3.5 External HDD

[UchihaSasuke]

My Neo Docking station i bought a slightly better one (can even insert SSD), @$75, you could probably find a cheaper one.
3TB HDD (WD Green) cost abt $150 (maybe lesser now), you do the math bah..lol

And a 2 nos. HDD can be connected to a single docking station at the same time via a single power cable.

And its more flexible, you can choose your prefer Brand of the HDD (be it WD or Seagate), choose the Storage size (1 , 2 or 4 TB) and just simply pluck it in....




u mean u can't find 2TB or 4TB Ext HDD in sls?

Very little shop have the WD My Book for 2TB and 4TB, mostly are 6TB or cloud series which is expensive.

 

[ahbear82]

For those using hdd docking station, how u do store the bare HDD drive? Is it juz use the anti static plastic sheet to cover up when not in use?

Sent from Samsung SM-N910G using GAGT

yes,after you take out the HDD, the static plastic cover dun throw, can use it to cover the HDD and store at those lock n lock plastic container. But make sure your HDD is cooled down le then put inside the static plastic sheet, to avoid risk of condensation..

 

[ahbear82]

Very little shop have the WD My Book for 2TB and 4TB, mostly are 6TB or cloud series which is expensive.

LOL, then perhaps is time u get a docking station, you can get to choose the size of your prefer HDD.

 

[UchihaSasuke]

BTW what is consider good docking station? What are the available model/brand for the docking station? Thanks ^^

 

[lobo76]

I've been down the path. Back up on ext hdd (2.5' and 3.5'). Then moved to docking station and so on. Tried NAS too.

The thing is, these things degrade and at some unknown time, will be spoilt and you lose the data. You can keep twice the HDDs as buffer (raid or manually copying twice) but it'd cost twice as much.

At some point, it's becoming a bother, maintaining the hardware. Which is where clouddrive comes in. It's at a point where price is low enough to be backup. Currently, I am using onedrive where I am supposed to have unlimited space for $98 per year. ...that's if you buy online. Go to marketplace, you can usually find one for about $70-ish.

No more worry about hdds 'deaths'. Just that upload is going to be slow though.

 

[epos]

I used to have 4 bay DAS and docking station. junk DAS cause it RIP just after 2 years; docking just collecting dust--rarely used and port really do collect dust.

The issue with DAS is mainly compatibility. with eSATA connection, many Motherboard eSATA ports do not support port multiplier and it only see one drive; with USB3, the transfer speed is lower than eSATA and also depends the USB3 controller. whats more, Storage diagnostic utilities may not be able to see all drives even though the OS can. The advantage of DAS is when it works, there's nothing you need to do, HDD behave just like internal drives. no danger of shorting or knocking the drives like docking station.

I ditch docking station year ago, the slots will wear out over time and because they are mostly facing up, dust will accumulate or worst, liquid may accidentally drop in to cause short. for a simple task they do--holding one or two drives, they took up multiple times of the drives they hold. They have the same problem of DAS above, except for single drive. but if you only need one drive, a USB3 to SATA adapter can do the job just fine, very portable at less than the size of iphone3.

Now I only use ext HDD to store backup, because its stone alone, no compatibility issue, only the limitation of USB speed. cons is multiple drives need multiple power adapter. for some model, the inside is simply a normal SATA HDD, if you want, you can ply open the case and use as int HDD, after warranty over.

Like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Expansion-Desktop-External-STEB5000100/dp/B00TKFEEBW/
Its actually cheaper than int HDD of similar size. Local 2x 4TB --$199 for seagate/$186 for Toshiba--+ 2 bay dock at $70 = $468/$440, Amazon Seagate ext 5TB US$134@1.35:1 = ~$181, 2x = ~$362. Save $78~$106 but get 2TB for free, its a no brainer for me. unlike Toshiba and WD HDD from Amazon, Seagate HDD warranty is international. in case of HDD failure, few dollar postage to Changi and get a replacement back in 2 weeks--deliver to your doorstep.

BTW, the above seagate is only 1 year, this http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00R45V3SW/ is 2 years. 2x 5TB is ~$405, still few tens cheaper than 2x 4TB + dock locally.

 

[ahbear82]

I used to have 4 bay DAS and docking station. junk DAS cause it RIP just after 2 years; docking just collecting dust--rarely used and port really do collect dust.

The issue with DAS is mainly compatibility. with eSATA connection, many Motherboard eSATA ports do not support port multiplier and it only see one drive; with USB3, the transfer speed is lower than eSATA and also depends the USB3 controller. whats more, Storage diagnostic utilities may not be able to see all drives even though the OS can. The advantage of DAS is when it works, there's nothing you need to do, HDD behave just like internal drives. no danger of shorting or knocking the drives like docking station.

I ditch docking station year ago, the slots will wear out over time and because they are mostly facing up, dust will accumulate or worst, liquid may accidentally drop in to cause short. for a simple task they do--holding one or two drives, they took up multiple times of the drives they hold. They have the same problem of DAS above, except for single drive. but if you only need one drive, a USB3 to SATA adapter can do the job just fine, very portable at less than the size of iphone3.

Now I only use ext HDD to store backup, because its stone alone, no compatibility issue, only the limitation of USB speed. cons is multiple drives need multiple power adapter. for some model, the inside is simply a normal SATA HDD, if you want, you can ply open the case and use as int HDD, after warranty over.

