Viable option for backups/recovery

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
G

guymarshall

Honorable
Jan 25, 2015
549
4
11,015
I was thinking of getting a backup HDD that can store tonnes of data (preferably over 2TB) and costs less than £200. I have looked online for 8TB and 6TB HDDs and they are too expensive, so is there a good reliable HDD that is <£200 and >1TB?

It doesn't have to be external, it can be internal, I don't mind. I don't mind about strength and shock resistant because I am careful with my drives :p

Cheers in advance :)
 
Solution
Boogieman_WD
Well, generally no, there's no such thing. You might find a lot of different opinions on that matter specifically, but there isn't anything substantial to back up either the smaller sized drives or the larger ones. If you are unlucky enough you might have the unfortunate experience of having a 1TB drive fail on you while using a 5-6TB drive without a hitch for years. Basically, as HDDs are mechanical, these things happen sometimes, that's why it's important to have a backup of your important files.
On the other hand, having 2 smaller drives is always better than having 1 large drive in my opinion. But this is a bit up to personal preference and available SATA ports in you motherboard. :)
Sort by date Sort by votes
Boogieman_WD

Boogieman_WD

Judicious
Jul 31, 2014
6,050
2
35,960
Hey there, guymarshall. :)

Basically for that budget you should be able to get a 5-6TB drive probably, depending on where you decide to get it from.
Since you don't mind if the drive is internal or external, I'll show you two options (one of each) if you decide to go with a WD drive.

1. Internal - if the drive is going to be used mainly for backups and storage, then I'd recommend the WD Blue drive (the new ones with higher capacities than 1TB). They have all the features of the WD Green drives and that makes them just as cool and quiet while running. You can take a closer look at the WD Blue drive's features here: WD Blue

2. External - if you'd like to go with an external HDD, the WD Elements Desktop drive should be up to the task. It's a 3.5" drive (externally powered), which comes with capacities of up to 5TB. You can check it out here: WD Elements Desktop

However, I'd like to make one point clear. Getting a large drive to store your data is not a backup solution. This is basically storage. In order for it to be considered as a backup, everything you store there should be a copy of the data you already have somewhere else (another drive, cloud storage, different computer, etc.) and not just stored on a single drive.

Please let me know if you have any questions.
Boogieman_WD
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
G

guymarshall

Honorable
Jan 25, 2015
549
4
11,015


Wow thanks for the good reply! :) By storage I meant somewhere to copy all my files too haha. I think I will try the internal WD 6TB drive! Doesn't reliability drop when storage increases?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Boogieman_WD

Boogieman_WD

Judicious
Jul 31, 2014
6,050
2
35,960
No worries. ;)

As for the drive's performance when it's completely full - well, as each other hard drive when full, there might be a slight difference, but I don't think you'd have anything to worry about, as it will be hardly noticeable (or not at all). Basically it's always a good idea to have some free space available on your drive, even if it's not the main drive with the OS (operating system). And you might want to run defragmentation from time to time. Generally everything should be fine. :)

Note that a copy of your data in the same computer (even if it's on a different drive) is not really considered as a backup, as that HDD is susceptible to the same threats as the whole system (e.g. electric shocks, flooding, fires, viruses, etc.). In order for it to be considered as a backup, it should be stored on a drive in a different location.

Let me know if anything comes up.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
G

guymarshall

Honorable
Jan 25, 2015
549
4
11,015


By storage I meant size of the HDD eg 1tb-6tb. Sorry about that haha. Are larger drives less reliable than smaller drives? Is there a happy medium for storage and reliability? Cheers :)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Boogieman_WD

Boogieman_WD

Judicious
Jul 31, 2014
6,050
2
35,960
Well, generally no, there's no such thing. You might find a lot of different opinions on that matter specifically, but there isn't anything substantial to back up either the smaller sized drives or the larger ones. If you are unlucky enough you might have the unfortunate experience of having a 1TB drive fail on you while using a 5-6TB drive without a hitch for years. Basically, as HDDs are mechanical, these things happen sometimes, that's why it's important to have a backup of your important files.
On the other hand, having 2 smaller drives is always better than having 1 large drive in my opinion. But this is a bit up to personal preference and available SATA ports in you motherboard. :)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom