Hola!
I am in search of a 1TB-2TB external HDD that I can use for backing up my data. All of the reviews I have been reading are pulling every which way with no real clear cut choice aside from being told that Seagate and WD are good brands. I'm looking for a USB 3 interface, though eSATA is ok if the sacrifice must be made. The price range I am going for is >$100
Suggestions please? Any information is greatly appreciated.
Please and thank you!
I would never rely on external hard disks for backup, if your data is important invest in a NAS or a Cheap computer with something like a raid 5 or 1, About 25% of external hard disks I have owned have had issues at some point, irrespective of brands. Also the life span of hard drives is 3 - 5 years on average.
Depends on how far you want to go with data integrity and security ect. $400 would build you an awesome small pc just for storage back up or you can have a look at some shops for a cheap NAS with an internal raid 1.
As kraazed said porty hdd are not always the best. Use many pcs or storage devices as backup. I have one whole hdd on my pc, my laptop backing up somethings and a porty hdd.
I would say go for the 1tb porty hdd and maybe try to scrounge up some money for another hdd or a little storage pc that you and family maybe can store stuff on.
I really have no problem with another internal HDD. I was simply advised against it by some friends of mine on the logic that if my entire case happened to be abducted somehow or the house flooded or a fire occurred then all of my drives would be gone. I'm not very paranoid of such things happening but the logic makes sense I believe.
That being said, I would happily order a 2nd HDD and use that for backup, considering that the prices don't seem to differ much between them and the externals.
This is the HDD I am currently looking at as the slave for my system:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533
Would a scond one work as a backup or is there a different make/model that would be better for a backup drive?
Yes that caviar black is a great drive. If you want just a storage drive go for a caviar blue. You don't really need a high performance drive for a backup drive you just need a reliable and a big drive.