or better yet, just double it. you'll be thankful you did believe me. I know personally I have like 20gigs of storage just from that Windows live SKYDRIVE that windows was giving out invites to, and I almost never store anything of substance on it at all. The idea of backing up all kinds of sensitive material onto an online storage facility, no matter how secure, how encrypted etc., is just not something I could ever really be comfortable with. Besides the obvious risk of hackers getting into you data and compromising it, There is always the risk of the storage company turning over all of your data without your knowledge or consent in some stupid 'good faith' cooperation on their part when the .gov comes knockin on their door with or without a warrant. Not something I'm willing to leave in somebody elses hands I dont think. |