HDD Caddy

[Wossi]

After realising that I have a few TB of data and no back up solution, would something like the following with a few spare HDD's be alright for general back up?

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/149269

Also which HDD's should I be looking at for longevity?

[Mark]

For long-term I'd always recommend proper enclosures. Less chance of breaking something from constant insertion/removal of drives. Nowt wrong with the product per se though and I know some people swear by them.

As for drives, you takes your chance really. Studies have shown that hard disks tend to work best if you use them (I've experienced this myself with drives stored on a shelf not working when I try them a year or so later).

My current favourites are the WD Greeen Power drives, of which I have four. Of course, if one breaks, I might choose a different favourite. All I'll say is that I'd avoid Maxtor and Seagate at least until they get their hardware and firmware niggles under control.

[Wossi]

For long-term I'd always recommend proper enclosures. Less chance of breaking something from constant insertion/removal of drives. Nowt wrong with the product per se though and I know some people swear by them.

As for drives, you takes your chance really. Studies have shown that hard disks tend to work best if you use them (I've experienced this myself with drives stored on a shelf not working when I try them a year or so later).

My current favourites are the WD Greeen Power drives, of which I have four. Of course, if one breaks, I might choose a different favourite. All I'll say is that I'd avoid Maxtor and Seagate at least until they get their hardware and firmware niggles under control.

Nearly ever Hard Drive I've got at home is Seagate, touch wood, they've been fine. When you say proper enclosures, what exactly do you mean?

[Streeteh]

Nearly ever Hard Drive I've got at home is Seagate, touch wood, they've been fine. When you say proper enclosures, what exactly do you mean?

Old seagates are ok tbh, it's just their newer large capacity drives, namely the 1tb one, that have quite a high failure rate.

The docking station you've shown there isn't a proper enclosure as a large portion of the harddrive itself will be exposed, including the rather sensitive chips and capacitors on the underside. I personally would never use a docking station as i'm rather clumsy and just know i'd accidentally give my harddrive a whack.

I personally would recommend the icybox with a special kind of docking station. Basically the harddrive is put inside a small case that completely protects it, but you can then insert that enclosure into a bay you put in the DVD drive part of your case. See below:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-031-BT&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=72&name=Icy%20Box%20External%20Enclosure%20IB-390StUSD-B%203.5%22%20eSATA%20+%20USB%202.0%20Combo%20&%20Docking%20Station%20-%20Black

The harddrive itself goes in the black box with the silver front, that box can then be seen being slotted into it's docking station in the above picture.

When inserted in the docking station it will be treated as an internal harddrive, but when you eject it you can treat it as a normal USB external harddrive.

[Wossi]

I take it this is basically the same thing then?

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Icy-Dock-MB-559US-1S-External-USB-eSATA-enclosure-for-35-SATA-HDD

[Streeteh]

Well, it's a external USB harddrive so it's similar in that respect. The one i posted lets you plug the external harddrive into your computer much like a VHS into a tape player as well as connect it to other computers with USB. The one you posted will work perfectly, i just like the tidiness of the one i posted; slotting the harddrive directly into my computer hassle free when i'm at home then pulling it out when i need to take it somewhere.

At the end of the day, both will achieve pretty similar results when being used.

[Mark]

If you're trying to avoid OcUK (as is your perogative), just shove 'IB-390StUSD-B' into Google. Several stockists, though I can't say I've heard of most of them, and Scan isn't one.

If you're happy with an external box only (which does have some merit if you don't object to the cables), then look for eSATA, Firewire, USB, in that order (obviously depending on what ports you have).

[Wossi]

I'm not bothered where I get it from, for some reason I thought it said no stock :numpty: gonna order one and pick up a couple of spare drives as I like the idea of this thing. Of course, I'd love to build my own little server, but sadly there's not enough room in the house to make it logistically possible. Unless we finally get the loft all boarded up properly *plans*