Like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Expansion-Desktop-External-STEB5000100/dp/B00TKFEEBW/
Its actually cheaper than int HDD of similar size. Local 2x 4TB --$199 for seagate/$186 for Toshiba--+ 2 bay dock at $70 = $468/$440, Amazon Seagate ext 5TB US$134@1.35:1 = ~$181, 2x = ~$362. Save $78~$106 but get 2TB for free, its a no brainer for me. unlike Toshiba and WD HDD from Amazon, Seagate HDD warranty is international. in case of HDD failure, few dollar postage to Changi and get a replacement back in 2 weeks--deliver to your doorstep.

BTW, the above seagate is only 1 year, this http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00R45V3SW/ is 2 years. 2x 5TB is ~$405, still few tens cheaper than 2x 4TB + dock locally.

for me my docking station no such issues, thats a "Double-leaf" style cover at the opening/slot, and 1 of my HDD is permanently "sited" into the slot, so no worries about dust collecting on it.

Docking station also same as Ext Hdd, stand alone.

The usb/sata adaptor works too, but for aesthetic wise, i still prefer docking station.lol

No doubt sea gate provide international warrantly, i have very bad experience with seagate earlier on (Seagate Barracuda ext HDD), it die on me after 1.5-2 years. The thing its not about the replacement or delivery, its more for the data inside, i can easily buy a replacement HDD, but the data gone will be like lost forever (some).
So my advise is, avoid seagate at all cost, unless they have improvement on their quality control..

 

[ahbear82]

BTW what is consider good docking station? What are the available model/brand for the docking station? Thanks ^^

Hmm.. you can go to SLS look look see see, my preference would be dual slot docking station, with on/off switch.

 

[UchihaSasuke]

Just ordered a external western digital 4tb 3.5 hdd from amazon from my own calculation, it is somewhere $35-$40 cheaper than sls(after bargaining) and you don need to make a trip down to sls ^^

 

[ahbear82]

Just ordered a external western digital 4tb 3.5 hdd from amazon from my own calculation, it is somewhere $35-$40 cheaper than sls(after bargaining) and you don need to make a trip down to sls ^^

just the HDD or ext HDD? got pic show?

 

[epos]

..........................No doubt sea gate provide international warrantly, i have very bad experience with seagate earlier on (Seagate Barracuda ext HDD), it die on me after 1.5-2 years. The thing its not about the replacement or delivery, its more for the data inside, i can easily buy a replacement HDD, but the data gone will be like lost forever (some).
So my advise is, avoid seagate at all cost, unless they have improvement on their quality control..

Every HDD die, sooner or later. I have dozens of HDDs from WD, IBM/Hitachi, Samsung, Seagate/Maxtor, majority of the HDD need to RMA once, only a few survive way after their MTBF.

never judge a brand because one of their hardware die on you. many blacklisted IBM because they had the infamous 75GXP "deathstar", to a lesser extend, the 60GXP. when others avoid IBM/Hitachi like a plague, I still bought them cause they had the best price/performance ratio. in fact, the 180GXP 120GB that I bought in 2002 still working today, in a DVR that run 24/7.

Whatever the medium you choose to store your data, backup is the only solution to prevent data lose. never blame the storage if one fail to backup.

 

[epos]

Just ordered a external western digital 4tb 3.5 hdd from amazon from my own calculation, it is somewhere $35-$40 cheaper than sls(after bargaining) and you don need to make a trip down to sls ^^

You might have problem when comes to RMA, IIRC, local WD may accept RMA once, out of good will, meaning they can deny your warranty claim.

I don't think its worth to save ~$40 for the risk and trouble.

 

[UchihaSasuke]

You might have problem when comes to RMA, IIRC, local WD may accept RMA once, out of good will, meaning they can deny your warranty claim.

I don't think its worth to save ~$40 for the risk and trouble.

Chor!!..haha..i hope the HDD don fail again, it is very troublesome to transfer the data out and to another hdd. I have 3 WD ext HDD, 2 out of warranty and working fine, while 1 is still in warranty. This is my first time that a external HDD that fail on me, i suspect somehow my company laptop is the cause of it. Don ask me y, i don know.

EDIT: In fact, all my IT product have never make "use" of the warranty, except my graphic card and MB once. The rest is either old or i replace it when it is still working.

 

[epos]

Chor!!..haha..i hope the HDD don fail again, it is very troublesome to transfer the data out and to another hdd. I have 3 WD ext HDD, 2 out of warranty and working fine, while 1 is still in warranty. This is my first time that a external HDD that fail on me, i suspect somehow my company laptop is the cause of it. Don ask me y, i don know.

EDIT: In fact, all my IT product have never make "use" of the warranty, except my graphic card and MB once. The rest is either old or i replace it when it is still working.

All the best to you.

 

[ahbear82]

Chor!!..haha..i hope the HDD don fail again, it is very troublesome to transfer the data out and to another hdd. I have 3 WD ext HDD, 2 out of warranty and working fine, while 1 is still in warranty. This is my first time that a external HDD that fail on me, i suspect somehow my company laptop is the cause of it. Don ask me y, i don know.

EDIT: In fact, all my IT product have never make "use" of the warranty, except my graphic card and MB once. The rest is either old or i replace it when it is still working.

all the best to your new purchase..lol