Question on external HDD

[drewdam]

Hello there,

let me try to be as objective and unbiased as possible.

The differences between the MAXTOR 1 touch III 160gb and the 250gb basic is that one is marketed as a premium model, giving you combo connection options FW400 and USB 2.0 plus perhaps a faster HDD and a "cooler' looking casing.

The basic model only gives you one connection type USB 2.0 and of course a simple dull casing.

If you are just going to use the EXT HDD purely for archiving, then SPEED is not a priority, PRICE and SIZE is.

Other options you have are:

1. Shop around SLQ or FUNAN for a external HDD ( without casing) and buy a casing of your choice. This way you can pick the most ideal HDD.


In order to keep your HDD working well you should practice habits like :

1. Making sure you disengage the EXT HDD before turning off the power, of course give a few seconds to let the HDD spin down.

2. Do not bump or move the EXT HDD while backing up.



HAving said all that, yes the other alternative means of backing up such as DVD, CD are also good and i use them as well. But nothing beats the convenience and speed of archiving into a HDD. I recommend keeping 2 ext hdd, one to back up the other. You can do this when budget allows.This way you have 3 hdd(incl built-in), surely all 3 cant fail at the same time? ;p

cheers



1.

look like i will have to go sls just like the old days...i used to go every week just to check out the cpu, GP card blah blah...stop that nvr ending upgrade virus for loong time liow.

tks for d suggest tho...may go 4 int HDD + casing...

 

[fotoudavid]

i use external harddisk now, as too mant dvd to burn as backup.

1st was 300g maxtor, almost full, bought seagate 300d which haven use yet.
my ideal was to change HD when full. thus save space and speed. time too little.

But i saw some one back up 2 HD, which is a good ideal. Will use that soon.

 

[nyxx88]

Although CDs & DVDs don't last forever, there are things that you can do to mitigate the risk of losing your data.

I backup to DVDs (used to be CDs) in sets of 2 -- one from Brand A (more expensive/better) & one from Brand B (cheaper). If I need to access my archived photos, I would read from the cheaper disc. If it fails, I would quickly duplicate another disc from the surviving one.

 

[Gymrat76]

Although CDs & DVDs don't last forever, there are things that you can do to mitigate the risk of losing your data.

I backup to DVDs (used to be CDs) in sets of 2 -- one from Brand A (more expensive/better) & one from Brand B (cheaper). If I need to access my archived photos, I would read from the cheaper disc. If it fails, I would quickly duplicate another disc from the surviving one.

The only important things I have on my PC are mainly my photos, as once they're gone, there's no retrieving them as I don't usually print them out. All my photos are on 3 different HDDs (2 internal, 1 external), as well as on DVDs which are in my dry cabinet. The rest of my storage contains games, anime etc etc.

 

[drewdam]

hey, one more question, how ur do ur back up? i mean u back every pic? or all good n reasonable pic in raw and use it for PP later? just want to understand how ur organize...is getting messy once u have more n more pic..

 

[Clockunder]

Best way of archiving photos is using a DVD Burner. True, DVD don't last forever, but they last longer than HDDs.

External HDDs are more prone to failure, especially if you keep then running forever or you have an electrical surge or you spill water over it. I have 2 External HDDs. The Iomega one died on me and i lost 3 years of data It will cost $200-$300 to retrieve all that data, which isn't very worth it.

The only draw back of DVD is that you have to load the DVD and the reading speed is quite slow. But I can live with the slowness as long as the data's intact.

It's common that DVD-R or CD-R loses their data within 2 years.

They are affected by humdity, light, heat etc. which causes physical changes to the dye inside.

I myself have experienced data lost on my CD-R within 1 year.

HDD lasts much longer in general.

Even with frequent (Operating system and program access) or constant (e.g. BT) read/write on HDDs , they last at least 3-5 years before mechanical or loss of magnetic coating cause the drive to fail.

I back-up with 2 copies, one each on DVD and HDD.

 

[Gymrat76]

hey, one more question, how ur do ur back up? i mean u back every pic? or all good n reasonable pic in raw and use it for PP later? just want to understand how ur organize...is getting messy once u have more n more pic..

For me, I organize accoding to event/occassion then I backup up EVERYTHING

 

[gfidm]

I create a MD5 checksum for each JPEG/RAW file in the folder before I burn to DVD.
I back-up with 2 copies one on DVD and one on an external HDD along with the master copy on my main HDD.

I keep the DVDs in the office as the off-site backup.

 

[panzerpunk]

Alternatively, if you're rich enough, try Blu-Ray

 

[cjtune]

Alternatively, if you're rich enough, try Blu-Ray

If I had money, I'd go for the tried-and-true magnetic tapes.

 

[dEthANGeL]

If I had money, I'd go for the tried-and-true magnetic tapes.

DLT drives? :think: :sweat:

 

[ortega]

MO drives

 

[Slivester]

Maxtor drives are alright, especially the PATAs, just that Maxtor users are perhaps more abusive (lol, saw this in another forum, fun quarrel they have there), thus more issues seemed to arise with Maxtor.

Get yourself a nice SATA drive, quite reasonably priced now for the hol season, and a decent external SATA HDD enclosure, connect via Firewire 400/800 or USB and you are done!

Of course, don't travel when the drive is active, for one, they are designed for internal desktop use, not mobile. So its definitely going to snap if you take a bumpy vehicle ride with it in operation. They are great battery suckers as well if you use a notebook.

Its cheaper overall, you can build SATA 250GB + SATA HDD enclosure = S$175, PATA 250GB + PATA HDD enclosure = S$160.

In comparison, an external 3.5" 250GB = S$250, external 2.5" 160GB = S$400.

 

[hwchoy]

my 14 month old Seagate Barracuda.8 400GB disk died out of the blue the day before. just like that. luckily I have been practicing folder replication so I have a copy on another disk, just that I am at that moment unprotected (only one physical copy left). Rush to SLS yesterday and bought a Barracuda.10 500GB (a few $$ cheaper than last year's 400GB!) so now I am protected again.

I am convinced to get a chassis which fans the HDD (eyeing Thermaltake Armor), and mirror a pair of 500GB system disk, and another 500GB disk as a replication disk. This way I always have two copies of whatever I am doing, and a third copy of selectively replicated folders (in case I screw up the working copy I can still go back there to retrieve, at least before the next replication).

 

[Slivester]

Thats what the upcoming Mac OS X Leopard intends to get users to do: get a harddisk for backup purposes, backup and retrieval will be built into system and thus easier for use.

You can read up more on "Time Machine" in Mac OS 10.5, a core component and advancement in the new OS.

 

[student]

Just one question to you IT savvy folks please!

Is there a system to directly burn a CF/SD card to a DVD? Without going through the computer?

I know there is one for CD. But DVD?

Thanks!

 

[Gymrat76]

Just one question to you IT savvy folks please!

Is there a system to directly burn a CF/SD card to a DVD? Without going through the computer?

I know there is one for CD. But DVD?

Thanks!

Wah, didn't know got such a thing, even for CD :sweatsm:

 

[drewdam]

Personally I've got 100GB Maxtor for if I remember correctly $138 at Challenger Funan.

It was the best offer at that time, now it's 25GB full.

now 200GB at 149..