External HDD recommendation?

[martinlest]

Been looking for a good, reliable external HDD, 4TBs capacity minimum. Lots of drives out there with 'backup' in the name, but seems that is usually there for a reason. I need the drive to be actively reading files (Ortho4XP terrain files for X-Plane 11, to be precise - if that means anything to folks here), not as data storage. The read rate is therefore important, as is (of course) durability/reliability. Cost also a factor

My head is starting to swim with all the Googling now, so any recommendations would be welcome! Thanks.

 

[TechnoMage2016]

Well, for this old tech, it would be easier to make suggestions if you'd tell us more about your system.

If it's a decent sized Desktop PC, put the drive INSIDE the PC and connect it up to the Motherboard.

If it's a Laptop PC, then you'll need a good external (USB) drive.

In either case, I personally would go for any of several well known brand name drives, except WD.

Now, how about filling in the blanks......

 

[Layback Bear]

Another thought and opinion.

A ssd with a sata connection. ssd will cost more of course but would probable be worth it.

Jack

 

[martinlest]

For my PC specs, TechnoMage, you just click the bottom left of my post, on 'My System Specs', and all the blanks will be filled in for you.

The case, you will note, is mini-format. I only have two SSDs inside (partly as I used to work in Sri Lanka and didn't want any spinning HDDs creating extra heat!). If money were no object I'd put an extra SSD, but I'd need a minimum of 2TBs, ideally 4TBs... the cost is absurd for this purpose.

As for HDD, there was a reasonable 4TB drive I was considering, but WD.. The problem is, when you look at customer feedback on Amazon or wherever, there is always a relatively (and worryingly) high minority of people who have bought that particular model and it has failed on them within days, or weeks... 'DO NOT buy this drive', they rant. I tend to chicken out before I press the 'buy now' button! I guess, if I want a 4 or 6TB drive, I've just got to trust to luck that mine will be OK - most of the drives I have bought in the past have survived for years, after all.

Thanks...

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Western digital black or blue series it's tough to go wrong
Enclosures are a dime a dozen not many boards have esata anymore so pick one that is usb3 or just hook the hdd internally it sounds like they will be accessad a lot anyway.

 

[RoasterMen]

Haswell motherboards do have E-Sata but they are so rare now. My GA-X48-DQ6 have four that takes space from the expansion slots from the chassis.

 

[Megahertz07]

External USB HDD are 5400RPM. And they fail more often due to shocks while running.
The best thing is to install a normal desktop HDD inside the case.
I would buy a WD Black or Gold.

 

[martinlest]

Thanks, but as I said somewhere above, I do not want any HDD inside the case (where there are only SSDs).

What I was really asking in this thread was for opinions about external HDDs that are recommended (performance-wise) for constant use, rather than a backup that won't be accessed very often. 4TBs-8TBs+, depending on price. For that amount of space, SSDs are really too expensive.

 

[Megahertz07]

I read all posts and I knew that you're looking for an external drive.
Only at last option I would use a external drive.
Under Hardware & Devices what you find most is External HDD that failed.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
If you have room on the front of your case I noticed this model now has a nifty 3.5 single hdd tray
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CDSVXTY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

A direct link
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00X5X29IA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

[martinlest]

Thanks for the ideas. I really don't want to put a HDD into the case: for various reasons I want to keep it SSD. I'd love an SSD but for the size I need I can't justify the cost. Finally, I have bought a LaCie Porsche Design 5TB USB-C + USB 3.0, which will take the data I have and seems to be well reviewed for performance and reliability (I've had a LaCie Firewire drive for 10 years+ and it's lasted just fine. I think it's the luck of the draw how long a drive lasts - I have a lot of various makes and I've only had two or three fail on me.

So fingers crossed with this one... £159.99 sterling, good price for the UK.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
With built in hdd enclosures it's the enclosure that fails
But if the enclosure fails the hdd is useless because of the encryption the enclosure uses is now borked
Good luck
Cheers.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

For continuous operation, I would recommend a WD Black up to 4TB (HDDs larger than 4TB are starting to show higher failure rates) and put it in a USB 3.0 external enclosure. if heat is a concern, try to find an external enclosure that also has a cooling fan.

The new WD Blues have started to show an increasing failure rate, especially for the 4TB ones. I would steer clear of them for now.