Which is better for backing up about 4.6TB: a 4TB and a 2TB or a 6TB backup HDD?

[Bleedingyamato]

I currently have a 512GB 960 Pro, a 120GB Sandisk SSD, and a 4TB WD Black HDD.  

 

I might eventually add a 500GB SSD so I want to plan for that.

 

 

So I'm wondering if I should get a 4TB and a 2TB portable HDDs.  Using the 4TB to back up the 4TB WD Black and the 2TB for the SSDs.  

 

 

Or get a 6TB WD external drive and backup all the drives in my computer to a single backup drive?

 

 

I was thinking portable drives would be easier because they wouldn't need to be plugged into AC power but a single drive would likely be a bit cheaper.  

 

I could afford either option.  

 

I guess I'd prefer the portable drives but it just bugs me a little that they cap at 4TB so I couldn't just use 1 backup drive.  

[Squibbies18]

8 minutes ago, Bleedingyamato said:

I currently have a 512GB 960 Pro, a 120GB Sandisk SSD, and a 4TB WD Black HDD.  

 

I might eventually add a 500GB SSD so I want to plan for that.

 

 

So I'm wondering if I should get a 4TB and a 2TB portable HDDs.  Using the 4TB to back up the 4TB WD Black and the 2TB for the SSDs.  

 

 

Or get a 6TB WD external drive and backup all the drives in my computer to a single backup drive?

 

 

I was thinking portable drives would be easier because they wouldn't need to be plugged into AC power but a single drive would likely be a bit cheaper.  

 

I could afford either option.  

 

I guess I'd prefer the portable drives but it just bugs me a little that they cap at 4TB so I couldn't just use 1 backup drive.  

why do you need to back up that much data?

[RadiatingLight]

There are tons of 5 and 6 TB external drives.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Expansion-Desktop-External-STEB5000100/dp/B00TKFEEBW/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1490139753&sr=1-2&keywords=6tb+external+hard+drive

 

https://www.amazon.com/Book-Desktop-External-Drive-WDBBGB0060HBK-NESN/dp/B01LQQHKZY/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1490139753&sr=1-1&keywords=6tb+external+hard+drive

[Bleedingyamato]

Just now, Squibbies18 said:

why do you need to back up that much data?

The drives aren't all full but I figure it's best to plan ahead and get enough capacity to backup everything in case I'd want or need to do so.  

 

It's mostly games and iTunes but my internet is slow enough that it's preferable to not have to redownload things if possible.  So including all my games in a backup would be a good idea.  

[Shiv78]

2 minutes ago, RadiatingLight said:

There are tons of 5 and 6 TB external drives.

 

I have 2 of them that store over 15 years worth of pictures, backed up across both drives

[LHJKO]

3 minutes ago, Squibbies18 said:

why do you need to back up that much data?

mabey he has 5 tb of porn

[Shiv78]

1 minute ago, Vernw3 said:

mabey he has 5 tb of porn

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[Bleedingyamato]

1 minute ago, RadiatingLight said:

There are tons of 5 and 6 TB external drives.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Expansion-Desktop-External-STEB5000100/dp/B00TKFEEBW/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1490139753&sr=1-2&keywords=6tb+external+hard+drive

 

https://www.amazon.com/Book-Desktop-External-Drive-WDBBGB0060HBK-NESN/dp/B01LQQHKZY/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1490139753&sr=1-1&keywords=6tb+external+hard+drive

I know.  

 

My question was use a couple portable drives that would be more convenient by not needing to be plugged in to external power or a single desktop backup drive that would need to be plugged into external power.  

[Bleedingyamato]

3 minutes ago, Vernw3 said:

mabey he has 5 tb of porn

No.  ?

 

 

[vorticalbox]

8 minutes ago, Vernw3 said:

mabey he has 5 tb of porn

who downloads porn anymore? Streaming is the way forward not just for adult entertainment but all media. Sooner or later I'm betting game streaming will be the next big thing. 

[LHJKO]

Just now, vorticalbox said:

who downloads porn anymore? Streaming is the way forward not just for adult entertainment but all media. Sooner or later I'm betting game streaming will be the next big thing. 

 

Just now, vorticalbox said:

who downloads porn anymore? Streaming is the way forward not just for adult entertainment but all media. Sooner or later I'm betting game streaming will be the next big thing. 

it was a joke 

[imreloadin]

5 minutes ago, Bleedingyamato said:

No.  ?

 

 

Ahh soooo it's THAT kind of porn...you sly dog you...

[SCHISCHKA]

TLDR: look at your data use and consider a separate drive for games, media, work.

