[Nuke]

i prefer to use internal drives and use an external enclosure instead of stand alone externals. that way i can make em internal or external as based on what i need at the time. i got this rather nifty if not quite new enclosure that supports usb and esata on the outside, and internal connections for sata/pata drives.

ssd isnt useful here. they really shine as your primary drive, using it for backup is a waste. unless you specifically need something shock resistant.

[newman]

Will a SSD external drive be better than a Western Digital Velociraptor?  Are there external drives just for this?

For backup, neither. SSDs and velociraptors are built for speed, not high capacity. That's the opposite of what you want in a backup drive - you need high capacity, good GB/$ ratio, and having it quiet and not heat up too much are definitely desirable qualities here. So I'd suggest one of the high capacity, low-cost green drives; SSDs and raptors are fast but you get a much lower capacity for the same amount of money - this compromise is good for a system drive, not an external backup one.

[est1895]

Do you guys use Backup Software too?  I have Kaspersky Pure 2.0 for anit-virus and it has a backup feature.  Should I go with a 5.25" HDD docking bay?

For Example:   http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA1F80CP1278

[Klaustrophobia]

i prefer to use internal drives and use an external enclosure instead of stand alone externals. that way i can make em internal or external as based on what i need at the time. i got this rather nifty if not quite new enclosure that supports usb and esata on the outside, and internal connections for sata/pata drives.

ssd isnt useful here. they really shine as your primary drive, using it for backup is a waste. unless you specifically need something shock resistant.

for some strange reason, every time i've looked external drives have been cheaper than their internal counterparts, despite the fact that the actual drive is exactly the same.  add to that the cost of the enclosure, and personally i would buy the external drive and crack the case open if i wanted to make it internal.  i'm considering doing that with mine now, because my 3TB external benchmarks notably faster than my 1TB internal.  I hesitate due to the hastle of swapping the data across the two (i don't have a single third drive large enough to act as the go-between, i'd have to split stuff up between numerous other computers/old drives), and i'm not really sure if the occasional file corruption and annoying hang ups that happen on the external drive are a result of the drive itself or the USB interface.

est, the only reason to get a 5.25 bay HDD adapter is if you are out of HDD slots in your case and you really need to put one more drive in there.  but if you've hit that point, you should probably be thinking about replacing the old drives with a single larger one instead.

[FreeSpaceFreak]

For backup, neither. SSDs and velociraptors are built for speed, not high capacity.

Yeah, for backup purposes you should get an HDD or a brontosaurus

(Sorry, couldn't resist)

[est1895]

i prefer to use internal drives and use an external enclosure instead of stand alone externals. that way i can make em internal or external as based on what i need at the time. i got this rather nifty if not quite new enclosure that supports usb and esata on the outside, and internal connections for sata/pata drives.

ssd isnt useful here. they really shine as your primary drive, using it for backup is a waste. unless you specifically need something shock resistant.

for some strange reason, every time i've looked external drives have been cheaper than their internal counterparts, despite the fact that the actual drive is exactly the same.  add to that the cost of the enclosure, and personally i would buy the external drive and crack the case open if i wanted to make it internal.  i'm considering doing that with mine now, because my 3TB external benchmarks notably faster than my 1TB internal.  I hesitate due to the hastle of swapping the data across the two (i don't have a single third drive large enough to act as the go-between, i'd have to split stuff up between numerous other computers/old drives), and i'm not really sure if the occasional file corruption and annoying hang ups that happen on the external drive are a result of the drive itself or the USB interface.

est, the only reason to get a 5.25 bay HDD adapter is if you are out of HDD slots in your case and you really need to put one more drive in there.  but if you've hit that point, you should probably be thinking about replacing the old drives with a single larger one instead.

I already have a second HD for storage of files, picture, etc. and its only a 160Gb Hard Drive.  So if I was to get a 3rd HD, that is  removeable, what company should I go with?

[Klaustrophobia]

i would recommend western digital.  seagate is usually cheaper, but i've not been impressed with the last couple drives i got from them.  support is non-existent.

[Nuke]

i prefer to use internal drives and use an external enclosure instead of stand alone externals. that way i can make em internal or external as based on what i need at the time. i got this rather nifty if not quite new enclosure that supports usb and esata on the outside, and internal connections for sata/pata drives.

ssd isnt useful here. they really shine as your primary drive, using it for backup is a waste. unless you specifically need something shock resistant.

for some strange reason, every time i've looked external drives have been cheaper than their internal counterparts, despite the fact that the actual drive is exactly the same.  add to that the cost of the enclosure, and personally i would buy the external drive and crack the case open if i wanted to make it internal.  i'm considering doing that with mine now, because my 3TB external benchmarks notably faster than my 1TB internal.  I hesitate due to the hastle of swapping the data across the two (i don't have a single third drive large enough to act as the go-between, i'd have to split stuff up between numerous other computers/old drives), and i'm not really sure if the occasional file corruption and annoying hang ups that happen on the external drive are a result of the drive itself or the USB interface.

est, the only reason to get a 5.25 bay HDD adapter is if you are out of HDD slots in your case and you really need to put one more drive in there.  but if you've hit that point, you should probably be thinking about replacing the old drives with a single larger one instead.

the thing is that the enclosure can be used many times. externals might not be so easy to disassemble and reassemble, while you can usually get the drive out in one piece, its sometimes hard to put back together (ive tried at least once), and often the firmware doesnt support other drives (especially ones of 3rd party manufacture). ive used my drive enclosure on countless data recovery attempts and as a way to move a lot files about quickly. i bought mine because i had several internal hard drives laying around at the time and needed an external, it was much cheaper than buying an external. had i not had those extra hard drives i would have just bought an external.

