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Question

Little space remaining in 2TB ext HDDs-what to do?

Sep 3, 2015 2:14AM PDT

I have 2 x 2TB seagate ext. HDDs. The one frequently used for storage of music, video and precious material, has now around 790GB remaining.

I still have a fair bit more of the same kind of data to add, but am unsure what to do. Frankly, it was a bit of a unknown as to how much would be required from the outset, but now I have a much better idea. And it is too little.

So, for others here who may have had the same experience, what possibilities can you recommend to overcome this issue? Cost is a bit of an issue too.

Thanks.

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Sounds Like You Need More & Bigger...And About Backups?
Sep 3, 2015 12:55PM PDT

Remember, if you've copied almost 4 TB of data to external drives, what happens if they die? External drives frequently fail and if you don't have a backup of those drives, you'll lose it all.

And I don't recommend using cloud storage as it can be unreliable.

So, "sounds like you need more and bigger hard drives to keep all your data and backups of such data..

Hope this helps.

Grif

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More refined strategy...?
Sep 4, 2015 12:23AM PDT

Thanks.

Well, you can't be faulted for telling me what is likely staring me in the face,,,And the concern you've mentioned sits very uncomfortably with me, given how much work I have expended to date.

But, of course, vis the unknown 'when', I have come here to find what I hoped would be a more refined strategy--the broad definition is accepted by this quarter without question.

When I say 'more refined solution', I am thinking in terms of a rule of thumb, a guideline, a framework that makes the next step(s) easier, faster, and suitable for those who don't have deep pockets.

Are you or any others out there able to chime in with their experience(s) down the path I have just mentioned...?

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What folk can share are their solutions.
Sep 4, 2015 10:54AM PDT

For me that means more than one backup copy. I'm cheating by fitting a single drive in my work laptop then cloning it when I feel the need to update my full backup copy. That's a single backup so it fails the criteria for backups (if you need to go over what is a backup, I'd start a new post.)

So to get to the zen of it, the next thing I need is my restore media, installs for my apps, CDKEYS, activation codes and then my files in another box.

Finally there are things I can never lose. That is stuff I can't replace like photos, and apps I've sold over the years. Those fit onto a thumb drive. Some of the apps are not any concern if source leaked out so those are also up on Dropbox.

That's my plan.
Note: Edited title for typo.

Post was last edited on September 4, 2015 11:11 AM PDT

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No Need For Deep Pockets....
Sep 4, 2015 1:35PM PDT

As a system admin over a small government agency, it was my responsibility to make sure all data was secure and safe. That included backing things up for the eventual failure of hard drives. It was just a matter of time when such a failure would happen and we had a few. It was usually my decision to NOT use external drives for important data but instead use a server with internal hard drive storage. Such was our "guideline" and it worked well and easily. If you've got an old desktop computer around, you might consider using it for server purposes and simply add some large hard drives.

You don't mention whether you have a laptop or desktop but if you have an option to place internal drives on your current computer, you can purchase 4 TB hard drives for less money than most large external drives cost and they aren't extremely difficult to install. See the link below for just an example:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/WD-Green-4TB-Desktop-Internal-Hard-Drive/30579528

Larger hard drives are available but they're quite a bit more expensive.

Of course, if you really want to go "on the cheap", you can buy a 100 pack of dual-layer DVDs to make data backup copies of your data for about $50.00. This isn't for storing your original data but works OK for backing things up. Backup only the important files to the disks and store them in a cool, dry place. They'll last a long time. It takes longer to make the backups but it's inexpensive to do so.

Hope this helps.

Grif

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Grif, check out WD "green" drive problems
Sep 4, 2015 2:58PM PDT

Those were with "intellipark" and I see the latest use a different term "intelliseek", so maybe they corrected the "flaw", but I'm not sure of that yet.

This very recent help page from WD seems to be a workaround (Aug 2015)

The Fix

Page 2 of the fix

The utility;
File Name: wdidle3_1_05.zip
File Size: 170 KB
Version: N/A
Publish Date: 4/2010
Description
This firmware modifies the behavior of the drive to wait longer before positioning the heads in their park position and turning off unnecessary electronics. This utility is designed to upgrade the firmware of the following hard drives: WD1000FYPS-01ZKB0, WD7500AYPS-01ZKB0, WD7501AYPS-01ZKB0.
CAUTION: (on page)


The PDF on it all.

Again, this may not apply to the newest Green WD drives.

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Answer
What I usually do is buy a drive & put in an enclosure.
Sep 4, 2015 1:44PM PDT

I see you can buy 4 TB drives $130 now, then put them in a $20 enclosure. If you use USB 3, you get really good performance too. And you have the added bonus of not using one of those external drives that Grif mentions having not the greatest reliability. Speaking of which I'd keep away from Seagate drives external OR internal type; they've been notoriously unreliable in the last year or two.
`
Good luck.

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Answer
Drobo
Sep 4, 2015 7:20PM PDT

I have a Drobo FS 5 bay unit which is currently populated with 5 x 2TB Hitachi drives. It operates a system called Beyond RAID, so that if one drive fails it can be replaced ( hot swap ) with another, preferably either same capacity or larger. It will then rebuild the RAID array.
Of the 10TB, 7.21TB is available for storage, with the remainder used to maintain the RAID array.
I obtained it for around 50% of the original price on eBay. For more information go to
www.drobo.com .