External hard drives

[Lpherr]

Looking at SSD external hard drives.
What's your preference?
I read Samsung is having issues, and the Sandisk extreme portable is a good unit, with good reviews.
I would like to get a 2TB, because I'm tired of running out of storage, and want to compile all my files in one place for easy access
while modeling.

 

[fullmetaljesus]

Regardless as to what device you go with, having everything on one device is a terrible idea.

I worked in the data backup and recovery business for a long time. I can't tell you how many times I've had people lose their minds and break down in tears when I tell them the decide with all their stuff on it is dead and the files are gone forever.

A good rule of thumb is the 3-2-1 method


3 copies
2 on site
1 off site


I like Seagate products they are not with out problems but have had good experiences with them.



Remember you get what you pay for, and please please please don't trust one device with the only copy of things.

 

[JettaKnight]

Looking at SSD external hard drives.
What's your preference?
I read Samsung is having issues, and the Sandisk extreme portable is a good unit, with good reviews.
I would like to get a 2TB, because I'm tired of running out of storage, and want to compile all my files in one place for easy access
while modeling.

Fashion modelling?

 

[indyblue]

All the majors make decent drives, Samsung, Crucial, Seagate, WD. Bad drives or infant mortality issues are just a fact of storage life. Don't get the cheapest but buy at least two of whatever and keep a "cold" copy handy. Sync your data once a week or however much recent data you could live without. Your best hedge against loss is what FMJ said about copies.

What's our saying on here about firearms? Two is one and one is none.....
Same for important data.

 

[bobzilla]

We run WD mostly. HAve multiple SSD's for backup. They're cheap enough and pictures lost are memories lost for us.

 

[Lpherr]

Regardless as to what device you go with, having everything on one device is a terrible idea.

I worked in the data backup and recovery business for a long time. I can't tell you how many times I've had people lose their minds and break down in tears when I tell them the decide with all their stuff on it is dead and the files are gone forever.

A good rule of thumb is the 3-2-1 method


3 copies
2 on site
1 off site


I like Seagate products they are not with out problems but have had good experiences with them.



Remember you get what you pay for, and please please please don't trust one device with the only copy of things.

All the majors make decent drives, Samsung, Crucial, Seagate, WD. Bad drives or infant mortality issues are just a fact of storage life. Don't get the cheapest but buy at least two of whatever and keep a "cold" copy handy. Sync your data once a week or however much recent data you could live without. Your best hedge against loss is what FMJ said about copies.

What's our saying on here about firearms? Two is one and one is none.....
Same for important data.

I have several copies, but I need more space, and also having everything on one drive makes workflow much easier. Most files exceed 100,000 KB, and get several iterations. It's a pain trying to find files on 5 or 6 different drives.
These are just 2D and 3D files, and nothing devastatingly important. I always have at least 2 copies, and will continue to save the files to another drive.

 

[Lpherr]

We run WD mostly. HAve multiple SSD's for backup. They're cheap enough and pictures lost are memories lost for us.

I've read good reviews for WD also.

 

[Lpherr]

Fashion modelling?

 

[Cameramonkey]

aND if its too good to be true it is. There have been super cheap super big drives that really arent.

 

[target64]

We use 2tb WD

 

[ZurokSlayer7X9]

SSD's are typically more reliable (no moving parts) and are better suited for more constant and daily usage (They are also way faster). HDD's are better for more long term archiving, but the motor may seize up if left un-attended for too long. Data rot will occur after so much time. HDD's the magnetic particles will begin to lose charge. SSD's the NAND gates can lose charge due to quantum mechanics. It would be recommended to use re-writing software to 're-write' inactive drives every few years to avoid data rot. With anything really important, you may want to look into burning data onto a DVD, Blu-Ray M-Disc. It will take more time to read/write, and unless you use re-writables can only be written once, but place the disc in a good case in a dark dry place (maybe a climate controlled gun safe), and theoretically it should last decades without data rot.

Either way, I fully agree with @fullmetaljesus on having extra copies. No data storage method is perfect.

 

[Lpherr]

We run WD mostly. HAve multiple SSD's for backup. They're cheap enough and pictures lost are memories lost for us.

We use 2tb WD

Specific model?

 

[target64]

Specific model?

My portable passport

 

[printcraft]

Another vote for WD, have 4 from 1TB to 8TB. No failures after many many years of usage.

 

[Lpherr]

I found out, Sandisk is made by WD.
So I'm guessing it should have the same quality as my passport?

This is the one I'm looking at.

 

[bobzilla]

These are similar to ours but newer.



$95 for a pair

 

[mmpsteve]

Another vote for WD, have 4 from 1TB to 8TB. No failures after many many years of usage.

Have always had good luck with WD, but recently bought a 12TB drive that was DOA. I guess it can happen to any brand, but it was disappointing still. Think I'll pick up a Seagate 5TB to try. I don't see much bigger Seagate drives than 5TB.

Of course, none of these I've mentioned are SSD drives, so not much use to OP.

.

 

[indyblue]

Do they really need SSD? If absolute speed isn't necessary then spinning disks are still very reliable and less expensive than SSD. I've only had one fail over the last decade (that I didn't drop or mishandle).

 

[Lpherr]

Do they really need SSD? If absolute speed isn't necessary then spinning disks are still very reliable and less expensive than SSD. I've only had one fail over the last decade (that I didn't drop or mishandle).

Loading and saving models that contain a lot of information, benefit from speed. My desktop has SSD, and it seems a little slow at times, on the larger files.
I also plan to take the drive with me on occasion, so the durability of the SSD is a big plus.

 

[JettaKnight]

View attachment 253914

I finally get to use this!!!!