[Scourge of Ages]

i would recommend western digital.  seagate is usually cheaper, but i've not been impressed with the last couple drives i got from them.  support is non-existent.

That seems about right. I bought a Seagate because it was cheaper, and it works just fine. But if the Newegg and Amazon reviews are representative, you have a roughly 5% chance that your Seagate will go out after a week, taking your data with it. And then you'd be dealing with support.
I was so nervous that I still keep the old 500GB inside my computer just sitting there as a failsafe. I also have two other internal HDs, but they are old WDs and quite reliable if small and slow, relatively.

[Klaustrophobia]

mine haven't failed, but the hybrid drive for my laptop makes disturbing clicking noises somewhat frequently and has severe firmware issues (seagate has yet to release a completely stable one, and the last one is at least 6 months old), the external frequently corrupts large files that are transferred to it, and it sometimes hangs for minutes when being accessed.  the 1 TB internal drive that i've had for a year and a few months WAS doing fine, but not too long ago windows decided it needed to do a chkdisk on it, and it came back with errors.  it said it recovered files and put them in a certain folder, but when i went to look that folder didn't exist.  in the process my boot sector also got ****ed up somehow.  eventually fixed it with -fixmbr.

of course, diagnostics don't find anything wrong with any of these drives. 

[est1895]

I picked this HD because it had a 5 year warranty and wasn't too expensive.  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533

And this for a docking station.    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817815025

What do you think?

[Klaustrophobia]

unless you're going to be swapping the drive back and forth from internal to the docking station, just get a normal external drive.  it'll be cheaper and you won't have an ass ugly internal drive hanging out on your desk.

[est1895]

Klaus...how about this docking stattion http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817997016  and the HD I suggested above?  I have one external bay left on my tower.

BTW it says that XP won't work with a 3TB or more?

[Mongoose]

I still have a 1.5 TB external Seagate sitting around that I haven't used for something like two years, but have been too lazy to RMA.  A few months after I got it, the damn thing started periodically seizing up, and emitting an oh-so-familiar regular clicking.  That was the end of that.

[Nuke]

Klaus...how about this docking stattion http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817997016  and the HD I suggested above?  I have one external bay left on my tower.

BTW it says that XP won't work with a 3TB or more?

i wouldn't mind having one of those. unfortunately my case doesn't have the space for one. id hate to have to give up my card reader to make room for it.

[est1895]

Klaus...how about this docking station http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817997016  and the HD I suggested above?  I have one external bay left on my tower.

BTW it says that XP won't work with a 3TB or more?

i wouldn't mind having one of those. unfortunately my case doesn't have the space for one. id hate to have to give up my card reader to make room for it.

Well I have 1 external 5.25" bay and 2 external 3.5" bays that has been that way for 3 or 4 years.  Speaking of the the 3.5" bays, could I use a HD there?

[Klaustrophobia]

yes, but it won't be external.  unless it's some kind of weird thing i've never seen before, the 'external' part means it's for a floppy.  but an internal hard drive will fit in it just like any other 3.5" bay.

i still think the best thing for you is a normal external, but you really haven't said what your needs for it are.  just plain old additional storage?  internal is fine.  a more portable storage container that can be swapped between computers if need be?  external drive.  i'd only recommend spending the extra money on an external dock/enclosure plus an internal drive if you need functionality like what nuke was describing he used his for.  or you're REALLY dead set on having a top end drive in your enclosure.  that scorpio black is likely (slightly) faster than what would come in an external drive, but they don't like disclosing what actual drive is in those, so you can't really be sure.  but like someone else pointed out earlier in the thread, externals usually don't need the tiny bit of extra speed.  you're not constantly accessing them, and backups are going to take forever even on the slightly faster drive anyway.

[redsniper]

Not sure if this has been made clear yet but...

An external is better for backups because the drive is only on and running while it's plugged in to your computer, which should only be long enough for you to copy whatever files to it. An extra internal drive would be running the whole time your computer is on and so will fail mechanically a lot sooner. (Assuming you don't leave your backup external plugged in the whole time your computer is on, which you shouldn't.)

So, need more room, go internal. Need to make backups, go external.

[est1895]

yes, but it won't be external.  unless it's some kind of weird thing i've never seen before, the 'external' part means it's for a floppy.  but an internal hard drive will fit in it just like any other 3.5" bay.

i still think the best thing for you is a normal external, but you really haven't said what your needs for it are.  just plain old additional storage?  internal is fine.  a more portable storage container that can be swapped between computers if need be?  external drive.  i'd only recommend spending the extra money on an external dock/enclosure plus an internal drive if you need functionality like what nuke was describing he used his for.  or you're REALLY dead set on having a top end drive in your enclosure.  that scorpio black is likely (slightly) faster than what would come in an external drive, but they don't like disclosing what actual drive is in those, so you can't really be sure.  but like someone else pointed out earlier in the thread, externals usually don't need the tiny bit of extra speed.  you're not constantly accessing them, and backups are going to take forever even on the slightly faster drive anyway.

The only reason that I want to backup stuff, is incase the motherboard, CPU, HD or anything else that requires re-installing Windows XP (soon to be 7).  So if the system fried, I have a reasonably backup to copy to the new system.  Honestly, I have only used 64g on drive D and maybe 40gb on drive C.

[Klaustrophobia]

in that case, it's really up to you whether you want to have one more internal drive that you use only for backups, or an external one.  if it were me, i would get a 1 or 2 TB external, since you already have 2 internal drives (case is gonna get crowded), and then it's already portable and has plenty of space for both backup and files if you decide you want portable storage in the future.