New Hard Drive Protocol...

[David H. Hartman]

You're going to buy a new HD (old spinning platter). You need a new HD for your incoming primary data: photographs, accounting, financial records, insurance records, correspondence, death & taxes, etc. Some may use different HD(s) for some or each type of data but in this case we will assume all for one and one for all.

So here is my situation: I need a larger HD for my primary data HD. I've been buying Western Digital Black HD(s) for performance and a five year warranty  that I hope is a reflection of the maker's assessment of the drive's potential life span. I'll be buying a WD Black 4 or 6TB HD.

In days passed I had great luck with Maxtor HD(s) until one failed after 48 hours and its replacement lasted 2 weeks. The third one lasted until it was discarded due to size, age and interface. If only all HD(s) passed on as the last.

So what measures do you use to protect your data in transition? When are you reasonably comfortable with the new HD? What is your protocol?

Thank you for your advice,

Dave Hartman

[charlie]

I have many WD hard drives. I also use WD black in my computer for speed and they get backed up to WD green external drives for economy.  I've had one or two WD drives fail over the years, all in all I find them to be good drives. So long as my data is backed up I am reasonably comfortable with the drive what ever its age.

[David H. Hartman]

Charlie,

You are reasonably comfortable with WD Black HD(s) on day one after partitioning, formating and transferring data?

Dave

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I don't run a Raid but immediately contribute new photographs to another HD in the same computer and an additional networked computer. From time to time I backup other data which is a weakness. These drives offer redundancy but aren't quite backups as I understand it. I have other external HD(s) for offline backup.

[MFloyd]

You should consider it as an axiom: "all HDs will die, one day or another, sooner or later". I had all sort of brands going down, from Seagate / LaCie to WD. Now I take it from another angle: Predictive Replacement.  I have software installed which monitors HDD / SSD on a 30' interval.  Actually, one of my hard disks shows some errors, while SMART condition shows still good / green. Its replacement is already on its way.  Luckily, most HDD show some pre-warning signs of failure before they go completely down the drain.

I'm using DriveDX https://binaryfruit.com/drivedx as monitoring software.

A last advice: NEVER rely on SMART condition only.

[Anthony]

There seem to be some issues with monitoring external hard drives attached to a Mac.  Have you come across this?

[MFloyd]

Hi Anthony. No issues with monitoring external drives.  However, I'm unable to monitor the internal SSD; the issue is under review with DrivDx.

[David H. Hartman]

A last advice: NEVER rely on SMART condition only.

I've read that many computer and hard drive maker's don't report "Smart" errors because they don't want to worry user's with errors that will be automatically corrected. This renders Smart unuseful. I'm thinking several otherwise minor corrections in a short time might indicate a pending failure. I must admit here that I've been complacent about this. I'm not even watching this as I have in the past. I waking after a nap as it were.

Dave

[David H. Hartman]

Is anyone here running a HD utility by Gibson Research (GRC.com)? The name is SpinRite.

GRC.com

Dave

[Anthony]

Hi Anthony. No issues with monitoring external drives.  However, I'm unable to monitor the internal SSD; the issue is under review with DrivDx.

Thanks, I look forward to hearing the answer from DriveDX

[FGAng]

DriveDX appears to be for Mac only.  Any Windows solutions?

[David H. Hartman]

DriveDX appears to be for Mac only.  Any Windows solutions?

SpinRite from...

GRC.com

I haven't use SpinRite but I've learned a lot from that site. l've long intended to buy the program. Steve Gibson writes in machine language so his code is compact and fast.

Dave Hartman

[Frank Fremerey]

I backup data from a shooting to the internal drive. Then I immediately copy the files to a second offline drive. Then I delete the pictures from the card. All backups run when internet is unplugged.

I see the following points of failiure: Power. Internet. Hardware. Theft/fire.

A backup that is in the same house can be stolen or burn. So after six month when my current pair is full I put one on the shelve and bring one to a friend 10 kilometers away. Basicly HDs are the film rolls of our time IMO.

Power. If I have all copies of the same file on the same power grid online they might well die trough electrical power issues at the same time. So I always keep one copy offline and keep onlinetimes as short as necessary. I should have UPS to protect any active drive and another UPS to protect the copy. I am not perfect.

Internet. Backup offline. Not keep alll copies on the same network.

Hardware. I still have a lot of 1TB drive pairs and a lot of 2TB drive pairs. As larger drives become available, I copy the smaller pairs to bigger pairs and use tge smaller pairs as "fresh film rolls". From time to time I exchange the idle off liners to onliners. So I take the one from the shelve and put it into the production machine, reassigning drive letters.

Only thing I have no protection for is my own failiure. If I delete all copies of a file it is gone by user error. That can only be prevented by a WORM. I do not have a WORM.

[David H. Hartman]

Hard disk USB-3 Dock v. USB-3 Enclosure for SATA HD(s)? With a dock you can swap the HD(s) but there is ware on the HD connectors. Those on SATA HD(s) don't impress me. With HD enclosures you have to buy one for each drive but handling is safer, e.g. less chance of static discharge. Any thoughts on this?

I have thee 1TB HD(s) loose and will have two more as I replace them with larger HD(s) in my computer.   

Dave

[Frank Fremerey]

Hard disk USB-3 Dock v. USB-3 Enclosure for SATA HD(s)? With a dock you can swap the HD(s) but there is ware on the HD connectors. Those on SATA HD(s) don't impress me. With HD enclosures you have to buy one for each drive but handling is safer, e.g. less chance of static discharge. Any thoughts on this?
I have thee 1TB HD(s) loose and will have two more as I replace them with larger HD(s) in my computer.   Dave

From where I sit I can see 22 drives from 500GB to 4000GB. Some are loose, some are screw mounted into the LianLi backplane handles, a lot are in external enclosures with eSATA / USB2 and external Power. Most of them are WG Green (now called "blue"), the majority is still 2GB. All of them but one are mirrored at my friends place.

I could concentrate these onto one 10TB He-drive but these drives are 500 Euros a pop and not economical yet IMO. 4000 GB are the current price performace kings, so I can put 4 x 1000GB pairs on one 4000GB drive pair to reduce head count...

[Anthony]

I have now acquired DriveDX, and it reports on my internal SSD and my external HDs.  So far so good.