 

For documents and work you want your backup drive to be larger than your data use so you can have snapshots of changes over time. I have an internal drive for this in addition to external USB. The internal backs up every hour so I can go back in time if needed. whereas the external backup is done weekly, the less i use it the longer it should last

 

For multimedia and games where you dont need snapshots you should buy an external USB drive that reflects that data usage.

[Mira Yurizaki]

I recommend getting a single 6TB drive to keep things simple. You could split it up into two partitions as well.

 

However I also recommend rolling your own external drive with an internal one and a hard drive enclosure. The reasoning being the external ones everyone sells tends to be the bottom of the barrel models (for example, WD externals are more than likely WD Blues). Instead, get something like a NAS grade drive.

[xDylanio]

18 minutes ago, vorticalbox said:

who downloads porn anymore? Streaming is the way forward not just for adult entertainment but all media. Sooner or later I'm betting game streaming will be the next big thing. 

It used to be. clubpenguin, poptropica, playedonline, coolmathgames. 

[NullPointer_]

I would recommend a single 6TB drive if you going to back it all up. Don't bother including stuff like Steam Libraries in your back up though, it is pointless to back them up when you can redownload the games for free (Backup your saves though). Just back up all the stuff you can't just get again - i.e Documents you create etc.

[Shiv78]

57 minutes ago, xDylanio said:

It used to be. clubpenguin, poptropica, playedonline, coolmathgames. 

That's not streaming, it's browser-based Flash gaming. Still runs on your PC. 

1 hour ago, vorticalbox said:

Sooner or later I'm betting game streaming will be the next big thing. 

Game streaming already exists - GeForce Now!

[xDylanio]

57 minutes ago, Shiv78 said:

That's not streaming, it's browser-based Flash gaming. Still runs on your PC. 

Game streaming already exists - GeForce Now!

Really? so what would be an example of game screening

[Bleedingyamato]

3 hours ago, imreloadin said:

Ahh soooo it's THAT kind of porn...you sly dog you...

Sorry but not that either.  lol

 

Zero porn on my computer.  

 

3 hours ago, SCHISCHKA said:

TLDR: look at your data use and consider a separate drive for games, media, work.

 

For documents and work you want your backup drive to be larger than your data use so you can have snapshots of changes over time. I have an internal drive for this in addition to external USB. The internal backs up every hour so I can go back in time if needed. whereas the external backup is done weekly, the less i use it the longer it should last

 

For multimedia and games where you dont need snapshots you should buy an external USB drive that reflects that data usage.

I also have my iPad I do a lot of web browsing on (like 99% of the time) and my old laptop (I only use it for schoolwork now) so pretty much all I use my main desktop for is games and iTunes currently.  

 

I definitely don't want to risk losing my iTunes library.  

 

While I can of course redownload Steam or GOG games I would rather back them up too because restoring from a backup at USB 3.0 speeds is a lot faster than 1 MB/s download speed.  

 

 

You have 2 backup drives just for non-games/music?

 

What program do you use for backups?

 

For the hourly backup how many backups are retained?    

For such a frequent backup I'd assume only a certain number are kept at a time.

 

 

3 hours ago, M.Yurizaki said:

I recommend getting a single 6TB drive to keep things simple. You could split it up into two partitions as well.

 

However I also recommend rolling your own external drive with an internal one and a hard drive enclosure. The reasoning being the external ones everyone sells tends to be the bottom of the barrel models (for example, WD externals are more than likely WD Blues). Instead, get something like a NAS grade drive.

Would multiple partitions be needed do you think?

 

The reason I'd use 2 drives if I got portable external HDDs is because they only go up to 4TB so I'd need 2 in order to have enough room.  

 

Even though none of my drives are full atm I want to plan for if I'd ever fill them up. Better to buy enough backup space now than worry about extra drives later.

 

 

 

If I got a single 6TB drive would there be a reason to have multiple partitions?

 

 

What makes you think external drives are low grade models?  Like WD possibly using blue drives?

(Not saying you're wrong just curious.)

 

 

How does a NAS drive differ from a normal HDD like a WD blue or black?

 

 

 

3 hours ago, ItsQuantum said:

I would recommend a single 6TB drive if you going to back it all up. Don't bother including stuff like Steam Libraries in your back up though, it is pointless to back them up when you can redownload the games for free (Backup your saves though). Just back up all the stuff you can't just get again - i.e Documents you create etc.

My download speed is 1MB/s.  Restoring from a backup at USB 3.0 speed would be much better.  

[LinusTech]

4 hours ago, Squibbies18 said:

why do you need to back up that much data?

