Hard Drive enclosure

[Zentisca]

Hello everyone!

I'm looking at investing into a Hard drive enclosure that I can take with me on the go.

I'd like to be able to use it as a boot-able device if possible (Only as a back up if one of my machines fails).

But I'd like it to be my main point of Data for things such as, games, video clips, movies, music, etc.

I use my desktop at home, but often travel interstate. Not wanting to completely dismount everything and take it with me, I have my laptop.
For example, let's say I'm playing Diablo II on my main computer (no cloud service), then I go interstate and really feel like picking up where I left off, of course that save then isn't on my laptop. 
So, if I were to buy: https://www.pccasegear.com/products/41436/orico-5-bay-usb-3-0-hard-drive-enclosure-with-raid
Is there a way to have it copy data being saved on my main device, to it?

I'd google this and work it out myself, but this kind of thing I have no idea about and I'm not even sure what I'm asking is even possible!

Any videos, information, links would be greatly appreciated!
 

Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for any tips,
Jonathan

[Skipple]

Loading games off an external hard drive is a terrible idea due to data transfer rates, although playing a crazy old game like Diablo 2 may be possible. 

 

Also, I wouldn't call that enclosure that you linked "portable" by any stretch of the imagination. 

[DailyProcrastinator]

I would look into Goodsync, you can plug in your external hard drive enclosure and us the software to sync the files between your computer and the external enclosure. I use this software with my external enclosure. 

 

https://www.goodsync.com/?gclid=CjwKCAiAws7uBRAkEiwAMlbZjnpWz7lgspGDtzYZKlOAEwlT9L1cAiJH7KBaff9CwkMIhzFCwAeBfRoCvFQQAvD_BwE

 

This is the enclosure I am using: https://www.newegg.ca/p/0VN-0003-001A0?Item=9SIAAMW80N1376

 

All this said why not just get a single reliable and fast external hard drive? A Lacie hard drive would be perfect. Do you need that big of an external solution?

[homeap5]

Enermax has enclosure that works both - on sata as internal and on usb as external. EMK3104. And that is exactly what you need imo.

[Zentisca]

The size of the enclosure isn't a massive issue for me, as long as it's smaller than a desktop, if it requires it's own power or not, is also not an issue.

My issue is I have a Ute. I have no back seats to throw anything on. I have my passenger seat, with my motorbike strapped in the tray. Which makes the laptop a far better option than risking the bike + computer in the tray - on country roads.

My fastest drive in my desktop is all of 8GB/s, and I hardly doubt I'm going to be too phased running a 5GB/s transfer speed.

The max amount of Space I'd require is only 4TB, so I could install a couple of FireCuda's. (Also using them to hot plug straight into my desktop if I'm transferring bulk files/Videos).

[Lady Fitzgerald]

While it would cost a pretty penny (i.e. very expensive), Using something similar that uses SSDs instead of HDDs would be safer for your data (SSDs are more impact resistant, such as from dropping, than HDDs) and will much lighter and compact. Also, the drives in the enclosure should not be the only place you keep your data. You should have multiple backups so, if anything happens to the enclosure (dropped, lost, stolen, etc.), both on the road or at home, you won't lose your data. It also would be wise to replace any HDDs in your laptop with SDDs.

 

Another point to consider is do you actually need physical access to all your data while on the road? If not, could you get by with carrying only the essential data with you (and keep the critcal data encrypted). That's what I do when I'm on the road. Another option is to carry only essential data with you and to keep an encrypted copy of the rest in a good, cloud storage account. Just don't use the free or cheap ones; those are not safe!