single RAID drive for use as simple windows backup

medic1075 · February 13, 2019

Dumb question from an old idiot.

Quick story - I have an older Seagate external 3.5" HDD that was dropped. This was utilized as a backup for my PC. This is a SATA drive in an enclosure utilizing a USB 3.0 as the interface. Instead of buying a complete new unit, I decided to swap out the HDD & started looking for a new HDD. I set out looking for WD black (should last as long as I will ever need it) when I found a deal on a WD RE4. Having never heard of these, some quick research showed that it was built to last longer than the WD black. I moved forward with the purchase and decided to do a little more research after the purchase, only to find out that this is a RAID enabled drive. I have been able to figure out what RAID is, but I haven't been able to figure out if this drive will work for what I plan to use it for (a simple Windows 10 backup drive) and if the data will be easily recoverable in the event that I ever need it.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

scottyseng · February 13, 2019

Yes, these RAID enabled drives are the same as normal drives. They just have features enabled if you want to use them in a RAID array.

WD RE4 is kind of overkill for a backup drive though. haha. Keep in mind they run really hot / loud (They are enterprise drives after all)

LogicWeasel · February 13, 2019

Keep in mind it's only really a raid if you configure 2+ drives into one, otherwise they're just potentially good-for-raid drives. If you value the fact that it's enterprise grade and it works for what you want to use it for, go nuts.

medic1075 · February 13, 2019

Awesome! Thanks.

Yes, I realize this drive is overkill, loud, and power hungry, but long term & worry free use is my main concern. The price on this drive beat out a comparable WD Blue by $10, so it completely made sense to me.

The "run really hot" comment is a little concerning. Do I need to worry about it getting too hot in the external enclosure? I guess I never really considered a drive as something that generated significant heat.