External Hard Drives

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frank
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External Hard Drives

Post by frank »

My external hard disc drive is getting on a bit and started to give me some cause for concern. Time to replace I think. I wondered if I can tap into people`s experience and get some recommendations about what people use and would recommend. I guess things have moved on a bit to solid state HDD. I only use it store photographs but would still need need a few TB plus future proofing. Fast interface as well.
Not looking for portable just to connect to PC
Any views and help would be welcome. Thanks

jh45
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Re: External Hard Drives

Post by jh45 »

Sorry am trying to understand the use case - is the external drive the 'master' repository of your photographs or just for 'backup' and the master is on your PC/laptop etc ?

Performance wise and reliability I would always use onboard solid state drives, in terms of which type and speeds etc depends upon your PC type/architecture.

I would be very wary of using an external drive as a 'master' copy and likewise performance will typically be degraded compared with on-system.

For example I run NVME as 'master' copy and HDD on PC for local backup - and then backup to exrternal also (and cloud) - is that overkill ? my photos are precious for me I guess and have seen too many disk failures over the years (or unintended deletions by my user error).

frank
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Re: External Hard Drives

Post by frank »

Hi thanks for posting. The external drive is the master. I have something a 1TB of photographs and the PC just hasn’t got the capacity.
Bit worried about your previous failures as my photographs are precious to me too. I have 21 years of digital photos of airshows plus another 10 years of scanned airshows. Plus family holiday snaps of course. Just want a reliable s/s external drive.
ps I don’t think your iCloud storage is OTT at all, totally get it :-)

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psquiddy
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Re: External Hard Drives

Post by psquiddy »

I have the main data on the PC but run 2 external drives.

One gets a daily backup of all new and edited files, the other gets a full copy on a weekly schedule.

I use Cobian to schedule the backups - it's free and has been around for years.
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bishbashbosh
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Re: External Hard Drives

Post by bishbashbosh »

I’ve been using Samsung SSDs for years with no issues. My current T7 has a couple of TB of raw photos. I use it as the master drive, including the Lightroom Catalogue and previews, without any issues at all. My internal SSD is just too small. I use a realtime cloud backup service as well though, I’m not *that* crazy!

It all depends on your computer but my MacBook Pro combined with the T7 SSD and USB3.2 has no noticeable performance differential compared to the internal SSD when editing raw files.
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Brevet Cable
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Re: External Hard Drives

Post by Brevet Cable »

More for data than photos, but I've been using a 2TB Toshiba Canvio SSD since 2018, to which I added a 4TB one in 2022.
The only issue I've had with either of them is when I've used different USB cables on them instead of the OEM ones.
Don't know if that also happens with other make of drives?
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cg_341
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Re: External Hard Drives

Post by cg_341 »

Do it properly, buy this, put the drives in redundant backup and away you go

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Synology-DS223 ... 3RVQ1?th=1

Lighning Fan
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Re: External Hard Drives

Post by Lighning Fan »

I use Western Digital HD's as long term storage, although I imagine any reputable make will provide a reasonably low failure rate - although not of much comfort if you are one of those !

I actually use 3 drives with my Mac mini - one SSD that uses Time Machine to keep a live back up of all the photos I'm working on. Once I've decided I'm not likely to need access in a hurry I back these up to 2 HD's. Once I'm satisfied they've been copied across successfully I delete them from the Mac and SSD to make more space.

You may wish to think about your back up process as it seems you only have one point of storage, so if your HD fails it would appear you have lost everything. Storage is reasonably cheap these days and certainly cheaper than the pain of losing data. HD's give a cheaper form of storage, whilst SSD's are more expensive but quicker to load from

Hope you get sorted

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SidewaysPengwin
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Re: External Hard Drives

Post by SidewaysPengwin »

I would go for a NAS (Network attached storage)
benafits of a NAS over and external dard drives
It can be setup such this if / when a drive goes bad you dont looses any data. Then you can replace the bad drive and get back your redundancy without data loss.
Its on your home network so any PC on your home network can see it.
Synology is a good place to start for you first NAS there simply and thay have some good app.

