My SATA2 Seagate Barracuda internal HDD's starting to act up and I will be
replacing it soon. I'm using the Barracuda as storage only.
What would you guys suggest as a replacement storage? And external HDD or an
Internal HDD + Enclosure? I was thinking of going external but they're a lot
more expensive than internal ones. Any thoughts on which one would be more
reliable in terms of lifespan? I'm looking to get Seagate or Western
Digital.
When I wanted extra storage, I went with a hard drive tower. The tower itself
cost me 100 bucks and all I do is buy internal drives and plop them down in it.
Each 500 GB drive I buy, I find on sale for around 80 dollars. So here I am with
1.5TB of external storage via USB for around $340. Of course depending on the
amount of storage you want, a $20 external enclosure with a nice 500gb HD would
be around 100 total. That's assuming of course that you are comfortable enough
putting something like that together.
Most enclosures by manufacturers suck. Granted, most cheap 3rd party enclosures
really, really suck. However, you can get a good enclosure like the AMS Venus
DS3, which is top notch. The only drawback is you pay for the quality.
I have had cheap external enclosures die on me, which is why I don't consider
them worth the money.
In terms of lifespan, they should be virtually the same. The only things that
would degrade it are: excessive temperature, shock/vibration, or frequent
spin-ups.
I don't really want to leave my storage HDD plugged into my mobo lest something
fierce from the internet or power surge hit me, that's why I was thinking of
going external or enclosure.
My SATA2 Seagate Barracuda internal HDD's starting to act up and I will be replacing it soon. I'm using the Barracuda as storage only.
What would you guys suggest as a replacement storage? And external HDD or an Internal HDD + Enclosure? I was thinking of going external but they're a lot more expensive than internal ones. Any thoughts on which one would be more reliable in terms of lifespan? I'm looking to get Seagate or Western Digital.
When I wanted extra storage, I went with a hard drive tower. The tower itself cost me 100 bucks and all I do is buy internal drives and plop them down in it. Each 500 GB drive I buy, I find on sale for around 80 dollars. So here I am with 1.5TB of external storage via USB for around $340. Of course depending on the amount of storage you want, a $20 external enclosure with a nice 500gb HD would be around 100 total. That's assuming of course that you are comfortable enough putting something like that together.
Most enclosures by manufacturers suck. Granted, most cheap 3rd party enclosures really, really suck. However, you can get a good enclosure like the AMS Venus DS3, which is top notch. The only drawback is you pay for the quality.
I have had cheap external enclosures die on me, which is why I don't consider them worth the money.
In terms of lifespan, they should be virtually the same. The only things that would degrade it are: excessive temperature, shock/vibration, or frequent spin-ups.
I don't really want to leave my storage HDD plugged into my mobo lest something fierce from the internet or power surge hit me, that's why I was thinking of going external or enclosure.
I'll probably try my luck with the enclosure.
Thanks for the feedback guys.
Instead of using a enclosure you can go with a HD to USB adapter.
The adapter supports both SATA/IDE HDs including notebook HDs as well as
optical drives.
Image is from newegg
