External Hard Drive alternatives

[nikjind]

In my personal experiance, i have bought 2 external hard drives of 1tb each of WD and Seagate, both of which died within 1.5 years. I was lucky enough to get Seagate one replaced only to have the replacement also dead within a year.

What i am looking for is a Economical way to store my data. Particularly Im looking for durable hard drives which would stand the test of time. I can not afford to keep on buying new hard drives every now and then, please suggest an external hard drive that will last atleast 2-3 years.

Also this is my first post.

[ELSknutson]

well if you have the old external hard drive housing's you can just buy a new desktop or laptop HDD and put it in there 

that way you pick the hard drive that you want Like a WD black or Red something server grade 

Also you could set up an in home nas to store you stuff to like this 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822178592&cm_re=nas-_-22-178-592-_-Product

[Teched Out]

 please suggest an external hard drive that will last atleast 2-3 years.

No one can do this. The life of a drive can't be guaranteed.

You've just had really bad luck. That, or you're not taking care of your gear. 

 

Of the 10+ external hard drives I've had over the years, I've never had a drive randomly die on me. The one time a drive has died on me is when I accidentally plugged a laptop power brick into an external HDD enclosure and fried the TVS diode. Even then, once I snipped off the TVS diode, I was able to recover my data.

 

What I have seen, a lot, is other people ruining their external hard drives due to carelessness. Usually it's the enclosure which is stuffed and the actual drive is fine. The most common thing is people not bothering to unplug the micro USB cable from the drive, before they chuck it in their bag. This will, of course, eventually ruin the connection.

[Captain_WD]

In my personal experiance, i have bought 2 external hard drives of 1tb each of WD and Seagate, both of which died within 1.5 years. I was lucky enough to get Seagate one replaced only to have the replacement also dead within a year.

What i am looking for is a Economical way to store my data. Particularly Im looking for durable hard drives which would stand the test of time. I can not afford to keep on buying new hard drives every now and then, please suggest an external hard drive that will last atleast 2-3 years.

Also this is my first post.

 

Hey nikjind,

 

If you provide us with a budget or some specific preferences like encryption, size or connectivity, you could get more suggestions. As @CuRle_ pointed out, an external drive is a mechanical unit that is susceptible to external environments and failures do happen. You could go for an alternative such as a regular internal drive and an enclosure. You could go for a SSD for the enclosure as they are more durable towards vibrations and other physical factors, but much more costly per GB. 

 

Captain_WD.

[nikjind]

No one can do this. The life of a drive can't be guaranteed.

You've just had really bad luck. That, or you're not taking care of your gear. 

 

Of the 10+ external hard drives I've had over the years, I've never had a drive randomly die on me. The one time a drive has died on me is when I accidentally plugged a laptop power brick into an external HDD enclosure and fried the TVS diode. Even then, once I snipped off the TVS diode, I was able to recover my data.

 

What I have seen, a lot, is other people ruining their external hard drives due to carelessness. Usually it's the enclosure which is stuffed and the actual drive is fine. The most common thing is people not bothering to unplug the micro USB cable from the drive, before they chuck it in their bag. This will, of course, eventually ruin the connection.

  

well if you have the old external hard drive housing's you can just buy a new desktop or laptop HDD and put it in there 

that way you pick the hard drive that you want Like a WD black or Red something server grade 

Also you could set up an in home nas to store you stuff to like this 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822178592&cm_re=nas-_-22-178-592-_-Product

  

Hey nikjind,

 

If you provide us with a budget or some specific preferences like encryption, size or connectivity, you could get more suggestions. As @CuRle_ pointed out, an external drive is a mechanical unit that is susceptible to external environments and failures do happen. You could go for an alternative such as a regular internal drive and an enclosure. You could go for a SSD for the enclosure as they are more durable towards vibrations and other physical factors, but much more costly per GB. 

 

Captain_WD.

Thank you guys I never thought about internal HDDs with an housing!

Certainly going to try it out. Carelessness was my biggest enemy I think.

Sorry for the late reply and thanks again for all your quick responses

[Captain_WD]

    

Thank you guys I never thought about internal HDDs with an housing!

Certainly going to try it out. Carelessness was my biggest enemy I think.

Sorry for the late reply and thanks again for all your quick responses

 

 

Hey, you are welcome

 

Some things to look out for when chosing your enclosure and drive for it:

- Make sure the drive and the enclosure are of the same form factor (both are either 3.5" or 2.5")

- Make sure you know what type of connection does the enclosure provides (USB2.0, USB3.0, eSATA, Thunderbolt, etc.)

- Check if the enclosure itself can fit a larger drive and you don't need to leave it open because of the cables (I've had such experience with enclosures for 3.5" drives). 

- Be sure to check if you have all necessary screws, cables and isolation for the drive to be securely in place with little chance to get corrupted data due to vibrations or static electricity.

- Consider if you want a SSD or a HDD in an enclosure - both have their advantages and disadvantages. 

 

Captain_WD.