Seems like a cool idea for a service. "rent-a-stor"

 

A raid protected storage device you can rent while you do maintenance on your PC or NAS

[samiscool51]

12 minutes ago, LinusTech said:

Seems like a cool idea for a service. "rent-a-stor"

 

A raid protected storage device you can rent while you do maintenance on your PC or NAS

problem, many organizations won't want to use this service as this would potently expose confidential data to the world, and if the account gets hack due to poor security from the organization or website, that could damage the company even more as confidential information is leaked to the public, if you have worked as an IT Admin, (from watching your vids and reading your wikipedia page(yes you have one, don't be an egotistical person) it looks like you haven't worked as one or worked in a ) you would know this and would day the EXACT same thing (maybe, you might word it differently)

(and if you use your argument "do as i day, not as i do", it realy doesn't help with whats happening with reality)

 

wait....

i just ranted.....

damn. 

[Bleedingyamato]

5 minutes ago, samiscool51 said:

problem, many organizations won't want to use this service as this would potently expose confidential data to the world, and if the account gets hack due to poor security from the organization or website, that could damage the company even more as confidential information is leaked to the public, if you have worked as an IT Admin, (from watching your vids and reading your wikipedia page(yes you have one, don't be an egotistical person) it looks like you haven't worked as one or worked in a ) you would know this and would day the EXACT same thing (maybe, you might word it differently)

(and if you use your argument "do as i day, not as i do", it realy doesn't help with whats happening with reality)

 

wait....

i just ranted.....

damn. 

I think you need a hug..

[SCHISCHKA]

1 hour ago, Bleedingyamato said:

You have 2 backup drives just for non-games/music?

 

What program do you use for backups?

 

For the hourly backup how many backups are retained?    

For such a frequent backup I'd assume only a certain number are kept at a time.

the software I use AFAIK is only available for linux. its appropriately called 'back in time'. Its pretty smart keeping snapshots every hour and when the drive is full it lets me define what is kept; keep X snapshots per week, per month, per year.

 

I have 2 USB drives for multimedia, I dont keep any media on internal drive because its more useful keeping it portable. Always have at least 2 back up drive because in the past I converted all my CDs to FLAC and then lost all my data by accident along with the CDs.

[Qwweb]

1 hour ago, Bleedingyamato said:

You have 2 backup drives just for non-games/music?

Pretty typical to see if your job is based in computational processes. My dad is a landscape architect and has 3-4 1TB external drives to archive data from his laptop. Personally I have a Thermaltake BlacX duet and a 150GB WD Velociraptor and a 1TB seagate/samsung 2.5" HDD from my old laptop (both as archival storage).

1 hour ago, Bleedingyamato said:

I definitely don't want to risk losing my iTunes library.

If data redundancy is what you are looking for, I would suggest considering a RAID array (maybe RAID 1 or maybe a RAID 01 hybrid).

 

Personally I have never used more than 150GB on any single drive, I usually get hand-me-downs from my parents or their friends and inherit data from them (I usually reformat the drive unless there is something that I can use on it).

1 hour ago, LinusTech said:

A raid protected storage device you can rent while you do maintenance on your PC or NAS

Interesting, if this would be offsite, this could be a cool application of a MAID or nested RAID array depending on the demand of clients. I would love to see on-site HDD arrays using 2.5" HDDs, it would be pretty cool to design and build something that is portable, has a lot of storage, is durable, cost effective, and energy efficient.

 

It could be a cool thing to set up and figure out marketing for, targeting different markets for different RAID levels or MAID for clients that expect a longer fix/delay for ordering parts etc. 

[SCHISCHKA]

1 hour ago, Bleedingyamato said:

If I got a single 6TB drive would there be a reason to have multiple partitions?

not for backup unless you were using snapshots and want to set a limit that way

1 hour ago, Bleedingyamato said:

What makes you think external drives are low grade models?  Like WD possibly using blue drives?

(Not saying you're wrong just curious.)

 

 

How does a NAS drive differ from a normal HDD like a WD blue or black?

I once had an external USB that was a WD green. It had a firmware bug where if you connected it via SATA to a windows computer it would brick itself, hence WD put them in USB drives and sold them cheap.

I use WD red/NAS drives as backup because they have good warranty and are 5400rpm. Blue drives have crap warranty and iv had them fail in the past. watch if people jump on this and try to defend how awesome they think WD blues are. Black have same warranty as red but are 7200 rpm and are very noisy. 5400rpm drives are ok for backup, no real reason to get a super fast drive.

The biggest difference in NAS drives is they are made for use in RAID arrays that provide redundancy. Without getting into detail a non-NAS drive in a RAID 1 array will randomly drop out of the array