This one that cg_341 linked to is where is would start. 2 x 4TB drive one drive is for data and one is for redundancy so you get 4TB of space to us.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Synology-DS223 ... 3RVQ1?th=1
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Sneezy24
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Re: External Hard Drives

Post by Sneezy24 »

I have a 2TB drive in my PC, backup to NAS (Mirrored 2TB discs), and cloud.

If you go the NAS route (mine is a QNAP), then don't buy 2 discs from the same place at the same time. I did this with Seagate drives, one failed, then the mirror failed 2 weeks later! My data was protected but it was hassle.

During my work days (now retired) I had and saw quite a few Seagate failures, but I have never had or seen a WD drive failed (apart from one that had a car driven over it, but we swapped the electronics on it and recovered the data!)
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GeorgeP
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Re: External Hard Drives

Post by GeorgeP »

I have two sets of traditional HDs, one set is kept in the house, the other in a building that is adequately detached from our house. Each pair of HDs is used to store identical files, thereby minimising the risk of loss of files in the event of hardware failure, or fire.

I am unaware of the benefits of NAS, but if it is a two-HD or two-SSD set-up that is stored in your home, then I worry about the risk of loss due to fire. Happy to have the concept of NAS explained to me if I have misunderstood it. Good luck.
Cheers,

George

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frank
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Re: External Hard Drives

Post by frank »

George what HDs do you have

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GeorgeP
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Re: External Hard Drives

Post by GeorgeP »

frank wrote:
Tue 29 Oct 2024, 12:51 pm
George what HDs do you have
G'day Frank, by the end of last year I had amassed five two-HD sets of WD Elements SE spinning portable HDs. I acknowledge that 10 HDs is quite a lot, but I'm lazy and I've kept most of the RAW files that I have recorded since 2010. I have now moved to WD Elements SE portable SSDs. They're tiny, weigh next to nothing and can survive a bump or two. I chose WD for their reported (anecdotal) reliability compared with other brands.

https://www.westerndigital.com/en-au/pr ... 00ABK-WESN

FWIW, when we travel, I also use a strict back-up system. At the end of every day, I back up all files to a portable SSD. I've moved to a filehub/SSD system rather than a laptop to reduce the weight/volume of my carry-on luggage. The filehub has an SD card slot and a USB-A slot for the SSD. I use the filehub's phone app to manage the file back-up from the SD card to the SSD. Easy and convenient.
Cheers,

George

Melbourne, Australia.

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Brevet Cable
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Re: External Hard Drives

Post by Brevet Cable »

I take it that 'NAS' is merely a new name for RAID ?

Possibly another silly question ( don't use it myself ) but would cloud storage be an option?
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Blackbird
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Re: External Hard Drives

Post by Blackbird »

Hi George,

Which model/brand do you now use for backup when you're travelling?

Andy

cg_341
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Re: External Hard Drives

Post by cg_341 »

Brevet Cable wrote:
Wed 30 Oct 2024, 9:04 am
I take it that 'NAS' is merely a new name for RAID ?
No.

NAS is a storage option.

RAID is a storage configuration.

You don't have to run your drives in RAID in a NAS, but it's usually a sensible option.

Equally your drives that are in RAID can be connected directly to your device, rather than accessible over a network, meaning they're not NAS.

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Brevet Cable
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Re: External Hard Drives

Post by Brevet Cable »

:thumbsup_tone2:
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frank
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Re: External Hard Drives

Post by frank »

frank wrote:
Thu 17 Oct 2024, 3:13 pm
My external hard disc drive is getting on a bit and started to give me some cause for concern. Time to replace I think. I wondered if I can tap into people`s experience and get some recommendations about what people use and would recommend. I guess things have moved on a bit to solid state HDD. I only use it store photographs but would still need need a few TB plus future proofing. Fast interface as well.
Not looking for portable just to connect to PC
Any views and help would be welcome. Thanks
Thanks to everyone who has given their time to reply, much appreciate.
As an aside my setup is quite basic, I currently send all my photos to my external hard drive ( a Freecom HDD) to store the data and retrieve when I want to use them which I am quite happy with. This keeps the storage on the PC to a minimum. Therefore the HDD is my only source of storage. I have no need to access my pictures with any other device
Very interested to read that most people have a secondary back up and this is something that I should do so thanks for that advice. I think I am leaning towards an external drive - either HDD or SSD but still unsure of what are best makes and models to consider so any further details and help would be welcome.

