Internal HDDs, what should I get?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I want to back up several drives onto one drive. None of them are maxed out, but there are one 1T, one 2T, and two 500G drives. Hopefully the drive would look at anything that had been changed and update the archive on a daily basis. (Software wouldn't have to come bundled with the drive.)

Suggestions solicited.

[pErvinalia]

Have you considered building a RAID array? (don't ask me for the details, I've never used one before).

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Have you considered building a RAID array? (don't ask me for the details, I've never used one before).

I don't normally associate raids with computers.

[pErvinalia]

It's an array of HDD's that can be configured to do different things. One common configuration is to have it automatically duplicate everything amongst the drives. That way if one or more fail, you still have all your data. Wiki it. klr or others might be able to tell you how to set it up. It's pretty easy, I think.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

http://tierradatarecovery.co.uk/dummies-guide-to-raid

[klr]

If you're backing up from several drives - not all of which might be connected at the same time - then there would be a certain manual element to the backup/synchronisation process.

In theory, you need a 3 TB drive. There are really only 3 or 4 HDD manufacturers left, so that makes narrowing down the choice easier.

As for RAID: At a minimum, you would need RAID 1 (drive mirroring). You'd probably want a dedicated RAID enclosure for that. You could do it internally, as practically all modern PCs and operating systems should support it. But then you might be pushing things again in terms of power requirements.

[Jason]

Western Digital 4TB:
WD4001FAEX SATA 6 Gb/s 3.5 Inch 7200 4 TB 64 MB

Recently on sale for $89.99 at canadacomputers.com (I think they're out of stock now)

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Western Digital 4TB:
WD4001FAEX SATA 6 Gb/s 3.5 Inch 7200 4 TB 64 MB

Recently on sale for $89.99 at canadacomputers.com (I think they're out of stock now)

Fuck that.

[Jason]

Christ! No wonder they sold out fast.

edit: OIC.. they listed the price for the 1TB while featuring the 4TB.. twats. To think I used to buy from them when they only had one shop in Pacific Mall (it's like a mini Japan in a building) in Markham.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Bit pricey for me.

[klr]

4TB is the biggest currently available (at least to the great unwashed), so naturally 4TB drives are likely to command a hefty premium. 1TB drives are usually bad value as well, because they're often only marginally cheaper than 2TB drives. 2TB and 3TB drives are usually the best value.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

~$150 range.

[klr]

~$150 range.

I would be very surprised if you couldn't get a 3TB internal drive in the US of A for that price, sales tax included, etc.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

~$150 range.

I would be very surprised if you couldn't get a 3TB internal drive in the US of A for that price, sales tax included, etc.

Yeah, so I'm wondering which 3T to avoid, etc.

[klr]

~$150 range.

I would be very surprised if you couldn't get a 3TB internal drive in the US of A for that price, sales tax included, etc.

Yeah, so I'm wondering which 3T to avoid, etc.

Since there are so few manufacturers* nowadays, there's not really much choice. Read the reviews and decide. The user reviews are always going to be skewed for any tech like this, because anyone who has a bad experience is far more likely to give feedback via a review and/or rating than someone who has no problems.

*Basically: Western Digital, Seagate, Hitachi, Toshiba.