What external drive 2-3 TB, speed is a priority

[Domenus]

Hello!

I'm an avid photographer with massive amount of raw files that I have no place to store. I would like to purchase two identical external drives for backup purposes. GIven the amount of data I have and the wide availability of storage I should probably be looking at 2 to 3 TB drives. Because the files will be backed up regularly (daily) I want to get fast drives.
They will sit on a shelf and can therfore be bulky and external power supply is not a problem.
Which drives would you recommend me?

I was looking at WD elements 3tb usb 3.0. Would that be a good, reliable choice?

Thanks for your help!

 

[getochkn]

is your system usb 3.0 compatible? it's pretty fast, 2.0 is ok for stuff but not for constant large file editing or access. Does your MB have e-sata on it? or you can get a NAS box with 2 drives in and have them backed up automatically. lots of options, but your motherboard will determine what's best for you.

 

[Domenus]

My mobo is Asus p8Z68, so I do have both USB 3.0 and eSata available. I would rather not take a NAS, because I feel that I don't need the network connectivity that much, just a solid backup accesable from a single machine. I am in a tight budget (max 250€) so that kinda rules out any but the most basic NAS.

 

[getochkn]

USB 3.0 is more compatible, even down with 2.0 or 1.1 if you needed to hookup your drive to another PC or something and pretty fast. From a quick google search, it's back and forth and what is faster, but eSata usually wins out in write speed all the time, and it's not using your USB bus, which if you have other high-bandwidth devices, it may slow down. If you connected a camera to the USB, and your drive and were copying large files from the cam to the drive, it would probably be slower because both devices are sharing the bus, whereas eSata is just an Sata connection, which has plenty of bandwidth.

Could also get 1 internal drive, copy all your stuff there, then get an external and use it for backups. Internal drive is fast, easy to use, and then the backup speed of the USB doesn't matter as much as you can backup the internal drive at regular intervals when you're not using the PC.

If they are really important files, this also allows you to put the external drive in a safe/lock box, etc in case of fire or theft of the PC.

Personally, this what I would do. Get a very fast drive for the PC as make it an internal drive, and then get a external for backup.