External HDD vs internal HDD vs HDD made external with enclosure

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tantrik003

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Mar 16, 2016
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Dear friends,

I am planning to buy a 2 TB hard disk for data backup. Will I buy a 2 TB external hdd or add another hdd in my cpu empty slot or buy a 2 TB hdd and make it external with enclosure? Which option is more advantageous in terms of life span of the hdd? Cause I want my hdd to last for a long time with so much data files to save. I will be using that hdd once in a while (once or twice a month may be).

If I add another hdd in my cpu, what changes/upgrades will I have to make and will the life span of that hard disk decrease since it will always be on as long as my pc is on?

Thanks in advance.
 
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Here's another option for you to consider...

I'm assuming you're working with a desktop PC and hopefully have a vacant 5 1/4" bay available on your case. Assuming you do...

Consider using a mobile rack to install in that vacant bay so that you will then have the advantages of a removable HDD in your system.

We equip every PC we build with at least one mobile rack/removable HDD/SSD. The advantages of this configuration are enormous as I will explain.

Here's the mobile rack we've been using for quite a number of years...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817995104

1. The beauty of installing removable HDD/SSDs in a desktop PC is that the user can easily work with multiple installed drives, each effectively...
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D_Know_WD

D_Know_WD

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Jul 30, 2014
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Hi there tantrik003,

Just get an internal 2 TB HDD. The externals are generally consider to be less reliable because of: USB port/enclosure related problems, you are moving them around(there's a greater chance of damages/hits/drops, etc.
Keep in mind that mechanical drives could just fail, even without a warning. So, you should keep the data that you can't afford to loose stored on at least two places.
You shouldn't do any upgrades. Just attach the drive with SATA + power cables. Then you can go to Disk Management -> Initialize -> Partition & format.
The HDD would be attached to your system but if you are not accessing it, it will not be spinning.

Here are some tools that you can use in order to keep an eye on your HDDs: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/282651-32-best-diagnostic-testing-utility

Let me know in case you have some more questions,
D_Know_WD :)
 
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ArtPog

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Sep 17, 2014
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Here's another option for you to consider...

I'm assuming you're working with a desktop PC and hopefully have a vacant 5 1/4" bay available on your case. Assuming you do...

Consider using a mobile rack to install in that vacant bay so that you will then have the advantages of a removable HDD in your system.

We equip every PC we build with at least one mobile rack/removable HDD/SSD. The advantages of this configuration are enormous as I will explain.

Here's the mobile rack we've been using for quite a number of years...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817995104

1. The beauty of installing removable HDD/SSDs in a desktop PC is that the user can easily work with multiple installed drives, each effectively isolated (when desired) from any other installed drive. Thus, multiple operating systems may be installed on different drives installed in the system and no conflicts will arise from this situation since each drive can be completely isolated from another. In addition, the use of removable drives facilitates accommodating different storage/backup needs that the user may desire since it's a simple matter to add, remove, modify a HDD/SSD using a removable drive in the system.

2. With removable HDD/SSDs desktop PC users have an UNLIMITED number of drives to work with should they choose without the need for opening their computer cases to install (or remove) the drive in the machine. Again, each removable drive is isolated from the other internally-connected drives at the user's option.

3. Assuming the drive in the mobile rack contains an OS, simply by pressing its power switch the user can thus boot to this drive or that drive without the need for any "bootloader" or any other multi-booting software, as well as avoiding the need (in most cases) to access the motherboard's BIOS to change the boot priority order in order to boot to this or that particular HDD that contains a different OS.

4. Should a removable HDD/SSD become defective/dysfunctional that needs to be removed & replaced in the system, it's a simple & quick process for a user to remove & replace it from the comfort of his or her computer chair without the need of disconnecting/uninstalling the disk from the motherboard's internal SATA connector.

The mobile rack we use is a two-piece affair - a removable tray and the rack itself which is affixed to the desktop PC's 5 1/4" bay (identical to affixing an optical drive or some such 5 1/4" device). This model contains a small fan that is dead silent in operation.

This particular mobile rack model is equipped with an ON-OFF power switch button, a most desirable feature in our opinion. Assuming a user is working with multiple removable hard drives in their mobile racks (or has also installed a fixed internally-connected hard drive), it's a simple matter to press the ON-OFF button and "on-the-fly" temporarily disable one or more of the mobile rack's hard drives without the need of using the rack's lever to remove the rack's tray (caddy) containing the HDD from the rack's internal SATA power/data connectors.

Of course should the user choose to do so it's a relatively simple matter to press the removable tray's lever release button and thus physically disconnect the removable tray containing the tray's HDD/SSD SATA data/power connectors from the mobile rack's connectors. A simple pull of the tray's lever is all that is necessary.

So can you see the advantages in your situation? In effect, you would be able to electrically connect or disconnect your 2 TB HDD from the OS's internal system by a simple push of the rack's power button. Should you desire to physically remove the HDD from the system all that would be necessary is a pull on the removable tray's lever and out would come the removable tray with the installed HDD.

And should you desire to use additional HDDs for one reason or another, simply remove the present disk from the tray and plop a different one in. Thus, you would have an UNLIMITED number of drives at your disposal.

So with a removable HDD, you get the speed advantages of an internally-connected drive when you need it and the absolute security of the backup/storage data on that disk by easily disconnecting/uninstalling the disk from the system whenever you need to.
 
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tantrik003

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I heard many years back that adding multiple hdd in cpu will put load on motherboard, power supply and slow down windows system and overall pc performance. There could be future complications like "the blue screen of death", overheating etc. I don't know whether these are hearsay or facts but I just want to make sure nothing adverse happens to my pc.

My power supply (500 W) has one unused sata cable and my motherboard (ASUS H81M-E) has 2 empty sata ports (both 6 Gb/s ones). My motherboard has a processor, a dvd burner and a 1 TB hdd connected to it inside cpu. Will it be safe to add another hdd in the cpu? If the motherboard crashes or incur physical damage (e.g., power surge etc.), will it cause any harm to my hdd(s)?

Thanks in advance.

 
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ArtPog

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Sep 17, 2014
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I hope you will seriously consider installing a mobile rack (removable HDD/SSD) in your system. I can virtually assure you that you will never regret doing so. Well, possibly one regret...that you didn't do so earlier. It's that good...
 
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D_Know_WD

D_Know_WD

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Jul 30, 2014
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Well, I doubt that an additional HDD would put noticeable extra load on your system. Also, the power requirements are really small.(around 5 W when reading/writing)
It would not result in complications unless the drive is failing. Of course, every failing component would result in complications.
BSOD(Blue Screen of Death) could be caused by tons of things: failing RAM, HDD, overheating, drivers, etc.

To sum it up: Adding an extra HDD should have no negative impact on the system.
In order to add another HDD, you will need SATA & power cables.

Cheers,
D_Know_WD
 
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tantrik003

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Mar 16, 2016
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Thanks D_Know_WD,

Your reply gave me huge relief from all sorts of misconceptions about hdd that I have been given by many people over the years. Now I am confident enough to install a new hdd in my cpu. Highly appreciate your suggestions.
 
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