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Question

Enclosures that last, and how to replace mine

Oct 11, 2014 3:48PM PDT

One of my My WD MyBook discs failed. MyBook unit is about 4 years old. According to WD the drives for this unit are no longer made.

So that leaves me with a useless chassis and (I hope) one good drive.

I need a storage solution that will last when drives fail, so that I can replace them and keep things running.

I have minimum needs, just offboard storage - no NAS, , but preferably some backup solution. Ideally I'd like something in the 4tb area but not too expensive.

I currently have a 2tb RAID 1 WD MyBook (this one that failed) a 2TB un-RAIDed WD MyBook, an 2tb RAID 1 D-Link 323, and an old Maxtor 500gb drive which is still going strong.

I want to replace all but the D-Link into one unit.

Any suggestions, and, is this not strange that WD build units that are only good until the drives fail?

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Google to remove HD
Oct 12, 2014 12:18AM PDT

In most cases NOT all, you can remove(figure it out) the HD inside and re-use. There are so many ext. USB cases to remount the HD in, just pick one. often enough you find one for 2.5 or 3.5 HDs, if the ext. kit offers that as well as SATA or PATA types of connection, just be sure to match your needs. One caveat, you find you can't re-use the WD back-up s/w because the WD i/f has some ID chip, etc. to help maintain that, though you can try otherwise and check results.

FYI- I have found typically the WD i/f connection pcb is shot duw to some electrical overload or surge or constant being ON that it fails. The HD itself remains, OK often enough. Either way, be sure to recover anything you need or safeguard as soon as its running again. I also suggest looking into an ext. HD "dock" that allows you drop-in the old HD and re-use that PLUS!!! any other HDs you have laying around or even a new one with relative ease.

tada -----Willy Happy

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Answer
...only good until the drives fail?"
Oct 12, 2014 9:00AM PDT

I am pretty sure there is a misunderstanding here. Can you give us the external harddrive number so we can check what's inside maybe.

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The device in question
Oct 13, 2014 4:19AM PDT

WD MyBook WD20000H2U-00, 2x1tb WD Green drives

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Answer
A few thoughts
Oct 12, 2014 7:09PM PDT

Hi there,

Could you give me your My Book model number? Some WD products are hardware encrypted and can not be used outside their case. If this is not the case and you are using a RAID1 configuration, you should be able to format the drive and rebuild your data. I would contact the WD support to confirm if your drive is really not available, but even though it is highly recommended that the drives in a RAID match as capacity and type, I would try to get the newer version of the drive which is no longer on the market.
Unfortunately drives fail sometimes, but with RAID1 you should be somewhat secured and prepared. I believe that there could be found a solution to make your external work as expected.
If you want to use all your drives in a new case, you should tell us the type of those drives and maybe think about getting just the case. You can find some solutions online, but you should check if there are some compatibility notes.

Hope this helps

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Answer
That's a horse of a different color.
Oct 13, 2014 6:33AM PDT
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So it's a complete replacement then
Oct 14, 2014 1:17AM PDT

As the chassis is now basically useless, and maybe one or both drives are or will be soon, I suppose all I can do is get the data off the good drive, if I can, and put it on something new and completely different.

I wish I knew this when I bought it, I feel stupid for trusting the product and maker.

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Just a tip
Oct 14, 2014 8:52PM PDT

Have you tried to get a new WD Green, put it in spot 2 of the case and rebuild the RAID1 from the old WD Green?

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All RAID can be very technical.
Oct 15, 2014 12:47AM PDT

It's not so much trust that I see the issue here but how it's not a simple volume or one of the simpler single drive models. I'm sure it's a fine thing but as with all externals the lesson over and over is backup, then backup again.

Recovery is more costly and painful than a backup copy. Folk learn that one every day.
Bob