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GeorgeP
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Re: External Hard Drives

Post by GeorgeP »

Blackbird wrote:
Thu 31 Oct 2024, 5:50 am
Hi George,

Which model/brand do you now use for backup when you're travelling?

Andy
G'day Andy, I use the WD Elements SE portable SSDs and the filehub. I've sent you an email and a photo of my set-up.
Cheers,

George

Melbourne, Australia.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/30699732@N05/albums

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GeorgeP
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Re: External Hard Drives

Post by GeorgeP »

frank wrote:
Thu 17 Oct 2024, 3:13 pm
... I think I am leaning towards an external drive - either HDD or SSD but still unsure of what are best makes and models to consider so any further details and help would be welcome.
I would go for WD, as I outlined in my previous reply. Here's a photo of the set-up that I now use for backing up photos when I'm travelling. It will not suit everyone, but it's perfect for what I need. The SSD comes in three sizes: 500GB, 1TB, 2TB. HTH.

ImageHub and SSD. by George Pergaminelis, on Flickr
Cheers,

George

Melbourne, Australia.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/30699732@N05/albums

bishbashbosh
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Re: External Hard Drives

Post by bishbashbosh »

frank wrote:
Thu 31 Oct 2024, 9:23 am
frank wrote:
Thu 17 Oct 2024, 3:13 pm
My external hard disc drive is getting on a bit and started to give me some cause for concern. Time to replace I think. I wondered if I can tap into people`s experience and get some recommendations about what people use and would recommend. I guess things have moved on a bit to solid state HDD. I only use it store photographs but would still need need a few TB plus future proofing. Fast interface as well.
Not looking for portable just to connect to PC
Any views and help would be welcome. Thanks
Thanks to everyone who has given their time to reply, much appreciate.
As an aside my setup is quite basic, I currently send all my photos to my external hard drive ( a Freecom HDD) to store the data and retrieve when I want to use them which I am quite happy with. This keeps the storage on the PC to a minimum. Therefore the HDD is my only source of storage. I have no need to access my pictures with any other device
Very interested to read that most people have a secondary back up and this is something that I should do so thanks for that advice. I think I am leaning towards an external drive - either HDD or SSD but still unsure of what are best makes and models to consider so any further details and help would be welcome.
You essentially have the same set-up as me except I use Samsung SSDs rather than the old fashioned HDDs (I think they may be up to T9 by now, but my T5 and T7 have never let me down - yet!). Relying on an external HD, no matter how good modern SSDs are, still gives you a single point of failure so backup is essential. I also use Backblaze as cloud backup - you have to pay an annual fee but it just runs in the background once set-up, backs up everything in real time (including the contents of external drives whenever they are attached), and most importantly ensures that you still have your data if your house burns down or is burgled!
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frank
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Re: External Hard Drives

Post by frank »

Quick update if anyone is interested. Compared reviews of WD 8TB Elements Desktop External HD and Seagate 8TB Desktop. Both seem to have good reviews though WD Desktop seems to have a reputation of being noisy though has a faster read rate of 214 Mb/sec compared to 118 Mb/sec for the Seagate. (is that a significant difference in a "live" environment as I constantly pull up photos from the current HDD for perusal or editing.)
So pros and cons.
Just wonder if anyone who has either can comment on whether they feel the WD desktop EHD are noisy and similarly whether any Seagate Desktop user feel the read rate is an issue in a "live" environment.
Thanks in advance

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GeorgeP
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Re: External Hard Drives

Post by GeorgeP »

frank wrote:
Tue 05 Nov 2024, 4:04 pm
...Just wonder if anyone who has either can comment on whether they feel the WD desktop EHD are noisy and similarly whether any Seagate Desktop user feel the read rate is an issue in a "live" environment.
Thanks in advance
I only have a 2TB WD Elements SE HD, not an 8TB version. It is attached to my desktop right now and I can't hear a thing.
Cheers,

George

Melbourne, Australia.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/30699732@N05/albums

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