recommend in-pc backup drive - quiet, still fast, good warranty

D

Deusfaux

Gawd
Joined
Apr 11, 2006
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main drive is a velociraptor, os drive soon an intel ssd.

this would be a backup drive to purely store doubles of things found on the velociraptor. manual backups done with synctoy.
 
I'm not too good with HDDs but I think the caviar greens are pretty good. While they aren't the fastest they run cool and are pretty cheap when on sale. Comes with a 3 year warranty too.
 
To be a worth while backup drive you really don't want it to be in pc. A virus, power surge, etc could take it out with the main drive. Same with a controller failing on the motherboard if both drives are running off the same one.

I'd get an external drive from seagate/wd/etc and use it. Unhook it and keep it away from the pc when not in use.
 
swatbat said:
To be a worth while backup drive you really don't want it to be in pc. A virus, power surge, etc could take it out with the main drive. Same with a controller failing on the motherboard if both drives are running off the same one.

I'd get an external drive from seagate/wd/etc and use it. Unhook it and keep it away from the pc when not in use.
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I've been in the electronics service industry for 23 years, and that is some good advice. The only thing I would like to add is to have AT LEAST 2 backups of important stuff like your photos or home movies, or mission critical data if this system is used for work related stuff. That is one conversation you DO NOT want to have with The Other. ;)

Don
 
I figured I didn't have to explain my entire backup system to get an answer to my specific question, but for the record, I have 2 externals already (in 2 different cities across canada) in addition to the current internal backup.
 
Deusfaux said:
I figured I didn't have to explain my entire backup system to get an answer to my specific question, but for the record, I have 2 externals already (in 2 different cities across canada) in addition to the current internal backup.
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Yea that makes a difference. For internal I'd get one of the newer seagate drives.
 
Deusfaux said:
I figured I didn't have to explain my entire backup system to get an answer to my specific question, but for the record, I have 2 externals already (in 2 different cities across canada) in addition to the current internal backup.
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You would not believe the number of people who run with 1 or no copies of their important data. We are just trying to look out for your best interests. I see threads all the time from people asking if we know how to resurrect their dead drive with the only copy of their data.

In your case then, I would go with a mid sized WD GP drive. All out speed in not important for what you are doing, and since it will be inside your computer, saving a little heat and noise in always a plus.

Don
 
what's the GP line? can't seem to find info on it on WD's site. Are those the Caviar Greens?

to the other fellow: which newer seagate drives?
 
Deusfaux said:
what's the GP line? can't seem to find info on it on WD's site. Are those the Caviar Greens?

to the other fellow: which newer seagate drives?
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Yea, that's them. Basically anything that mentions Green in the title.

This one Would prolly meat your needs, and is currently 60 Bux delivered from Newegg.

Don
 
DonDon said:
Yea, that's them. Basically anything that mentions Green in the title.

This one Would prolly meat your needs, and is currently 60 Bux delivered from Newegg.

Don
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I thought the GP (GreenPower) were the older versions of Green drives. I think the GP has 16mb cache vs the 32mb in the Green drive.
 
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epicjas0n said:
I thought the GP (GreenPower) were the older versions of Green drives. I think the GP has 16mb cache vs the 32mb in the Green drive.
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Look carefully at the page I posted. They are all there. You just have to pick the size and capacity that you want. The only version that comes in a 16 and 32 mb version is the 1 TB size.

They do make some Enterprise versions with TLER enabled if you are putting them in a RAID array.

I think the Green moniker is just a marketing name change as having "POWER" in the name did not bring up warm fuzzy images of saving the planet.

Don
 
I guess I should wait and take a look at the new Seagate Barracuda LP line and compare against the WD Greens first?

and I can't for the life of me find Seagate's warranty page listing out the lengths for different products
 
Deusfaux said:
I guess I should wait and take a look at the new Seagate Barracuda LP line and compare against the WD Greens first?

and I can't for the life of me find Seagate's warranty page listing out the lengths for different products
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what are you going to compare? any current drive will work just fine for your application
pretty much everything has 3 year warranty except WD black drives which are 5
just get a WD green drive and get your backups going
 
im not the kind of consumer who purchases "just fine". I try to get the best I can for my dollar.

comparing warranties would be a good idea for example. anyways, you say Seagate is 3 year now. Do you have a link handy to their website where it says that?

And I'll still need a good dock (another topic I already made) anyways before I start this round of backups. I'm not in a huge rush.
 
Deusfaux said:
im not the kind of consumer who purchases "just fine". I try to get the best I can for my dollar.

comparing warranties would be a good idea for example. anyways, you say Seagate is 3 year now. Do you have a link handy to their website where it says that?

And I'll still need a good dock (another topic I already made) anyways before I start this round of backups. I'm not in a huge rush.
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Well, in that case, the warranty on a drive should do you no good whatsoever. If you have to replace your drive under warranty, then most likely you will get a refurb drive in it's place. If you have a problem with "just fine," then "REFURB" should really give you the willies. :eek:

Most drives are pretty much commodity items these days. Most OEMs offer low power drives these days. They typically run a little cooler and quieter than the regular desktop drives.

Don
 
Deusfaux said:
im not the kind of consumer who purchases "just fine". I try to get the best I can for my dollar.

comparing warranties would be a good idea for example. anyways, you say Seagate is 3 year now. Do you have a link handy to their website where it says that?

And I'll still need a good dock (another topic I already made) anyways before I start this round of backups. I'm not in a huge rush.
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I still don't know what you're wanting to know
you said you want a quiet, fast drive for backups: all current drives fit this description, there really isn't any difference other than the Green drives being a bit slower and quieter
if you want the absolute fastest drive, it's gonna be either the WD Black or a Hitachi, depending on what benchmark
but for doing backups, there is no reason to get anything other than a GP
and as for warranty length, just go to the manufacturer website and check or most of the time it's on the product page on newegg
in my small amount of RMA expierence, seagate is a bit quicker at turnaround than WD, but I think they charge a fee for advanced replacement
 
can't find warranty info on seagate's or newegg's site for the LP drives.

and yeah they all might be very close in performance, but then sure other qualities have been pointed out. warranty length and RMA service, how silent the drive is, power consumption. just because they're close doesnt mean i want to grab just anything. i can afford to be selective.

and of course price. :)
 
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