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Reliable external hard drives for iMacs
- Thread starter WilliamDu
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I recommend HGST drives. I have HGST in my Hitachi G-Drive, HGST 2.5" in my Drobo Mini and now HGST in my Synology. I think they got bought out recently by somebody like Seagate or Western Digital but I am still running fine with the drives I have, all of which are at least 3 years old.
I originally had Western Digital Green drives (4 of them) in the Synology server, and they all failed in just over a year.... super disappointing. Will never touch WD again. The replacement / warranty procedure was a pain in the a** So didn't bother.
As cr2 says, might be worth looking at SSDs now prices are getting a little more reasonable?
I originally had Western Digital Green drives (4 of them) in the Synology server, and they all failed in just over a year.... super disappointing. Will never touch WD again. The replacement / warranty procedure was a pain in the a** So didn't bother.
As cr2 says, might be worth looking at SSDs now prices are getting a little more reasonable?
My Western Digital drives have been hit or miss. But it is really luck of the draw. I read that it has more to do with the manufacturing batch than the manufacturer per se. So, Western Digital drives bought a year later could be much better than the vintage you happened to purchase. I have had good luck with Toshiba drives recently.
Depends on the usage and environment. In the (good environment) worst case an SSD can have a TBW rating 10 times less than a hard disk. See post #6.
Storage SSD or Mechanical
Hey Guys! Might be a stupid question but can I use a SSD drive as my main external for storing and editing on? I heard they aren't as reliable in the longterm versus a tradinaly mechanical drive? I will keep be keeping my 200 gig music library, 1.5TB home movies and 300 Gig Lightroom library...
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As for HD reliability by vendor, see the latest Backblaze disk report:
Hard Drive Failure Rates: A Look at Drive Reliability
We take a look at the Q1 2020 and lifetime performance of 129,764 hard drives used in the Backblaze data centers.
www.backblaze.com
Typical consumer environment would be a lot less controlled than, let's say, a server room. Also note that server-grade hard-drives tend to be more durable than your typical consumer hard-drives.Depends on the usage and environment. In the (good environment) worst case an SSD can have a TBW rating 10 times less than a hard disk. See post #6.
Storage SSD or Mechanical
Hey Guys! Might be a stupid question but can I use a SSD drive as my main external for storing and editing on? I heard they aren't as reliable in the longterm versus a tradinaly mechanical drive? I will keep be keeping my 200 gig music library, 1.5TB home movies and 300 Gig Lightroom library...
As for HD reliability by vendor, see the latest Backblaze disk report:
Hard Drive Failure Rates: A Look at Drive Reliability
We take a look at the Q1 2020 and lifetime performance of 129,764 hard drives used in the Backblaze data centers.
To make things worse, many manufacturers are now sneaking in SMR drives.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/202...re-being-submarined-into-unexpected-channels/
This is a rather difficult to even try to recomend. I've had a single external USB drive die ever, over the last 13-15 years. Over every major brand. And I probably have and purchase many more than the typical Joe Public will. So for me hard-drive is fairly synonomous with being reliable.
For work and NAS drives, for a while I only bought HGST drives, then IronWolf became the thing so now I've only been buying IronWolf or IronWolf Pros.
For small personal, on the go, I have some Samsung or SanDisk 1-2TB SSD's.
But I have extremely too much data to try and purchase only
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For work and NAS drives, for a while I only bought HGST drives, then IronWolf became the thing so now I've only been buying IronWolf or IronWolf Pros.
For small personal, on the go, I have some Samsung or SanDisk 1-2TB SSD's.
But I have extremely too much data to try and purchase only
[automerge]1592715943[/automerge]
I purchased the Sabrent Rocket Pro 2TB last year and now use it for backing up an iMac 27" purchased last September. It is a tad expensive but fast and reliable and at only 12.44 x 4.49 x 14.47 cm is very portable.
I agree with Geoff above (in reply 3).
Hitachi (HGST) or perhaps a Toshiba drive.
Get one in the 2.5" form factor (SSD or platter-based).
Get a USB3 enclosure to put it into.
Here's one:
Hitachi (HGST) or perhaps a Toshiba drive.
Get one in the 2.5" form factor (SSD or platter-based).
Get a USB3 enclosure to put it into.
Here's one:
SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)
SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)
tinyurl.com
Does your iMac have USB3? If not, I have a Lacie Rugged 2TB which does both FW800 as well as USB 3.0, which works great as a Time Machine for my 2010 iMac as well as two other Macs remotely via WiFi.
Obviously if you have USB3 then don't bother and as everyone else said, an USB3 enclosure + drive will be cheaper.
